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THE 


CHRONICLES    OF    CRIME 


Digitized  by  tine  Internet  Arciiive 

in  2010  with  funding  from 

University  of  Toronto 


http://www.archive.org/details/clironiclesofcri01pelh 


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"in  an  instant  xhe  smile  of  the  hostess  tupned  to  a  fcown,  and., 
vrithotjt   fiirtlier    explanation,  she  exclaimed ,  looking  over  the 
baj-  at  the  same  lime    at  my   imfortunate  csa^pet-ha^.   JMo.sir; 
"we  liave  no  roconi;  it  ■wont  do  Jaere'. '    r,»/ , 


Ei  OF  CtrW' 


'M^kwMmyf^'' 


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OF    THE'  IW-irEIl    TKMPLE     BARRISTER-AT  ■  LA  W 


'  BY  fm:i^  , 


iiis  worship,  seeing- jne,  said,  for  (Vjds   sake ,  ,yoaiig-  man,  assjsi  me 
xi-i).  I  Stooped  down  &  helped  his  worsiLp  u.p,the  female  servantR 
'.ousting  Jiim  ■behind  ." 


THE 


CHRONICLES   OF   CRIME  ;^^ 

OB, 

BEING 

A    SERIES     OF    MEMOIRS    AND    ANECDOTES 

OP 

NOTOEIOUS   CHARACTERS 

WHO  HAVE  OUTRAGED  THE  LAWS  OF  GREAT  BRITAIN  FROM  THE  EARLIEST 

PERIOD  TO  1841. 


COMPRISINO 

COINERS. 

HOUSEBREAKERS. 

PIRATES. 

EXTORTIONERS. 

INCENDIARIES. 

PICKPOCKETS 

FORGE  as. 

IMPOSTORS. 

RIOTERS. 

FRAUDULENT  BANKRUPTS. 

MURDEREHS. 

SliAReERS 

FOOTPADS. 

MUlINKEKS. 

TRAITDRS. 

HIGHWAYMEN. 

MONEY-DROPPERS. 

&e.,   &o. 

INCLUDING 

A  NUMBER  OF  CURIOUS  CASES  NEVER  BEFORE  PUBLISHED. 


EMBELLISHED   WITH   FIFTY-TWO    ENGRAVINGS. 

FitOM   ORIGINAL  DRAWINGS  BY  "  PHIZ." 

BY   CAMDEN   PELHAM,   ESQ., 

OF  THE   INNEB  TEMPLE,   BABEISTEB-AT-LAW. 


VOL.  I. 


4^^  0  LONDON  ::tp 
:l  '  T.   MILES   &   CO.,    95,   UPPER   STREET. 

^)1887.  -  /H 


toNDON : 

PKINTED   BY  J.    S.  VIRTUE   AND   CO.,   LIMIIED, 
CITY    ROAD. 


SEP  1 4  1967 


PREFACE. 


Few  words  are  necessary  to  introduce  to  our  readers  a  work, 
the  character  and  the  object  of  which  are  so  legibly  written  upon  its 
title-page.  "  Chronicles  of  Crime  "  must  comprise  details,  not  only 
interesting  to  every  person  concerned  for  the  welfare  of  society,  but 
useful  to  the  world  in  pointing  out  the  consequences  of  guilt  to  be 
equally  dreadful  and  inevitable.  It  is  to  be  regretted  that  in  most  of 
the  works  of  the  present  day,  little  attention  is  paid  to  the  ultimate 
moral  or  beneficial  effects  to  be  produced  by  them  upon  the  public 
mind;  and  that  while  every  effort  is  made  to  afford  amusement, 
no  cai'e  is  taken  to  produce  those  general  impressions,  so  necessary 
to  the  maintenance  of  virtue  and  good  order.  The  advantages  of 
precept  are  everywhere  admitted  and  extolled ;  but  still  more 
effectual  are  the  lessons  which  are  taught  through  the  influence 
of  example,  whose  results  are  but  too  frequently  fatal.  The 
representation  of  guilt  with  its  painful  and  degrading  consequences, 
has  been  universally  considered  to  be  the  best  means  of  warning 
youth  against  the  danger  of  temptation ;  —  the  benefits  to  be 
expected  from  example  are  too  plainly  exhibited  by  the  inflic- 
tion of  punishment  to  need  repetition  ;  and  the  more  generally  the 
effects  of  crime  are  shown,  and  the  more  the  horrors  which  precede 


vi  PREFACE. 

detection  and  the  deplorable  fate  of  the  guilty  are  made  known, 
the  greater  is  the  probability  that  the  atrocity  of  vice  may  be 
abated  and  the  security  of  the  public  promoted. 

Having  said  thus  much  in  recommendation  of  the  object  of  this 
work,  a  few  words  as  to  its  precise  character  may  be  added. 
Amusement  and  instruction  are  alike  the  results  which  are  hoped 
to  be  secured.  It  is  admitted  by  men,  whose  desire  it  is  to  make 
themselves  acquainted  with  human  nature,  that  jails  and  other 
places  of  confinement  afford  them  a  wide  field  for  contemplation. 
The  study  of  life,  in  all  its  varieties,  is  one  no  less  interesting  than 
useful.  The  ingenuity  of  thieves,  depicted  in  their  crimes,  is  a 
theme  upon  which  all  have  opportunities  to  remark,  in  their 
passagre  through  a  life  of  communication  with  the  world  ;  and  no 
less  worthy  of  observation  are  the  offences  of  men,  whose  outrages 
or  cruelties  have  rendered  them  amenable  to  the  laws,  framed 
for  the  protection  of  society.  All  afford  matter  of  contemplation 
to  the  mind,  most  likely  to  be  attended  with  useful  results.  It 
may  be  observed  that  to  persons  of  vicious  inclination,  effects  the 
opposite  to  those  which  are  suggested  may  be  produced  ;  but  an 
answer  as  conclusive  as  it  is  just  may  be  given  to  any  such  remark. 
The  consequences  of  crime  are  as  clearly  exhibited  as  its  motives 
and  its  supposed  advantages,  and  few  are  hardy  enough  to  declare 
or  to  exhibit  a  carelessness  for  punishment,  or  a  contempt  for  the 
bitter  fruits  of  their  misdeeds.  Presenting  an  example,  therefore, 
of  peculiar  usefulness,  it  is  trusted  that  the  work  will  be  found  no 
less  interesting  than  instructive.  Combining  these  two  most  im- 
portant qualities  to  secure  its  success,  it  is  hoped  that  the  patron- 
age afforded  it  will  be  at  least  commensurate  with  the  pains  which 
have  been  bestowed  upon  its  production. 


PREFACE.  Vll 

It  will  be  observed  that  in  the  preparation  of  these  pages  much 
care  has  been  taken  to  preserve  those  features  only  which  are  likely 
to  be  acceptable  to  society.  The  most  scrupulous  attention  has 
been  paid  to  the  rejection  of  such  instances  of  guilt,  the  circum- 
stances of  which  might  be  deemed  unfit  for  general  perusal.  In  a 
compass  so  circumscribed  as  that  to  which  the  work  is  confined, 
it  would  be  impossible  to  give  the  history  of  every  criminal  who 
has  undergone  punishment  for  his  offences,  during  the  period  to 
which  our  Chronicles  extend  :  neither  is  that  the  object  of  the 
work.  It  is  intended  to  embrace  within  its  limits  all  those  cases 
wnich  from  their  details  present  outlines  of  attraction.  The  earlier 
pages  are  derived  from  sources  of  information  peculiarly  within 
tne  reach  of  the  Editor,  while  those  of  a  later  period  are  com- 
piled from  known  authorities  as  accurate  as  they  are  complete. 

The  comparison  of  the  offences,  and  of  the  punishments  of  the 
last  century,  with  those  of  more  recent  date,  will  exhibit  a  marked 
distinction  between  the  two  periods,  both  as  to  the  atrocity  of 
the  one,  and  the  severity  of  the  other.  Those  dreadful  and 
frequent  crimes,  which  would  disgrace  the  more  savage  tribes,  and 
which  characterised  the  lives  of  the  early  objects  of  our  criminal 
proceedings,  are  now  no  longer  heai'd  of;  and  those  chai-acters  of 
blood,  in  which  the  pages  of  our  Statute-book  were  formerly 
written,  nave  been  wiped  away  by  improved  civilisation  and  the 
milder  feelino;s  of  the  people.  It  is  but  just  to  say  that  the  provi- 
sions of  a  wise  Parliament  have  not  been  unattended  with  proper 
results.  Humanity  has  been  permitted  to  temper  the  stern 
demands  of  justice ;  and  however  atrocious,  it  must  be  admitted, 
some  of  the  crimes  may  be  which  have  been  recently  perpetrated, 
and  however  numerous  the  offenders,  it  cannot  be  denied  that  the 


viii  PREFACE. 

general  aspect  of  the  state  of  crime  in  this  country  is  now  infinitely 
less  alarming  than  formerly. 

The  necessity  for  punishment  as  the  consequence  of  crime,  can 
neither  be  doubted  nor  denied.  Without  it  the  bonds  of  society 
must  be  broken — government  in  no  form  could  be  upheld.  If,  then, 
example  be  the  object  of  punishment,  and  peace  and  good  order, 
nay,  the  binding  together  of  the  community,  be  its  effects,  how 
useful  must  be  a  work,  whose  intention  is  to  hold  out  that  example 
which  must  be  presumed  to  be  the  foundation  of  a  well-ordered 
society 

The  cases  will  be  found  to  be  arranged  chronologically,  which,  it 
is  presumed,  will  afford  the  most  satisfactory  and  the  most  eaf'y 
mode  of  reference.  This  advantage  is,  however,  increased  by  the 
addition  of  copious  indices. 

London,  July  1,  1840. 


CONTENTS. 


Note. —  The  offence  mentioned  opposite  to  each  name  is  that  alleged  against  the  person 

charged. 


PAGE 

Adams,  Agnes.     Forgery  .         .         .  505 
Alden,  Marthg,.     Murder     .         .  445 
Allen,  George.     Murder          .         .  444 
Allen,  Willuim.      Returned  Trans- 
port           330 

ARJiiT&r.E-  Richard.     Forgery  .         .  506 

Aslett,  Robert.  Embezzlement  .  410 
Atkins,  James,  alias  JHill,  alias  Jack 

the  Painter.     Arson    .         .         .  2G9 

Attaway,  James.  Burglary  .  .  226 
Aram,  Eugene.     Murder           .         .168 

AvEBSHAW,  Lewis  Jeremiah.    Murder  347 

Bailey,  Richard.     Burglary         .     .  226 

Balfoue,  Alexander.     Murder          .  3 

Balmerino,  Lord.  Treason  .  .  107 
Baltimore,  Lord.  Rape  .  .213 
Barrington,  George,  alias  Waldi'on. 

Pickpocket 363 

Bateman,  Mary.  Murder  .  .  458 
Bellingham,  John.  Murder  .  .  527 
Benson,  Mary,  alias  Phipoe.  Murder  358 
Birmingham  Riots  (1780)  .  .  .  326 
Blackburn,  Joseph.  Forgery  .  .  575 
Blake,  Joseph,  alias  Blueskin.  Burg- 
lary            35 

Blandy,  Mary.     Parricide          .         .  1 48 
Bodkin,  John,  and  Dominick.     Mur- 
der            105 

Bolland,  James.     Forgery        .         .  229 

Bounty,  Mutiny  of        .         .         .     .  328 

Bourne,  John.     Consph-acy       .         .  332 

Bradford,  Jonathan.     Murder          .  107 

.BjUi.NT,  Mary.     Returned  Transport  330 


Bristol,  Countess  of,  alias  Duchess  of 
Kingston.     Bigamy  .         .     . 

Broadric,  Ann.     Murder 
Brown,  Nicol.     Murder         .         .     . 
Brown,  Joseph.     Murder 
Brownrigg,  Elizabeth.     Murder  .     . 
Burt,  Samuel.     Forgery  . 
Burgh,  Rev.  Richard.     Conspiracy    . 
Butcher,  John.    Returned  Transport 
BuTTERwoRTH,  William.     Murder 
Buxton,  James.     Murder  .         , 

Caddell,  George.     Murder  . 
Cameron,  Dr.  Archibald.     Treason 
Campbell,  Alexander.     Murder 
Campbell,  Mungo.     Murder 
Carr,  John.     Forgery 
Carroll,  Barney.  Cutting  and  Maim 

ing 

Carson,  Thomas.     Murder 
Caulfield,  Frederick.     Murder    . 
Chandler,  William.     Perjury  . 
Charteris,  Col.  Francis.     Rape     . 
Clayton,  John.     Burglary 
Cobby,  John.     Murder 
CIolley,  Thomas.     Murder 
Cook,  Thomas.     Murder 
Cooke,  Arundel.  Cutting  and  Maiming 
Cooper,  James.     Murder 
CoucuMAN,  Samuel.     Mutiny 
Coyle,  Richard.     Piracy 
Cox,  Jane.     Murder  . 
CuMMiNGS,  John.     Conspiracy 
I  Chosswell.  John.     Conspiracy  . 


250 
343 
157 
456 
204 
316 
332 
330 

7 
154 
452 
227 
124 

197 
590 
141 
145 

76 

522 

127 

138 

8 

31 
454 
131 

84 
507 
332 

49 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Dagoe,  Hannah.     Robbery  .         .     .     l'J7 
Davis,  James.     Conspiracy        .         .     332 
Dawson,    Daniel.       Poisoning    Race- 
horses      524 

Dawson,  James.     Treason         .         .122 
De  Butte,  Louis,.a/ia«  Mercier.  Mur- 
der          272 

Dk  la  Motte,  Francis  Heni-y.     Tiea- 

son      .         .         .  .         .         .301 

Derwentwater,  Earl  of.     Treason  .       19 
Despard,  Col.  Edward  Marcus.  Trea- 
son     .         .         •         .         .         .     3f"9 
DiGNUM,  David  Brown.     Fraud     .     .     268 
Diver,   Jenny,    alias    Mary    Young. 

Pickpoclcet   .....       96 

Dixo.N",  Margaret.     Murder  .     .       71 

D'JD"),  Dr.  William.  Forgery  .  .  274 
Do.sallv,  James.     Robbery  .     .     292 

DowNiE,  David.     Treason  .         .     335 

Dramattf,  Julin  Peter.  Murder  .  .  9 
Drew,  Charles.  Parricide  .  .102 
DuNXAN,  William.  Murder  .  .  .  436 
DuRNFORD,  Abraham,     Robbery         .     292 

Elby,  William.  Murder  .  .  .  10 
Emmet,  Robert.     Treason  .         .     382 

Farmery,  William.     Murder         .     .  236 
Farrell,  James,  alias  Buck.  Murder  202 
Favey,  James,  alias  O'Coigley.  Trea- 
son          .         .         .         .         .     .  360 

Fenmng   Elizabeth.     Murder    •         .  569 
Ferguson,  Ricliard,    alias    Galloping 

Dick.     Robbery        .         ,         .     .  371 

Ferrers.  Eurl.     Murder            .         .  181 

Fleet  Marriages          .         .         .     .  159 

Foster,  George.     Murder           .         .  380 

Francis,  John.     Treason      .         .     .  389 

Fryer,  James.     Burglary          .         .  288 

Gadesby,  William.     Robbery    .         .     325 
Galloping  Dick,  alias  Richard  Fergu- 
son.    Robbei'y     ....     371 
Gardelle,  Theodore.     Murder  .     188 

Gentleman  Harry, a/jas  Henry  Sterne. 

Robbery 315 

Gidley,  George.     Murder     .  .199 

GbODERE,  Capt.  Samuel.     Murder     .     103 


PAG8 

Gordon,  Thomas.     Murder      .        .     318 
Gow,  John.     Piracy       .         .  .72 

Grant,  Jeremiah.     Burglary     .         .     588 
Gregg,  William.    Treason      .  .12 

Grierson,  Rev.  Jno., unlawful  perform- 
ance of  the  Marriage  Ceremony    .     159 
Griffenburg,  Elizabeth.  Accessory  to 

a  Rape 213 

Griffiths,  William.     Robbery  .     234 

Guest,  William.    Diminishing  the  Coin 
of  the  Realm       .         .         .         .203 

Hackman,  the  Rev.  James.     Murder  289 

Hadfield,  James.     Treason          .     .  370 

Hatfield,  John.     Forgery        .         .  394 

Haggerty,  Owen.     Murder            .     ..  437 

Hajiilton,  Col  John.     Manslaughter  16 
Ham.mond,  John.    Murder         .         .127 

Hardwick,  James.     Conspiracy        .  34.9 

Harris,  Sanuiel.     Murder    .         .     .  211 

Harvey,  Anne.    Accessory  to  a  R.ipe  213 

Hawden,  John.     Conspiracy     .         .  349 

Hawes,  Nathaniel.     Robbery        .     .  28 

Hayden,  James.     Conspiracy    .         .  349 

Hayes,  Catherine.     Murder          •     .  65 

Haywood,  Richard.     Robbery           .  417 

Heald,  Joseph.     Murder          .         .  378 

Hebberfield,  William.     Forgery     .  521 

Henderson,  Matthew.     Murder         .  116 

Henley,  John.     Conspiracy           .     .  349 

Hill,  James,  alias  Jack  the  Painter  .  269 

Hodges,  Joseph.    Cross-dropping       .  351 

Hollovvay,  John.     Murder       .         .  437 

Holmes,  John.     Body-stealing            .  273 

Horne,  William  Andrew.     Murder  .  179 

Horner,  Thomas.     Burglary    .         .  288 

Housden,  Jane.     Murder               .     .  18 

Hunter,  the  Rev.  Thomas.     Murder  1 
Hutchinson,  Amy.     Murder     .         .133 

Jackson,  the  Rev.  Mr.     Treason  .  346 

Jack  the  Painter,  alias  Hill.    Arson  269 

Jacobs,  Simon.     Conspiracy       .  .  349 

Jeffries,  Elizabeth.     Murder  .  152 

Jenkins,  William.     Burglary  .  522 

Jennison,  Francis.     Murder          .  .  342 

Jobbins,  William.     Arson          .  .  324 

Johnson,  William.     Murder          .  .  IS 

Jones,  Laurence.     Robbery      .  .  333 


CONTENTS. 


PAGE 

Arson  &  Murder  453 

18 

552 

19 

4 

107 


Kearixge,  Matthew 

Keele,  Richard.     Murder 

Kendall,  Richard.     Robbery 

Kenmure,  Lord.     Ti-eascn 

KiDD,  Capt.  John.     Piracy 

Kilmarnock,  Earl  of.     Treason 

King,  William.     Cutting  and  Maiming  197 

Kingston,  Duchess  of,  aluis  Countess  of 

Bristol.     Bigamy.  .  .     .     250 

Knight,  Thomas.    Mutiny        .         .131 

Lancey,  Capt.  John.  Arson  .  .  156 
Layer,  Christopher.  Treason  .  32 
Lazarus,  Jacob.  Murder  .  .  .  227 
Le  Maitre,  Peter.  Steahng  .  .  267 
Leonard,  John.  Rape  .  .  .  235 
Lilly,  Nathaniel.  Returned  Trans- 
port      330 

LiSLE,a/iasMajor J. G.  Semple.   Swind- 
ling       564 

London,  Riots  of  ....  295 
Lovat,  Lord.  Treason  .  .  .118 
Lowe,  Edward.  Arson  .  .  .  324 
LowTHER,  William.  Murder  .  18 
Luddites,  TJie 549 

Magms,  Harriet.  Child-stealing  .  510 
Mauony,  Matthew.  Murder  .  .  103 
Malcolm,  Sarah.  Murder  .  .  79 
Male,  Samuel.     Robbery  .     .     236 

Marrs,  Murder  of  the  .  .  .513 
Martin,  James.  Returned  Transport  330 
Massey,  Capt.  John.  Piracy  .  .  30 
Mathison,  James.  Forgery  .  .  295 
Mayne,  Robert.     Mutiny  .         .196 

M'Can,  Townley.  Conspiracy  .  .  332 
M'Canelly,  John.  Burglary  .  .  151 
Merritt,  Amos.  Burglary  .  .237 
Mercier,    Francis,  alias    De    Butte. 

Murder        .....     272 
Metyard,   Sarah,  and  Sarah  Morgan. 

Murder  210 

Mills,  John.    Murder  .         .     .     132 

Mills,  Richard.     Murder  .         .127 

M'Ilvena,  Michael.     Unlawfully  per- 
forming the  Marriage  Ceremony  .     560 
Mitchell,  Samuel  Wild.     Murder    .     415 
Mitchell,  James.     Murder      .         .     562 
M'KiNLiE,  Peter.     Murder  .     .     199 

M'Naughton,  John.     Mui-der  .     191 


P/.GR 


Morgan,  Edward.    Murder  and  Arson  158 
Morgan,  John.     Mutiny 
Morgan,  Luke.     Burglary 
Mutiny  of  the  Bounty 
Mutiny  at  THE  Nore 


Newton,  William.     Robbery 
Nicholson,  Philip.     Murder 
Nore,  Mutiny  at    . 
North,  John.     Murder 

O'Coigley,  James,  alias  Favey.    Trea 
son 

Page,  William.     Robbery 

Paleotti,  Marquis  de.     Murder 

Palmer,  John.     Burglary     . 

Parker,  Richard,     Mutiny 

Parsons,  William.     Returned  Trans 
port  .... 

Patch,  Richard.     Murder 

Perfect,  Henry.     Fraud 

Perreau,  Robert  and  Daniel.     For- 
gery          

Phillips,  Thomas.     Robbery    . 

Phillips,  Morgan.  Murder  and  Arson 

Phillips,  John.     Conspiracy     . 

Phipoe,  Maria  Theresa,  alias  Mary 
Benson.     Murder 

Phipps,  Thomas,  sen.  and  jun.     For- 
gery .... 

PiCTON,  Thomas.     Unlawfully  apply 
ing  the  Torture    ... 

PoRTEOUS,  Captain  John.     Murder 

Porter,  Solomon.     Murder 

Price,  John.     Murder 

Price,  George.     Murder  . 

Price,  Charles.     Forgery 

Probin,  Richard.     Cross-dropping 

QuiNTiN,  St.,  Richard.    Murder 

Rann,   John,   alias    Sixteen- stringed 

Jack.     Robbery 
Ratcliffe,  Charles.     Treason  . 
Richardson,  John.     Pii-acy 
Riots,  Birmingham  (1780) 
Riots  of  London 
Roach,  Philip.     Piracy 
Ross,  Norman.     Murder 


131 
151 
328 
353 

300 
555 
353 
311 


360 

1G5 

25 

448 

353 

142 
430 
419 

244 

27 

294 

34.<5 

358 

319 

423 
81 

227 
26 
87 

312 

351 

199 


242 
118 

84 
326 
295 

34 
136 


xh 


CONTENTS, 


Rowan,   Archibald  Hamilton.     Sedi- 
tion       340 

RuDD,  ilai-garet  Caroline.     Forgery  .  249 

Ryan,  John.     Arson  and  Murder      .  453 

Ryland,  WOliam  Wynne.     Forgery  .  308 

Sawyer,  William.  Murder  .  .  SfiC 
ScoLDWELL,  Charles.  Stealing  .  .  330 
Semple,  Major  J.  G.  Swindling  .  564 
Sheeby,  Father.  Murder  ...  202 
Sheppard,  James.  Treason  .  .  24 
Sheppard,  John.  Burglary  •  .  38 
Simmons,  Thomas.  Murder  .  .  450 
Sixteen-stringed  Jack.  Robbery  .  242 
Sligo,  the  Marquis  of.  Enticing  Sea- 
men from  H.il.  Navy  .  .  526 
Smith,  John.  Robbery  .  .  .  11 
Smith,  John.  Mutiny  .  .  .  195 
Smith,  Robert.  Robbery  .  .  .  379 
Smith,  Fi-ancis.  Murder  .  .  399 
Solomons,  John.  Conspiracy  .  .  349 
Spencer,  Barbara.  Coining  .  .  27 
Spiggot,  William.  Robbery  .  .  ib. 
Sterne,    Henry,     alias     Gentleman 

Harry.     Robbery         .         .         .315 

Swan,  John.     Murder  .         .         .     .  152 

Tapner,  Benjamin.  Murder  .  .  127 
Terry,  John.  Murder  .  .  .  378 
Thomas,  Charles.  Forgery  .  .  506 
Thornhill,  Richard.  Manslaughter  15 
TiLt-EY,  William.  Conspii-acy  .  .  349 
TowNLEY,  Fiancis.  Treason  .  .  122 
Trusty,  Christopher.  Returned  Trans- 
port                 310 

Tr.'iPiN,  Richard.     Robbery           .     .  89 

Tyrce,  David.     Treason    .        .        .  307 


.»AGB 

Underwood,  Thomas.    Robbery  325 

Vaijx,  James  Hardy.  Privately  Steal- 
ing          481 

Waldron,  George,  alias  Barrington. 

Pickpocket            ....  363 

Wall,  Joseph.    Murder         .         .     .  374 
W^ALSH.  Benjamin.     Felony       .         .511 

Watt,  Robert.     Treason       .         .     .  335 

Weil,  Levi  and  Asher.     Murder         .  227 

White,  HutFey.     Robbery         .         .  552 

White,  Charles.     Murder     .         .     .  103 

Whiting,  Michael.     Murder      .         .  509 
Whitmore,    John,   alias   Old    Dash. 

Rape 504 

Wild,  Jonathan.      Receiving   Stolen 

Goods 51 

Wilkinson,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Unlaw'fully 
performing  the  JIarriage  Cere- 
mony          208 

Wilkes,  John.     Sedition            .         .  220 

Williamson,  John.     Murder         .     .  208 

Williamsons,  Murder  of  the    .         .  513 

Williams,  Peter.     Body-stealing       .  273 
Williams,   Renwick.      Cutting    and 

Maiming 320 

WiNTON,  Earl  of.     Treason        .         .  19 
Woodburne,     John.       Cutting     and 

Maiming           .         .         .         .     .  31 

Wood,  Joseph.     Robbery          .         .  325 

Wood,  John.     Treason          .         .     .  ZS9 

York,  William.     Murder  .         .127 

Young,    Mary,    alias    Jenny    Diver. 

Pickpocket           ....  96 

Zekerman,  Andrew.     Murder            .  199 


THE 


CHEONICLES    OF    CEIME, 


OR, 


THE  NEW  NEWGATE  CALENDAR. 


THE   REV.   THOMAS   HUNIER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    PUPILS. 

The  case  of  this  criminal,  who  was  executed  in  the  year  1700  for  tlie 
barbarous  murder  of  his  two  pupils,  the  children  of  a  gentleman  named 
^ordon,  an  emment  merchant,  and  a  baillie,  or  alderman  of  the  City  of 
Edmburgh,  IS  the  first  on  our  record;  and,  certainly,  for  its  atrocity, 
deserve^  to  be  placed  at  the  head  of  the  list  of  offences  which  follows  its 
melancholy  recital.  From  the  title  of  the  oiFender,  it  will  be  seen  that  he 
was  a  preacher  of  the  word  of  God  ;  and  that  a  person  in  his  situation  in 
life  should  sufi-er  so  ignominious  an  end  for  such  a  crime,  is  indeed  extraor- 
dinary; but  how  niuch  more  horrible  is  the  fact  which  is  related  to  us,  that 
on  the  scaffold  when  all  hope  of  life  and  of  repentance  was  past,  he  ex- 
pressed his  disbelief  in  that  God  whom  it  was  his  profession  to  uphold 
and  whose  omnipotence  it  had  been  his  duty  to  teach  ! 

The  malefactor,  it  would  appear,  was  born  of  most  respectable  parents, 
lis  father  being  a  rich  farmer  in  the  county  of  Fife,  and  at  an  early  age 
he  wassenttotheUmversity  of  St.  Andrew's  for  his  education.  His  success 
m  the  pursuit  of  classical  knowledge  soon  enabled  him  to  take  the  degree 
of  Master  of  Arts,  and  his  subsequent  study  of  divinity  was  attended  with 
as  fayourable  results  Upon  his  quitting  college,  in  accordance  with  the 
practice  of  the  time  he  entered  the  service  of  Mr.  Gordon  in  the  capacity 
of  chaplain,  m  whicn  situation  it  became  his  duty  to  instruct  the  sons  of 
his  employer,  children  respectively  of  the  ages  of  eight  and  ten  years.  The 
family  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Gordon,  the  two  boys,  their  sister  (a  girl 
mT^p'  \^''  themse  ves),  Mr.  Hunter,  a  young  woman  who  attended  upon 
Mrs.  Gordon  and  the  usual  menial  servants.  The  attention  of  Hunter 
was  attracted  by  the  comeliness  of  the  lady's-maid,  and  a  connexion  of  a 
trmimai  nature  was  soon  commenced  between  them.  The  accidental  dis- 
covery of  this  intrigue  by  the  three  children,  was  the  ultimate  cause  of  the 
deliberate  murder  of  two  of  them  by  their  tutor. 

The  young  woman  and  Hunter  had  retired  to  the  apartment  of  the 
latter  but,  having  omitted  to  fasten  the  door,  the  children  entered  and  saw 
enough  to  excite  surprise  in  their  young  minds.     In  their  conversation 


VOL.  I. 


2  NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

subsequently  at  meal-time,  they  said  so  much  as  convinced  their  parents 
of  what  had  taken  place,  and  the  servant-girl  was  instantly  dismissed  ; 
while  the  chaplain,  who  had  always  been  considered  to  be  a  person  of  mild 
and  amiable  disposition  and  of  great  genius,  was  permitted  to  remain,  upon 
his  making  such  amends  to  the  family  as  were  in  his  power,  by  apologir'ing 
for  .1  is  Ludiscretion,  From  this  moment,  however,  an  inveterate  hatred 
for  the  childi'en  arose  in  his  breast,  and  he  determiued  to  satisfy  his  revenge 
upon  them  by  murdering  them  all.  Chance  for  some  time  marred  his  plans, 
but  he  was  at  length  enabled  to  put  them  into  execution  as  regarded  the 
two  boys.  It  appears  that  he  was  in  the  habit  of  taking  them  t )  walk  in 
the  fields  before  dinner,  and  the  girl  on  euch  occasions  usually  accompanied 
them,  but  at  the  time  at  which  the  murder  of  her  brothers  was  perpe- 
trated she  was  prevented  from  going  with  them.  They  were  at  the  country- 
seat  of  IMr.  Gordon,  situated  at  a  short  distance  only  from  Edinburgh,  and  an 
invitation  having  been  received  for  the  whole  family  to  dine  in  that  city, 
Mrs.  Gordon  desired  that  all  the  children  might  accompany  her  and  her 
husband.  The  latter,  however,  opposed  the  execution  of  this  plan,  and  the 
little  girl  only  was  permitted  to  go  with  her  parents.  The  intention  of  the 
murderer  to  destroy  all  the  children  was  by  this  means  frustrated ;  but  he 
still  persevered  in  his  bloody  purpose  with  regard  to  the  sons  of  his  bene- 
factor, whom  he  determined  to  murder  while  they  were  yet  in  his  power. 
Proceeding  with  them  in  their  customary  walks,  they  all  sat  down  together 
to  rest;  but  the  boys  soon  quitted  their  tutor  to  catch  butterflies,  and  to 
gather  the  wild  flowers  which  grew  in  abundance  around  them.  Their 
aiurdei'er  was  at  that  moment  engaged  in  preparing  the  weapon  for  their 
slaughter,  and  presently  calling  them  to  him,  he  reprimanded  them  for 
disclosing  to  their  parents  the  particulars  of  the  scene  which  they  had  wit- 
nessed, and  declared  his  intention  to  put  them  to  death.  Terrified  by  this 
threat,  they  ran  from  him;  but  he  pursued  and  overtook  them,  and  then 
throwing  one  of  them  on  the  ground  and  placing  his  knee  on  his  chest,  he 
soon  despatched  his  brother  by  cutting  his  throat  with  a  penknife.  This 
first  victim  disposed  of,  he  speedily  completed  his  fell  purpose,  with  regard 
to  the  child  whose  person  he  had  already  secured.  The  deed,  it  will  be 
observed,  was  perpetrated  in  open  day  ;  and  it  would  have  been  remarkable, 
indeed,  if,  within  half  a  mile  of  the  chief  city  of  Scotland,  there  had  been 
no  human  eye  to  see  so  horrible  an  act.  A  gentleman  who  was  walking 
on  the  Castle  Hill  had  a  tolerable  view  of  what  passed,  and  immediately 
ran  to  the  spot  where  the  deceased  children  were  lying  ;  giving  tlie  alarn? 
as  he  went  along,  in  order  that  the  murderer  might  be  secured.  The  latter, 
having  accomplished  his  object,  proceeded  towards  tlie  river  to  drown 
himself,  but  was  prevented  from  fulfilling  his  intention ;  and  having 
been  seized,  he  was  soon  placed  in  safe  custody,  intelligence  of  the  frightful 
event  being  meanwhile  conveyed  to  the  parents  of  the  unhappy  children. 

The  ]:nsoner  was  within  a  few  days  brought  to  trial,  under  the  old 
Scottish  law,  by  which  it  was  provided  that  a  murderer,  being  found  witli 
the  blood  of  his  victim  on  his  clothes,  should  be  proseciited  in  the  Sherift"s 
Court,  and  executed  within  three  days.  The  frightful  nature  of  the  case 
rendered  it  scarcely  uncharitable  to  pursue  a  law  so  vigorous  according  to 
its  letter,  and  a  jury  having  been  accordingly  impanelled,  the  prisoner  was 
brought  to  trial,  and  pleaded  guilty,  adding  the  horrible  announcement  of 
his  regret  that  Miss  Gordon  had  escaped  from  his  revenge.     The  sentence 


NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


of  death  was  passed  upon  the  culprit  by  the  sheriff,  but  it  was  directed  to 
be  carried  into  effect  with  the  additional  terms,  that  the  prisoner  should 
first  have  his  right  hand  struck  oft';  tliat  he  should  then  be  drawn  up  to 
the  gibbet,  erected  near  the  locality  of  the  murder,  by  a  rope  ;  and  that 
after  execution,  he  should  be  hanged  in  chains,  between  Edinburgh  and 
Leith,  the  weapon  of  destruction  being  passed  through  his  hand,  wliich 
should  be  advanced  over  his  head,  and  fixed  to  the  top  of  the  gibbet.  The 
sentence,  barbarous  as  it  may  now  appear,  was  carried  into  full  execution 
on  the  2*2nd  of  August,  1700  ;  and  frightful  to  relate,  he,  who  in  life  had 
professed  to  be  a  teacher  of  the  Gospel,  on  his  scaffold  declared  himself  to 
be  an  Atheist.  His  words  were,  "  There  is  no  God — or  if  there  be,  I 
hold  him  in  defiance.'  The  body  of  the  executed  man,  having  been  at  first 
suspended  in  chains  according  to  the  proti?D  terms  of  his  sentence,  was 
subsequently,  at  the  desire  of  Mr.  Gordon,  reU) loved  to  the  outskirts  of 
the  village  of  Broughton,  near  Edinburgh. 


ALEXANDER  BALFOUR. 

CONVICTED    OF    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  criminal  is  worthy  of  some  attention,  from  the  very 
remarkable  circumstances  by  which  it  was  attended.  The  subject  of  this 
sketch  was  born  in  1687,  at  the  seat  of  his  father.  Lord  Burley,  near 
Kinross  ;  and  having  studied  successively  at  Orwell,  near  the  place  of  his 
birth,  and  at  St.  Andrews,  so  successfully  as  to  obtain  considerable  credit, 
he  returned  home,  being  intended  by  his  father  to  join  the  army  of  the  Duke 
of  Marlborough,  then  in  Flanders.  Here  he  became  enamoured  of  ISliss 
Robertson,  the  governess  of  his  sisters,  however  ;  and  in  order  to  break  off 
the  connexion  he  was  sent  to  make  the  tour  through  France  and  Italy,  thi 
young  lady  being  dismissed  from  the  house  of  her  patron.  Balfour,  befort 
his  quitting  Scotland,  declared  his  intention,  if  ever  the  young  lady  should 
marry,  to  murder  her  husband  ;  but  deeming  this  to  be  merely  an  empty 
threat,  she  was,  during  his  absence,  united  to  a  IMr.  Syme,  with  whom  she 
went  to  live  at  Inverkeithing.  On  his  return  to  his  father's  house,  he 
learned  this  fact,  and  immediately  proceeded  to  put  his  threat  into  execu- 
tion. Mrs.  Syme,  on  seeing  him,  remembering  his  expressed  determination, 
screamed  with  affright ;  but  her  husband,  unconscious  of  offence,  advanced 
to  her  aid,  and  in  the  interim,  Balfour  entering  the  room,  shot  him  through 
the  heart.  The  offender  escaped,  but  was  soon  afterwards  appreliended 
near  Edinburgh ;  and  being  tried,  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  be  be- 
headed by  the  maiden  *,  on  account  of  the  nobility  of  his  family. 

•  Different  countries  have  different  modes  of  inflicting  capital  punishments.  Belieading  was 
a  militaiy  punishment  among  the  Romans,  known  by  the  name  of  decollatio.  Among  them 
the  head  was  laid  on  a  cippus,  or  block,  placed  in  a  pit  dug  for  the  purpose  ;  in  the  army, 
without  the  vallum  ;  in  the  city,  -nithout  the  walls,  at  t  place  near  the  porta  decumana. 
Preparatory  to  the  stroke,  the  criminal  was  tied  to  a  stake,  and  whipped  with  rods.  In  the 
early  ages  the  blow  was  given  with  an  axe  ;  but  in  after-times  with  a  sword,  which  was  thought 
the  more  reputable  manner  of  dying.  The  execution  was  but  clumsily  performed  in  the  lirst 
times;  but  afterwards  they  grew  more  expert,  and  took  the  head  off  clean,  with  one  circular 
Mroke. 

In  England,  beheading  is  the  punishment  of  nobles;  being  reputed  not  to  derogate  from 


KEW     NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


The  subsequent  escape  of  the  criminal  from  au  ignominious  end  is  n.'4 
the  least  remarkable  part  of  his  case.  The  scafltbld  was  actually  erected 
for  the  purpose  of  his  execution  ;  but  on  the  day  before  it  was  to  take  place 
his  sister  went  to  visit  him,  and,  being  very  like  him  in  face  and  stature, 
they  changed  clothes,  and  he  escaped  from  pi'ison.  His  friends  havinor 
provided  horses  for  him,  he  proceeded  to  a  distant  village,  where  he  lay 
concealed  until  an  opportunity  was  eventually  offered  him  of  quitting  the 
kingdom.  His  father  died  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne,  but  he  had  first 
obtained  a  pardon  for  his  son,  who  succeeded  to  tlie  title  and  honours  of 
tlie  fixmily,  and  died  in  the  year  1752,  sincerely  penitent  for  his  crime. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  KIDD, 

SURNAMED    THE    WIZARD    OF    THE    SEAS,    AND    DARliY    MULLINS. 
HANGED    FOR    PIRACY. 

The  first-named  subject  of  this  memoir  was  born  at  Greenock,  m 
Scotland,  and  was  bred  to  the  sea ;  and  quitting  his  native  land  at  an 
early  age,  he  resided  at  New  York,  where  he  eventually  became  possessed 

uobility,  .IS  luinging  docs.  In  France,  during  the  revolutionary  government,  the  practice  of 
beheading  by  means  of  an  instrument  cilled  a  guillotine  (so  denominated  from  the  n.-ime  of 
its  inventor)  was  exceedingly  general.  It  resembles  a  kind  of  instrument  long  since  used  foi 
the  same  purpose  in  Scotland,  and  called  a  maiden. 

It  is  universally  known,  that,  at  the  execution  of  King  Charles  the  First,  a  man  in  a  vizor 
performed  the  office  of  executioner.  This  circumstance  has  given  rise  to  a  variety  of  conjectures 
and  accouT.ts  ;  in  some  of  which,  one  William  Walker  is  said  to  be  the  executioner;  in  others, 
it  is  supposed  to  be  a  Richard  Brandon,  of  whom  a  long  account  was  published  in  an  Exeter 
newspaper  of  1784.  But  William  Lilly,  ii.  his  "History  of  his  Life  and  Times,"  has  the 
foIlo\ving  remarkable  passage.  "  Many  have  curiously  inquired  who  it  was  that  cut  off  his  (the 
king's)  head  :  I  have  no  permission  to  speak  of  such  things ;  only  J, us  much  I  say,  he  that 
did  it,  is  as  valiant  and  resolute  a  man  as  lives,  and  one  of  a  coiLjttent  fortune."  When 
examined  before  the  j  arliament  of  Charles  II.,  he  states,  "  That  the  next  Sunday  but  one  after 
Charles  the  First  was  beheaded,  Robert  Spavin,  secretary  to  Lieutenant-Gcneral  Cromwell  at 
that  time,  in\ited  himself  to  dine  with  me,  and  brought  Anthony  Pierson  and  several  others 
along  with  him  to  dinner.  That  their  principal  discourse  all  dinner  time  was  only  who  it  was 
that  beheaded  the  king.  One  said  it  was  the  common  hangman  ;  another,  Hugh  Peters  ;  others 
also  were  nominated,  but  none  concluded.  Robert  Spa^•^n,  so  soon  as  dinner  was  done,  took 
me  by  the  hand  and  carried  me  to  tlie  south  window  :  saith  lie,  '  These  are  all  mistaken;  the) 
have  not  named  the  man  that  did  the  fact ;  it  was  Lieut.  Colonel  Joice.  I  was  in  the  room 
wLen  he  fitted  himself  for  the  work;  stood  behind  him  when  he  did  it;  when  done,  went  in 
with  him  again.  There  is  no  man  knows  this  but  my  master,  (viz.  Cromwell.)  Commissary 
Ireton,  and  myself.' — 'Doth  not  Mr.  Rushworth  know  it.?'  saith  I. — 'No,  he  doth  not 
know  it,'  saith  Spavin.  The  same  thing  Spavin  hath  often  related  to  me  when  we  were 
alone." 

The  following  description  of  the  Maiden,  by  Mr.  Pennant,  may  not  prove  uninteresting : — 
"  This  machine  of  deaili  is  now  destroyed  ;  but  I  saw  one  of  the  same  kind  in  a  room  under  the 
Parliament-house  in  Ediubui-gh,  where  it  was  introduced  by  the  Regent  !Morton,  who  took  a 
model  of  it  as  he  passed  through  Halifax,  and  at  length  suffered  by  it  himself.  It  is  in  form 
of  a  painter's  easel,  and  about  ten  feet  high;  at  four  feet  from  the  bottom  is  the  cross  bar  on 
which  the  felon  lays  his  head,  which  is  kept  down  by  another  placed  above.  In  the  inner 
edges  of  the  frame  are  grooves  ;  in  these  is  placed  a  sharp  axe,  with  a  vast  weight  of  lead,  sup- 
ported at  tlie  very  summit  with  a  peg  :  to  that  peg  is  fastened  a  cord,  which  the  executioner 
catting,  the  axe  falls,  and  does  the  affair  effectually,  without  suffering  the  unhappy  criminal  to 
undergo  a  repetition  of  strokes,  as  has  been  the  case  in  the  common  method.  1  must  .idd,  that 
if  the  sufferer  is  condemned  for  stealing  a  horse  or  cow,  the  string  is  tied  to  the  'oeast,  which, 
on  being  whipped,  puile  out  the  peg,  and  becomes  the  executioner." 


NEW    NEWGATK    CaLKND.VR.  5 

of  a  small  vessel,  with  which  he  traded  among  the  pirates,  and  obtained  a 
eomplete  knowledge  of  their  haunts.  Ilis  ruling  passion  was  avarice, 
although  he  was  not  destitute  of  tliat  courage  which  became  necessary  in 
the  profession  in  which  he  eventually  embarked.  His  frequent  remarks 
upon  the  subject  of  piracy,  and  the  fiicility  with  which  it  might  be 
checked,  having  attracted  the  attention  of  some  considerable  planters,  who 
had  recently  suffered  from  the  depredations  of  the  marauders  who  infested 
the  seas  of  the  AVest  Indies,  obtained  for  him  a  name  which  eventually 
proved  of  great  service  to  him.  The  constant  and  daring  interruption:^ 
offered  to  trading  ships,  encouraged  as  they  were  by  the  inhabitants  of 
North  America,  who  were  not  loath  to  profit  by  the  irregularities  of  the 
pirates,  having  attracted  the  attention  of  the  Government,  the  Earl  of 
Bellamont,  an  Irish  nobleman  of  distinguished  character  and  abilities,  was 
sent  out  to  take  charge  of  the  government  of  New  England  and  New  York, 
with  special  instructions  upon  the  subject  of  these  marine  depredators. 
Colonel  Livingston,  a  gentleman  of  property  and  consideration,  was  con- 
sulted upon  the  subject  by  the  governor ;  and  Kidd,  who  was  then 
possessed  of  a  sloop  of  his  own,  was  recommended  as  a  fit  ])erson  to  be 
employed  against  the  pirates.  The  suggestion  met  the  approbation  of  Lord 
Bellamont ;  but  the  unsettled  state  of  public  aff.iirs  rendered  the  further 
intervention  of  Government  impossible;  and  a  private  company,  consisting 
of  the  Duke  of  Slirewsbury,  the  Lord  Chancellor  Somers,  the  Earls  of 
Romney  and  Oxford,  Colonel  Livingston,  and  other  persons  of  rank,  agreed 
to  raise  6000/.  to  pay  the  expenses  of  a  voyage,  the  purpose  of  which  was 
to  be  directed  to  the  removal  of  the  existing  evil ;  and  it  was  agreed  that 
the  Colonel  and  Capt.  Kidd,  who  was  to  have  charge  of  the  expedition, 
should  receive  one-fifth  of  the  profits.  A  commission  was  then  prepared 
for  Kidd,  directing  him  to  seize  and  take  pirates,  and  to  bring  them  to 
justice ;  but  the  further  proceedings  of  the  Captain,  and  of  his  officers, 
were  left  unprovided  for. 

A  vessel  was  purchased  and  manned,  and  she  sailed  under  the  name  of 
the  "  Adventure,"  from  London  for  New  York,  at  the  end  of  the  year  1695. 
A  French  ship  was  seized  as  a  prize  during  the  voyage ;  and  the  vessel 
subsequently  proceeded  to  the  Madeira  Islands,  to  Buonavista,  and  St. 
Jago,  and  thence  to  ]Madagascar,  in  search  of  further  spoil.  A  second  prize 
was  subsequently  made  at  Calicut,  of  a  vessel  of  130  tons  burden,  which 
was  sold  at  Madagascar ;  and,  at  the  termination  of  a  few  weeks,  the 
"  Adventure "  made  prize  of  the  "  Quedah  Merchant,"  a  vessel  of  400 
tons  burden,  commanded  by  an  Engbshman  named  Wright,  and  officered 
by  two  Dutch  mates  and  a  French  gunner,  and  whose  crew  consisted  of 
Moors.  Tiie  captain  having  carried  this  vessel  into  IMadagascar,  he  burned 
the  "  Adventure,"  and  then  proceeded  to  divide  the  lading  of  the  prize 
with  his  crew,  taking  forty  shares  for  himself. 

He  seems  now  to  have  determined  to  act  entirely  apart  from  his  owners, 
and  he  accordingly  sailed  in  the  "  Quedah  jNIerchant  "  to  the  West  Indies. 
At  Anguilla  and  St.  Thomas's,  he  was  refused  refreshments;  but  he 
eventually  succeeded  in  obtaining  supplies  at  J\Iona,  between  Porto  Rico 
and  liispaniola,  through  the  instrumentality  of  an  Englishman  named 
Button.  This  man,  who  thus  at  first  affected  to  be  friendly  to  the  pirate, 
eoon  showed  the  extent  to  which  his  friendship  was  to  be  relied  upon.  He 
Bold  a  sloop  to  Kidd,  in  which  the  latter  sailed,  leaving  the  "  Quedah 


U  MEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR 

Merchant"  in  his  care ;  but  on  proceeding  to  Boston,  New  England,  he 
found  his  friend  there  before  him,  having  disposed  of  the  "  Quedah 
JMercliant"  to  the  Spaniards,  and  having  besides  given  information  of  his 
piratical  expedition.  He  was  now  immediately  seized  by  order  of  Lord 
Bellamont,  before  whom  he  endeavoured  to  justify  his  proceedings,  by 
contending  that  he  had  taken  none  but  lawful  prizes ;  but  his  lordship 
transmitted  an  account  of  the  whole  transaction  to  England,  requiring  that 
a  ship  might  be  sent  to  convey  Kidd  home,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
punished.  A  great  clamour  arose  upon  this,  and  attempts  were  made  to 
show  that  the  proceedings  of  the  pirate  had  been  connived  at  by  the 
projectors  of  the  undertaking,  and  a  motion  was  made  in  the  House  of 
Commons,  that  "  The  letters- patent  granted  to  the  Earl  of  Bellamont  and 
others,  respecting  the  goods  taken  from  pirates,  were  dishonourable  to  the 
king,  against  the  law  of  nations,  contrary  to  the  laws  and  statutes  of  this 
realm,  an  invasion  of  property,  and  destructive  to  commerce."  Though  a 
negative  was  put  on  this  motion,  yet  the  enemies  of  Lord  Somers  and  the 
Earl  of  Oxford  continued  to  charge  those  noblemen  with  giving  counten- 
ance to  pirates  ;  and  it  was  even  insinuated  that  the  Earl  of  Bellamont  was 
not  less  culpable  than  the  actual  offenders.  Another  motion  was  in  con- 
sequence made  to  address  his  Majesty,  that  "  Kidd  might  not  be  tried  till 
the  next  session  of  parliament ;  and  that  the  Earl  of  Bellamont  might  be 
directed  to  send  home  all  examinations  and  other  papers  relative  to  the 
affair."  This  was  carried,  and  the  king  complied  with  the  request  which 
was  made.  As  soon  as  Kidd  arrived  in  England,  he  was  sent  for,  and 
examined  at  the  bar  of  the  house,  with  a  view  to  show  the  guilt  of  the 
parties  who  had  been  concerned  in  sending  him  on  the  expedition  ;  but 
nothing  arose  to  criminate  any  of  those  distinguished  persons.  Kidd,  who 
was  in  some  degi'ee  intoxicated,  made  a  contemptible  appearance  at  the 
bar  of  the  house ;  and  a  member,  who  had  been  one  of  the  most  earnest 
to  have  him  examined,  violently  exclaimed,  "  I  thought  the  fellow  had 
been  only  a  knave,  but  unfortunately  he  happens  to  be  a  fool  likewise." 
Kidd  was  at  length  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey,  and  was  convicted  on  the 
clearest  evidence ;  but  neither  at  that  time,  nor  afterwards,  did  he  charge 
any  of  his  employers  with  being  privy  to  his  infamous  proceedings. 

He  was  executed  with  one  of  his  companions,  at  Execution  Dock,  on 
the  23d  of  May,  1701.  After  he  had  been  tied  up  to  the  gallows,  the  rope 
broke,  and  he  fell  to  the  ground  ;  but  being  immediately  tied  up  again,  the 
Ordinary,  who  had  before  exhorted  him,  desired  to  speak  with  him  once 
more ;  and,  on  this  second  application,  entreated  him  to  make  the  most 
careful  use  of  the  few  further  moments  thus  providentially  allotted  to  him 
for  the  final  preparation  of  his  soul  to  meet  its  important  change.  These 
exhortations  appeared  to  have  the  wished-for  effect  ;  and  he  died,  profess- 
ing his  charity  to  all  the  world,  and  his  hopes  of  salvation  through  the 
merits  of  his  Redeemer. 

The  companion  in  crime  of  this  malefactor,  and  his  companion  also  at 
the  gallows,  was  named  Darby  IMullins.  He  was  bora  in  a  village  in  the 
north  of  Ireland,  about  sixteen  miles  from  Londonderry ;  and  having 
resided  with  his  father,  and  followed  the  business  of  husbandry  till  he  was 
about  eighteen,  the  old  man  then  died,  and  the  young  one  went  to  Dublin  : 
lint  he  had  not  been  long  there  before  he  was  enticed  to  go  to  the  West 
Indies,  where  he  was  sold  to  a  planter,  witli  whom  he  resided  four  years. 


NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  7 

At  the  expiration  of  that  term  he  became  his  own  master,  and  followed 
the  business  of  a  waterman,  in  whicli  he  saved  money  enough  to  purchase 
a  small  vessel,  in  which  he  traded  from  one  island  to  another,  till  tlie  time 
of  the  earthquake  at  Jamaica  in  the  year  1691,  from  the  effects  of  which 
he  was  preserved  in  a  miraculous  manner.  He  afterwards  went  to 
Kiuorston,  where  he  kept  a  punch-house,  and  then  proceeding  to  New 
York,  he  married ;  but  at  the  end  of  two  years  his  wife  dying,  he  unfor- 
tunately fell  into  company  with  Kidd,  and  joined  him  in  liis  piratical 
])ractices.  He  w^as  apprehended,  with  his  commander,  and,  as  we  have 
already  stated,  suffered  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  with  him. 


GEORGE  CADDELL. 

EXECUTED    FOR   THE    MURDER    OF   MISS    PRICE,    WHOM    HE    HAD    SEDUCED. 

This  delinquent  was  a  native  of  Bromsgrove,  in  Worcestershire,  where 
he  was  articled  to  an  apothecary.  Having  served  his  time,  he  proceeded 
to  London  to  complete  his  studies  in  surgery,  and  he  then  entered  the 
service  of  ^Ir.  Randall,  a  surgeon  at  Worcester,  as  an  assistant.  He  was 
here  admired  for  his  extremely  amiable  character,  as  well  as  for  the  abilities 
which  he  possessed  ;  and  he  married  the  daughter  of  his  employer,  who, 
iiowever,  died  in  giving  birth  to  her  first  child.  He  subsequently  resided 
with  Mr.  Deau,  a  surgeon  at  Lichfield ;  and  during  his  employment  by 
that  gentleman  he  became  enamoured  of  his  daughter,  and  would  have 
been  married  to  her,  but  for  the  commission  of  the  crime  which  cost  him 
his  life. 

It  would  appear  that  he  had  become  acquainted  with  a  young  woman 
named  Elizabeth  Price,  who  had  been  seduced  by  an  ofl&cer  in  the  army, 
and  who  supported  herself  by  her  skill  in  needle -woi'k,  residing  near  Mr. 
Caddell's  abode.  An  intimacy  subsisted  between  them,  the  result  of  which 
was  the  pregnancy  of  IMiss  Price ;  and  she  repeatedly  urged  her  paramour 
to  marry  her.  ]\Ir.  Caddell  resisted  her  importunities  for  a  considerable 
time,  until  at  last  Miss  Price,  hearing  of  his  paying  his  addresses  to  Miss 
Oean,  became  more  importunate  than  ever,  and  threatened,  in  case  of  his 
non-compliance  with  her  wishes,  to  put  an  end  to  all  his  prospects  with 
that  young  lady,  by  discovering  everything  that  had  passed  between  them. 
Hereupon  Caddell  formed  the  horrid  resolution  of  murdering  Miss  Price. 
He  accordingly  called  on  her  on  a  Saturday  evening,  and  requested  that 
she  would  walk  in  the  fields  with  him  on  the  afternoon  of  the  following 
day,  in  order  to  adjust  the  plan  of  their  intended  marriage.  Thus  deluded, 
she  met  him  at  the  time  appointed,  on  the  road  leading  towards  Burton- 
upon- Trent,  at  the  Nag's  Head  public-house,  and  accompanied  her  supposed 
lover  into  the  fields.  They  walked  about  till  towards  evening,  when  they 
sat  down  under  the  hedge,  and  after  a  little  conversation,  Caddell  suddenly 
pulled  out  a  knife,  cut  the  w^retched  woman's  throat,  and  made  his  escape 
In  the  distraction  of  his  mind,  he  left  behind  him  the  knife  with  whicli  he  had 
perpetrated  the  deed,  together  with  his  case  of  instruments.  On  his  returning 
home  it  was  observed  that  he  appeared  exceedingly  confused,  though  the 
reason  of  the  perturbation  of  his  mind  could  not  be  guessed  at ;  but,  on  the 
follomng  morning.  Miss  Price  being  found  murdered  in  the  field,  great 


NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


numbers  of  peopie  went  to  see  the  body.  Among  tliem  was  the  woman 
of  tlie  house  where  she  lodged,  who  recollected  that  she  had  said  she  was 
going  to  walk  with  Mr.  Caddell ;  and  then  the  instniments  were  examined, 
and  were  known  to  have  belonged  to  him.  He  was  in  consequence  taken 
into  custody,  and  committed  to  the  gaol  of  Staflford ;  and,  beinw  soon 
afterwards  tried,  was  found  guilty,  condemned,  and  executed  at  Stafford 
on  the  21st  of  July,  1701. 


THOMAS     COOK. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  death  of  this  person  exhibits  the  singular  fatality  which  attends  some 
men  who  have  been  guilty  of  crime.  Cook  was  the  son  of  a  butcher,  who 
was  considered  a  person  of  respectability,  residing  at  Gloucester.  He  was 
apprenticed  to  a  barber-surgeon  in  London  ;  but  nmning  away  before  his 
time  had  expired,  he  entered  the  service  of  one  of  the  pages  of  honoilr  to 
"William  III.;  but  he  soon  after  quitted  this  situation  to  set  up  at  Gloucester 
as  a  butcher,  upon  the  recommendation  of  his  mother. 

Restless,  however,  in  every  station  oflife,  he  repaired  to  London,  where 
he  commenced  prize-fighter  at  May-fair ;  which,  at  this  time,  was  a  place 
greatly  frequented  by  prize-fighters,  thieves,  and  women  of  bad  ctiaracter. 
Here  puppet-shows  were  exhibited,  and  it  was  the  favourite  resort  of  all 
the  profligate  and  abandoned,  until  at  length  the  nuisance  increased  to  such  a 
degree,  that  Queen  Anne  issued  her  Proclamation  for  the  Suppression  of 
Vice  and  Immorality,  wnth  a  particular  view  to  this  fair  ;  in  consequence  of 
which  the  justices  of  peace  issued  their  warrant  to  the  high  constable,  who 
summoned  all  the  inferior  constables  to  his  assistance.  When  they  came 
to  suppress  the  fair,  Cook,  with  a  mob  of  about  thirty  soldiers,  and  other 
persons,  stood  in  defiance  of  the  peace-officers,  and  threw  brickbats  at  them, 
by  which  some  of  them  were  wounded.  Cooper,  a  constable,  being  the 
most  active.  Cook  drew  his  sword  and  stabbed  him  in  the  belly,  and  he 
died  of  the  wound  at  the  expiration  of  four  days.  Hereupon  Cook  fled  to 
Ireland,  and,  as  it  was  deposed  upon  his  trial,  while  he  was  in  a  public 
house,  he  swore  in  a  profane  manner,  for  which  the  landlord  censured  him, 
and  told  him  there  were  persons  in  the  house  who  would  take  him  in  cus- 
tody for  it ;  to  which  he  ansv/ered,  "  Are  there  any  of  the  informing  dogs 
in  Ireland  ?  we  in  London  drive  them  ;  for  at  a  fair  called  May-fair, 
there  was  a  noise  which  I  went  out  to  see — six  soldiers  and  myself — the 
constables  played  their  parts  with  their  staves,  and  I  played  mine; 
and,  when  the  man  dropped,  I  wiped  my  sword,  put  it  up,  and  went 
away." 

The  fellow  was,  subsequently,  taken  into  custody,  and  sent  to  Chester, 
whence  being  removed  to  London,  he  was  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey,  was 
convicted,  and  received  sentence  of  death. 

After  conviction  he  solemnly  denied  the  crime  for  which  he  had  been 
condemned,  declaring  that  he  had  no  sword  in  his  hand  on  the  day  the 
constable  was  killed,  and  was  not  in  company  with  those  who  killed  him. 
Havinff  received  the  sacrament  on  the  2 1st  of  July,  1703,  he  was  taken 
from  Newgate  to  be  carried  to  Tyburn ;  but,  when  he  had  got  to  Hi^h 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


Hnlborn,  opposite  Bloomsbury,  a  respite  arrived  for  him  till  the  follow- 
ing Friday.  On  his  return  to  Newgate  he  was  visited  by  numbers  of 
his  acquaintance,  who  rejoiced  on  his  narrow  escape.  On  Friday  he 
received  another  respite  till  the  11th  of  August,  but  on  that  day  he  was 
executed. 


JOHN  PETER  DRAMATTI. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    WIFE. 

This  unfortunate  man  was  the  son  of  Protestant  parents,  and  was 
l>orn  at  Saverdun,  in  the  county  of  Foix,  and  province  of  Languedoc,  in 
France.  He  received  a  religious  education ;  but  when  he  arrived  at  years 
of  maturity,  he  left  his  own  country,  and  went  into  Germany,  where  he 
served  as  a  horse-grenadier  under  the  Elector  of  Brandenburgh,  who  was 
afterwards  King  of  Prussia.  When  he  had  been  in  this  condition  about  a 
vf^ar^'he  came  over  to  England,  and  entered  into  the  service  of  Lord 
Haversham,  and  afterwards  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in  the  regiment  of  Colonel 
de  la  Meloniere.  Having  made  two  campaigns  in  Flanders,  the  regiment 
was  ordered  into  Ireland,  where  it  was  dismissed  from  farther  service ;  in 
consequence  of  which  Dramatti  obtained  his  discharge. 

He  now  became  acquainted  with  a  widow,  between  fifty  and  sixty  years 
of  age,  who  pretended  that  she  had  a  great  fortune,  and  was  allied  to  the 
royal  family  of  France;  and  he  soon  married  her,  not  only  on  account  of  her 
supposed  wealth  and  rank,  but  also  of  her  understanding  English  and  Irish, 
thinking  it  prudent  to  have  a  wife  who  could  speak  the  language  of  the 
country  in  which  he  proposed  to  spend  the  remainder  of  his  life.  As 
soon  as  he  discovered  that  his  wife  had  no  fortune,  he  went  to  London 
and  offered  his  services  to  Lord  Haversham,  and  was  again  admitted  as 
one  of  his  domestics.  His  wife,  unhappy  on  account  of  their  separate 
residence,  wished  to  live  with  him  at  Lord  Haversham's,  which  he 
would  not  consent  to,  saying,  that  his  lordship  did  not  know  he  was 
married. 

The  wnfe  now  began  to  evince  the  jealousy  of  her  disposition,  and  fre- 
quent quarrels  took  place  between  them,  because  he  was  unable  to  be  with 
her  so  freqiiently  as  she  desired. 

At  length,  on  the  9tli  of  June,  1703,  Dramatti  was  sent  to  London  from 
his  master's  house  at  Kensington,  and  calling  upon  his  wife  at  her  lodgings 
near  Soho-square,  she  endeavoured  to  prevail  upon  him  to  stay  with  her. 
This,  however,  he  refused  ;  and  finding  that  he  was  going  home,  she  went 
before  him,  and  stationed  herself  at  the  Park-gate.  On  his  coming  up, 
she  declared  that  he  should  go  no  further,  unless  she  accompanied  him  ; 
but  he  quitted  her  abruptly,  and  went  onwards  to  Chelsea.  She  p\irsued 
him  to  the  Bloody  Bridge,  and  there  seized  him  by  the  neckcloth,  and 
would  have  strangled  him,  but  that  he  beat  her  off  with  his  cane.  He  then 
attacked  her  with  his  sword  ;  and  having  wounded  her  in  so  many  places 
as  to  conclude  that  he  had  killed  her,  his  passion  immediately  began  to 
subside,  and,  falling  on  his  knees,  he  devoutly  implored  the  pardon  of  God 
for  the  horrid  sin  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  He  went  on  to  Kensing- 
ton, where  his  fellow-servants  observing  that  his  clothes  were  bloody,  he 

VOL.  I.  c 


10  TUK   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENOAU. 

siaid  he  had  been  attacked  by  two  men  in  Hyde  Park,  who  woald  hav* 
robbed  him  of  his  clothes,  but  that  he  defended  himself,  and  broke  tVie 
head  of  one  of  them. 

The  real  fact,  however,  was  subsequently  discovered  ;  and  Draniatti 
bcmcr  taken  before  a  magistrate,  to  whom  he  confessed  his  crime,  the  boay 
of  Ins  wife  was  found  in  a  ditch  betw^een  Hyde  Park  and  Chelsea,  and  a 
track  of  blood  was  seen  to  the  distance  of  twenty  yards  ;  at  the  end  of  which 
a  piece  of  a  sword  was  found  sticking  in  a  bank,  which  fitted  the  other 
part  of  the  sword  in  the  prisoner's  possession.  The  circumstances  attending 
the  murder  being  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  jury,  the  culprit  was 
found  guilty,  condemned,  and,  on  the  21st  of  July,  1  70^3,  was  executed  at 
Tvbum. 


WILLIAM   ELBY. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

This  vouno-  man  was  born  m  the  year  1667,  at  Deptford,  in  Kent,  Aud 
served  his  time  with  a  blockmaker  at  Rotherhithe,  during  which  he  becanr; 
acquainted  with  some  women  of  ill  fame.  After  the  term  of  his  appren- 
ticeship had  expired,  he  kept  company  with  young  fellows  of  such  bad 
character,  that  he  found  it  necessary  to  enter  on  board  a  ship  to  prevent 
worse  consequences.  Having  returned  from  sea,  he  enlisted  as  a  soldier  ; 
but  while  in  this  situation  he  committed  many  small  thefts,  in  order  to 
support  the  women  with  whom  he  was  connected.  At  length  he  deserted 
from  the  army,  assumed  a  new  name,  and  prevailed  on  some  of  his  com 
panions  to  engage  in  housebreaking. 

Detection  soon  terminated  his  career,  and  in  September  1704,  he  was 

indicted    for    robbing  the   house  of Barry,    Esq.   of  Fulham,  and 

murdering  his  gardener.  Elby,  it  seems,  having  determined  on  robbing 
the  house,  arrived  at  Fulham  soon  after  midnight,  and  had  wrenched  open 
one  of  the  windows,  at  which  he  was  getting  in,  when  the  gardener, 
awaking,  came  down  to  prevent  the  intended  robbery  with  a  light  in  liis 
liand.  Elbv,  terrified  lest  he  should  be  known,  seized  a  knife  and  stabbed 
him  to  the  heart,  and  the  poor  man  immediately  fell  dead  at  his  feet. 
This  done,  he  broke  open  a  chest  of  drawers,  and  stole  about  two 
hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  with  which  he  repaired  to  his  associates  in 
London. 

The  murder  soon  became  the  subject  of  very  general  conversation,  and 
Elby  being  at  a  public-house  iu  the  Strand,  it  was  mentioned,  and  he 
became  so  alai-med  on  seeing  one  of  the  company  rise  and  quit  the  house, 
that  he  suddenly  ran  away,  without  paying  his  reckoning.  The  landlord 
was  enraged  at  his  being  cheated ;  and  learning  his  address  from  one  of 
his  companions,  he  caused  him  to  be  apprehended,  and  he  was  eventually 
committed  for  trial  on  suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  the  robbery  and 
murder. 

On  his  trial  he  steadily  denied  the  perpetration  of  the  crimes  with  which 
he  was  charged ;  and  his  conviction  would  have  been  very  doubtful,  had 
uot  a  woman  with  whom  he  cohabited  become  an  evidence,  and  sworn  that 
he  came  from  Fulham  with  the  money  the  morning  after  the  commission 
of  ihe  fact.     Some  other  persons  also  deposed  that  they  saw  him   come 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALETSDAR,  11 

out  ot  Mr.  Barry's  house  on  the  morning  the  murder  was  committed  ; 
and  he  was  found  guilty,  and  having  received  sentence  of  death,  was 
executed  at  Fulham,  on  the  13th  September,  1704,  and  was  hung  in 
cnains   near  the  same  place. 


JOHN  SMITH. 

CONVICTED    OF    ROBBERY. 


Though  the  crimes  committed  by  this  man  were  not  particularly 
atrocious,  nor  his  life  sufficiently  remarkable  for  a  place  in  this  work,  yet 
the  circumstances  attending  his  fate  at  the  place  of  execution  are  perhaps 
more  singulai-  than  any  we  may  have  to  record.  He  was  the  son  of  a 
farmer  at  IMalton,  about  fifteen  miles  from  the  city  of  York,  who  bound 
him  apprentice  to  a  packer  in  London,  with  whom  he  served  his  time,  and 
afterwards  worked  as  a  journeyman.  He  then  went  to  sea  on  board  a  man- 
of-war,  and  was  at  the  expedition  against  Vigo;  but  on  his  return  from 
that  service  he  was  discharged.  He  afterwards  enlisted  as  a  soldier  in 
the  regiment  of  Guards  commanded  by  Lord  Cutts ;  but  in  this  station  he 
soon  made  bad  connexions,  and  engaged  with  some  of  his  dissolute  com- 
panions as  a  housebreaker.  On  the  5th  of  December,  1705,  he  was 
arraigned  on  four  different  indictments,  on  two  of  which  he  was  convicted. 
While  he  lay  under  sentence  of  death,  he  seemed  very  little  affected  with 
his  situation,  absolutely  depending  on  a  reprieve,  through  the  interest  of 
his  friends.  An  order,  however,  came  for  his  execution  on  the  24th  day 
of  the  same  month,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  carried  to  Tyburn, 
where  he  performed  his  devotions,  and  was  turned  off  in  the  usual  manner  ; 
but  when  he  had  hung  near  fifteen  minutes,  the  people  present  cried  out, 
"  A  reprieve !"  Hereupon  the  malefactor  was  cut  down,  and,  being 
conveyed  to  a  house  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  soon  revived,  upon  his  being 
bled,  and  other  proper  remedies  applied. 

When  he  perfectly  recovered  his  senses,  he  was  asked  what  were  his 
feelings  at  the  time  of  execution ;  to  which  he  repeatedly  replied,  in 
substance,  as  follows  : — "  That  when  he  was  turned  off,  he,  for  some  time, 
was  sensible  of  ver}''  great  pain,  occasioned  by  the  weight  of  his  body,  and 
felt  his  spirits  in  a  strange  commotion,  violently  pressing  upwards ;  that 
having  forced  their  way  to  his  head,  he,  as  it  were,  saw  a  great  blaze,  or 
.glaring  light,  which  seemed  to  go  out  at  his  eyes  with  a  flash,  and  then  he 
lost  all  sense  of  pain.  That  after  he  was  cut  down,  and  began  to  come  to 
himself,  the  blood  and  spirits,  forcing  themselves  into  their  former  cliannels, 
put  him,  by  a  sort  of  pricking  or  shooting,  to  such  intolerable  pain,  that 
he  could  have  wished  those  hanged  who  had  cut  him  down."  From  this 
circumstance  he  was  called  "  Half-hanged  Smith."  After  this  narrow 
escape  from  the  grave.  Smith  pleaded  to  his  pardon  on  the  20tli  of 
February,  and  was  discharged ;  yet  such  was  his  propensity  to  evil  deeds, 
that  he  returned  to  his  former  practices,  and,  being  apprehended,  was  again 
tried  at  the  Old  Bailey,  for  housebreaking ;  but  some  difficulties  arising  in  the 
case,  the  affair  was  left  to  the  opinion  of  the  twelve  judges,  who  determined 
in  favour  of  the  prisoner.  After  this  second  extraordinary  escape,  he  was 
a  third  time  indicted  ;  but  the  yrosecutor  happenmg  to  die  before  the  day 


12  niE    NEW    NfWGATE    CALENDAR. 

of  trial,  he  once  more  obtained  that  libei'ty  wliich  his  conduct  phowe'^  ^e 
had  not  deserved. 

yVo  have  no  account  of  what  became  of  tliis  man  after  tliis  third  reraaric- 
able  incident  in  his  favour  ;  but  Christian  charity  inclines  us  to  hone  trat 
he  made  a  proper  use  of  the  singular  dispensation  of  Providence  evidenced 
in  his  own  person. 

It  was  not  unfrequently  the  case,  that,  in  Dublin,  men  were  formerly 
seen  walking  about  who,  it  was  known,  had  been  sentenced  to  suffer  the 
extreme  penalty  of  the  law,  and  upon  whom,  strange  as  it  may  appear  to 
im(>nlightened  eyes,  the  sentence  had  been  carried  out.  The  custom  until 
lately  was,  that  the  body  should  hang  only  half  an  hour;  and,  in  a  mis- 
taken lenity,  tlie  sheriff,  in  whose  hands  was  entrusted  the  execution  of 
the  law,  would  look  away,  after  the  prisoner  had  been  turned  off,  while 
tlie  friends  of  the  culprit  would  hold  up  their  companion  by  the  waistband 
of  his  breeches,  so  that  the  rope  sliould  not  press  upon  his  throat.  They 
would,  at  the  expiration  of  the  usual  time,  thrust  their  "  deceased"  friend 
into  a  cart,  in  which  they  would  gallop  him  over  all  the  stones  and  rough 
ground  they  came  near,  which  was  supposed  to  be  a  never-failing  recipe. 
in  order  to  revive  him,  professedly,  and  indeed  in  reality,  with  the  intention 
of  "waking"  him.  An  anecdote  is  related  of  a  fellow  named  ]\lahony, 
who  had  been  convicted  of  the  murder  of  a  Connaught-man,  in  one  of  the 
numerous  3Iunster  and  Connaught  wars,  and  whose  execution  had  been 
managed  in  the  manner  above  described ;  who,  being  put  into  the  cart 
in  a  coffin  by  his  Munster  friends,  on  his  way  home  was  so  revived,  and 
so  overjoyed  at  finding  himself  still  alive,  that  he  sat  upright  and  gave 
three  hearty  cheers,  by  way  of  assuring  his  friends  of  his  safety.  A 
"  jontleman "  who  was  shocked  at  this  indecent  conduct  in  his  defunct 
companion,  and  who  was,  besides,  afraid  of  their  scheme  being  discovered 
and  thwarted,  immediately,  w'ith  the  sapling  which  he  carried,  hit  him  a 
thump  on  the  head,  which  effectually  silenced  his  self-congratulations.  On 
their  arrival  at  home,  they  found  that  the  "  friendly  "  warning  which  had 
been  given  to  the  poor  wretch,  had  been  more  effectual  than  the  hangman's 
rope  ;  and  the  wailings  and  lamentations  which  had  been  employed  at  the 
place  of  execution  to  drown  the  encouraging  cries  of  the  aiders  of  the  cri- 
minal's escape,  were  called  forth  in  reality  at  his  wake  on  the  same  night. 
It  was  afterwards  a  matter  of  doubt  whether  ^he  fellow  who  dealt  the 
unfortunate  blow  ought  not  to  have  been  charged  with  the  murder  of  his 
half- hanged  companion;  but  "a  justice"  being  consulted,  it  was  thought 
no  one  could  be  successfully  charged  with  the  murder  of  a  man  wlio 
was  already  dead  in  law. 


WILLIAM  GREGG. 


EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

The  treason  of  which  this  offender  was  convicted  was  that  of  "  adhering 
to  the  Queen's  enemies,  and  giving  them  aid,  without  the  realm,"  which 
was  made  a  capital  offence  by  the  statute  of  Edward  III. 

It  appears  tliat  Gregg  was  a  native  of  JNIontrose,  in  Scotland,  and  having 
received  such  instruction  as  the  grammar-schools  of  the  place  afforded,  he 


^^ 


TUE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  13 

oompletcd  his  education  at  Aberdeen  university,  where  he  pursued  these 
studies  which  were  calculated  to  fit  him  for  the  profession  of  the  church, 
for  which  he  was  intended.  London,  however,  held  forth  so  many  attrac- 
tions to  his  youthful  eye,  that  the  wishes  of  his  relatives  were  soon 
overruled ;  and  having  visited  that  city,  Avith  good  introductions,  he  was, 
after  some  time,  appointed  secretary  to  the  ambassador  at  the  court  oi 
Sweden.  But  while  performing  the  duties  of  his  office,  he  was  guilty 
of  so  many  and  so  great  excesses,  that  he  was  at  length  compelled  to  retire, 
and  London  once  more  became  his  residence.  His  good  fortune  placed 
him  in  a  situation  alike  honourable  and  profitable,  but  his  dishonest  and 
traitorous  conduct  in  his  employment,  was  such  as  to  cost  him  his  life, 
and  to  involve  his  employers  in  political  difficulties  of  no  ordinary  kind. 
Having  been  engaged  by  Mr.  Secretary  Harley,  minister  of  the  reigning 
sovereign.  Queen  Anne,  to  write  despatches,  he  took  advantage  of  the 
knowledge  which  he  thus  gained,  and  voluntarily  opened  a  communication 
with  the  enemies  of  his  country.  England,  it  will  be  remembered,  was  at 
this  time  in  a  situation  of  no  ordinary  difficulty;  and  the  position  of  her 
Majesty's  ministers,  harassed  as  they  were  by  the  opposition  of  their 
political  antagonists,  was  rendered  even  more  difficult  by  the  disclosures  of 
their  traitorous  servant. 

We  shall  take  the  advantage  affin-ded  us  by  Bishop  Burnet's  History, 
of  laying  before  our  readers  a  more  authentic  account  of  this  transaction 
than  is  given  by  the  usual  channels  of  information  to  which  we  have 
access.  He  says,  "  At  this  time  two  discoveries  were  made  very  unlucky 
for  Mr.  Harley  :  Tallard  wrote  often  to  Chamillard,  but  he  sent  the  letters 
open  to  the  secretary's  office,  to  be  perused  and  sealed  up,  and  so  be  con- 
veyed by  the  way  of  Holland.  These  were  opened  upon  some  suspicion 
in  Holland,  and  it  appeared  that  one  in  the  secretary's  office  put  letters  in 
them,  in  which,  as  he  oftered  his  services  to  the  courts  of  France  and  St. 
Germains,  so  he  gave  an  account  of  all  transactions  here.  In  one  of  these 
he  sent  a  copy  of  the  letter  that  the  Queen  was  to  write  in  her  own  hand 
to  the  Emperor;  and  he  marked  what  parts  were  drawn  by  the  secretary, 
and  what  additions  were  made  to  it  by  the  lord  treasurer.  This  was  the 
letter  by  which  the  Queen  pressed  the  sending  Prince  Eugene  into  Spain ; 
and  tliis,  if  not  intercepted,  would  have  been  at  Versailles  many  days  before 
it  could  reach  Vienna. 

"  He  wdio  sent  this  wrote,  that  by  this  they  might  see  what  service  he 
could  do  them,  if  well  encouraged.  All  this  was  sent  over  to  the  Duke  of 
Marlborough  ;  and,  upon  search,  it  was  found  to  be  written  by  one  Gregg, 
a  clerk,  whom  Harley  had  not  only  entertained,  but  had  taken  into  a 
particular  confidence,  without  inquiring  into  the  former  parts  of  his  life ; 
for  he  was  a  vicious  and  necessitous  person,  who  had  been  secretary  to  the 
Queen's  envoy  in  Denmark,  but  was  dismissed  by  him  for  his  ill  qualities. 
Harley  had  made  use  of  him  to  get  him  intelligence,  and  he  came  to  trust 
him  with  the  perusal  and  sealing  up  of  the  letters,  which  the  French 
prisoners,  here  in  England,  sent  over  to  Fi'ance ;  and  by  that  means  he  gof, 
into  the  method  of  sending  intelligence  thither.  He,  when  seized  on,  either 
ui)on  remorse  or  hopes  of  pardon,  confessed  all,  and  signed  his  confession  : 
apon  that  he  was  tried,  and,  pleading  guilty,  was  condemned  as  a  traitor, 
for  corresponding  with  the  Queen's  enemies. 

"  At  the  same  time  Valiere  and  Bara,  whom  Harley  had  employed  as 


!4  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

nis  spies  to  go  often  over  to  Calais,  under  the  pretence  of  bringinc  him 
intelligence,  were  informed  against,  as  spies  employed  by  France  to  get 
intelligence  from  England,  who  earned  over  many  letters  to  Calais  and 
Boulogne,  and,  as  was  believed,  gave  such  information  of  our  trade  and 
convoys,  that  by  their  means  we  had  made  our  great  losses  at  sea.  They 
were  often  complained  of  upon  suspicion,  but  they  were  always  protected 
by  Harley ;  yet  the  presumptions  against  them  were  so  violent,  that  thev 
were  at  last  seized  on,  and  brought  up  prisoners." 

The  Whigs  took  such  advantage  of  this  circumstance,  that  Mr.  Harley 
was  obliged  to  resign  ;  and  his  enemies  were  inclined  to  carry  matters  still 
further,  and  were  resolved,  if  possible,  to  find  out  evidence  enough  to  affect 
his  life.  AV'ith  this  view,  the  House  of  Lords  ordered  a  committee  to 
examine  Gregg  and  the  other  prisoners,  who  were  very  assiduous  in  the 
discharge  of  their  commission,  as  will  appear  by  the  following  account, 
written  by  the  same  author : — 

"  The  Lords  who  were  appointed  to  examine  Gregg  could  not  find  out 
much  by  him :  he  had  but  newly  begun  his  designs  of  betraying  secrets, 
and  he  had  no  associates  with  him  in  it.  He  told  them  that  all  the  papers 
of  state  lay  so  carelessly  about  the  office  that  every  one  belonging  to  it, 
even  the  door-keepers,  m.ight  have  read  them  all.  Harley's  custom  was 
to  come  to  the  office  late  on  post-nights,  and,  after  he  had  given  his  orders, 
and  wrote  his  letters,  he  usually  went  away,  and  left  all  to  be  copied  out 
when  he  was  gone.  By  that  means  he  came  to  see  every  thing,  in 
particular  the  Queen's  letter  to  the  Emperor.  He  said  he  knew  the  design 
on  Toulon  in  May  last,  but  he  did  not  discover  it ;  for  he  had  not  entered 
on  his  ill  practices  till  October,     This  was  all  he  could  say. 

"  By  the  examination  of  Valiere  and  Bara,  and  of  many  others  who 
lived  about  Dover,  and  Avere  employed  by  them,  a  discovery  was  made  of 
a  constant  intercourse  they  were  in  with  Calais,  under  Harley's  protection. 
They  often  went  over  with  boats  full  of  wool,  and  brought  back  brandy, 
though  both  the  import  and  export  were  severely  prohibited.  They,  and 
those  who  belonged  to  the  boats  carried  over  by  them,  were  well  treated 
on  the  French  side  at  the  governor's  house,  or  at  the  commissary's :  they 
were  kept  there  till  their  letters  were  sent  to  Paris,  and  till  returns  could 
be  brought  back,  and  were  all  the  while  upon  free  cost.  The  order  that 
was  constantly  given  them  was,  that  if  an  English  or  Dutch  ship  came  up 
with  them,  they  should  cast  their  letters  into  the  sea,  but  that  they  should 
not  do  it  when  French  ships  came  up  with  them  :  so  they  were  looked  on 
by  all  on  that  coast  as  the  spies  of  France.  Tliey  used  to  get  what  infor- 
mation they  could,  both  of  merchant-ships  and  of  the  ships  of  war  that  lay 
in  the  Downs,  and  upon  that  they  usually  went  over  ;  and  it  happened 
that  soon  after  some  of  those  ships  were  taken.  Th.ese  men,  as  they  were 
Papists,  so  they  behaved  themselves  insolently,  and  boasted  nmch  of  their 
power  and  credit. 

"•'•  Complaints  had  been  often  made  of  them,  but  they  were  always 
protected  ;  nor  did  it  appear  that  they  ever  brought  any  information  of 
importance  to  Harley  but  once,  when,  according  to  what  they  swore,  they 
told  him  that  Fourbin  was  gone  from  Dunkirk,  to  lie  in  wait  for  the 
Russian  fleet,  which  proved  to  be  true  ;  ne  both  went  to  watch  for  them, 
and  he  took  the  greater  part  of  the  fleet.  Yet,  thougli  this  was  a  single 
piece  of  intelligence  that  they  ever  brought,  Harley  took  so  little  notice  of 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  15 

it,  ttat  lie  gave  no  advertisement  to  the  Admiralty  concerning  it.  This 
particular  excepted,  they  only  brought  over  common  news,  and  the  Paris 
Gazeteer.  These  examinations  lasted  for  some  weeks :  when  they  were 
ended,  a  full  report  was  made  of  them  to  the  House  of  Lords,  and  they 
ordered  the  whole  report,  with  all  the  examinations,  to  be  laid  before  the 
Queen." 

Upon  the  conviction  of  Gregg,  both  houses  of  parliament  petitioned  the 
Queen  that  he  might  be  executed;  and,  on  the  ti8th  April,  1708,  he  was 
accordingly  hanged  at  Tyburn. 

While  on  the  scaffold,  he  delivered  a  paper  to  the  sheriffs  of  London 
and  Middlesex,  in  which  he  acknowledged  the  justice  of  his  sentence, 
declared  his  sincere  repentance  of  all  his  sins,  particularly  that  lately 
committed  against  the  Queen,  whose  forgiveness  he  devoutly  implored. 
He  also  expressed  his  wish  to  make  all  possible  reparation  for  the  injuries 
he  had  done  ;  and  testified  the  perfect  innocence  of  Mr.  Secretary  Harley, 
whom  he  declared  to  have  been  no  party  to  his  proceedings.  He  professed 
that  he  died  a  member  of  the  Protestant  church  ;  and  declared  that  the 
want  of  money  to  supply  his  extravagances  had  tempted  him  to  commit 
the  fatal  crime,  which  cost  him  his  life. 

It  is  a  remarkable  circumstance  in  the  life  of  this  offender,  that  while  he 
was  corresponding  with  the  enemy,  and  taking  measures  to  subvert  the 
government,  he  had  no  predilection  in  favour  of  the  Pretender.  On  the 
contrary,  he  declared,  while  he  was  under  sentence  of  death,  that  "  he 
never  thought  he  had  any  right  to  the  throne  of  these  realms." 


RICHARD  THORNHILL,  ESQ., 

CONVICTED    OF    MANSLAUGHTER,    IN    KILLING    SIR   C.  PEERING    IN    A    DUEL. 

This  was  a  case  which  arose  out  of  the  practice  of  duelling,  which  has 
always  existed  almost  peculiarly  among  the  higher  classes  of  society  Mr. 
Thornhill  and  Sir  Cholmondeley  Deering  having  dined  together  on  the  7t!i 
of  April,  1711,  in  company  with  several  other  gentlemen,  at  the  Toy  at 
Hampton  Court,  a  quarrel  arose,  during  which  Sir  Cholmondeley  struck 
Mr.  Thornhill.  A  scuffle  ensuing,  the  wainscot  of  the  room  broke  down, 
and  Thornhill  falling,  the  other  stamped  on  him,  and  beat  out  some  of  his 
teeth.  The  company  now  interposed,  and  Sir  Cholmondeley,  convinced  that 
he  had  acted  improperly,  declared  that  he  was  willing  to  ask  pardon  ;  but 
Mr.  Thornhill  said,  that  asking  pardon  was  not  a  proper  retaliation  for  the 
injury  that  he  had  received  ;  adding,  "  Sir  Cholmondeley,  you  know  where 
to  find  me."  Soon  after  this  the  company  broke  up,  and  the  parties  went 
home  in  different  coaches,  without  any  farther  steps  being  taken  towards 
their  reconciliation. 

On  the  next  day,  the  following  letter  was  written  by  Mr.  Thornhill  :^ 

"AimlSth,  1711. 
«  Sir, — I  shall  be  able  to  go  abroad  to-morrow  morning,  and  desire  you 
will  give  me  a  meeting  with   your  sword  and   pistols,  which  I   insist  on 
The  worthy  gentleman  who  brings  you  this  will  concert  with  you  the  timti 


16  THE   NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR. 

and  place.     I  think  Tothill  Fields  will  do  well ;  Hyde  Park  will  not  at 
this  time  of  year,  being  full  of  company. 

"  I  am  your  humble  servant, 

"  Richard  TnoRXHiLr,. 

On  the  9th  of  April,  Sir  Cholmondeley  went  to  the  lodgings  of  Mr 
Thornhill,  and  the  servant  showed  him  to  the  dining-room.  He  ascendeJ 
with  a  bnice  of  pistols  in  his  hands  ;  and  soon  afterwards,  ]\Ir.  Thornhill 
coming  to  him,  asked  him  if  he  would  drink  tea,  but  he  declined.  A 
hackney-coach  was  then  sent  for,  and  the  gentlemen  rode  to  Tothill 
Fields,  where,  unattended  by  seconds,  they  proceeded  to  fight  their  duel. 
They  fired  their  pistols  almost  at  the  same  moment,  and  Sir  Cholmondeley, 
being  mortally  wounded,  fell  to  the  ground.  Mr.  Thornhill,  after  lament- 
ing the  unhappy  catastrophe,  was  going  away,  when  a  person  stopped  him, 
told  him  he  had  been  guilty  of  murder,  and  took  him  before  a  justice  oi 
the  peace,  who  committed  him  to  prison. 

On  the  18th  of  May,  Mr.  Thornhill  was  indicted  at  the  Old  Bailey  ses- 
sions for  the  murder  ;  and  the  facts  already  detailed  having  been  proved, 
the  accused  called  several  witnesses  to  show  how  ill  he  had  been  used  by 
Sir  Cholmondeley  ;  that  he  had  languished  some  time  of  the  wounds  he 
had  received  ;  during  which  he  could  take.no  other  sustenance  than  liquids, 
and  that  his  life  was  in  Imminent  danger.  Several  persons  of  distinction 
swore  that  Mr.  Thornhill  was  of  a  peaceable  disposition,  and  that,  on  the 
contrary,  the  deceased  was  of  a  remarkably  quarrelsome  temper;  and  it 
was  also  deposed,  that  Sir  Cholmondeley,  being  asked  if  he  came  by  his 
hurt  through  unfair  usage,  replied,  "  No  :  poor  Thornhill !  I  am  sorry 
for  him  ;  this  misfortune  ^^as  my  own  fault,  and  of  my  own  seeking.  I 
heartily  forgive  him,  and  desire  you  all  to  take  notice  of  it,  that  it  may 
be  of  some  service  to  him,  and  that  one  misfortune  may  not  occasion 
another." 

The  jury  acqiiitted  Mr.  Thornhill  of  the  murder,  but  found  him  guilty 
of  manslaughter ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  burnt  in  the  hand. 


COLONEL  JOHN  HAMILTON. 

CONVICTED    OF    MANSLAUGHTER    AS    SECOND    IX    A    DUEL. 

There  was  no  occurrence  which  at  the  time  occupied  so  much  of  the 
public  attention,  and  excited  so  much  general  interest,  as  the  duel  which 
took  place  in  the  year  1711,  between  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  and  Lord 
Mohun  ;  in  which,  unhappily,  both  the  principals  fell. 

The  gentleman  who  is  the  subject  of  the  present  notice,  was  the  second 
of  the  noble  duke,  and  appears  to  have  been  connected  witli  him  by  the 
ties  of  relationship.  At  the  sessions  held  at  the  Old  Bailey,  on  the  1 1th 
of  September,  he  was  indicted  for  the  murder  of  Charles  Lord  JNIohun, 
Baron  of  Oakhampton,  on  the  15th  of  November  preceding;  and  at  the 
same  time  he  vfas  indicted  for  abetting  Charles  Lord  j\Iohun,  and  George 
Macartney,  Esq.,  in  the  murder  of  James,  Duke  of  Hamilton  and  Brandon. 
Colonel  Hamilton  pleaded  not  guilty;  and  evidence  Avas  then  adduced,  which 
showed  that  Lord  IMohun  having  met  the  Duke  of  Hamilton  at  the  cliam- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  ]7 

hers  of  a  master  in  chancery,  on  Thursday  the  13tli  of  Novcmher,  a  mis- 
nuderstanding  arose  between  them  respecting  the  testimony  of  a  witness. 

On  the  return  home  of  his  lordship,  he  directed  that  no  person  should 
be  admitted  to  liim,  except  Mr.  INIacartney  ;  and  subsequently  he  went  with 
that  o-entleman  to  a  tavern.  The  Duke  of  Hamilton  and  his  second. 
Colonel  Hamilton,  were  also  at  the  tavci'n  ;  and  from  thence  they  all  pro- 
ceeded to  Hyde  Park.  The  only  evidence  which  exhibited  the  real  circum- 
stances immediately  attending  the  duel,  was  that  of  William  Morris,  a 
proom,  who  deposed  that,  "  as  he  was  walking  lis  horses  towards  Hyde 
Park,  he  followed  a  hackney-coach  with  two  gentlemen  in  it,  whom  he 
saw  alight  by  the  Lodge,  and  walk  together  towards  the  left  part  of  the 
ring.  They  were  there  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  when  he  saw  two  other 
gentlemen  come  to  them  ;  and,  after  liaving  saluted  each  other,  one  of  them, 
who  he  was  since  told  was  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  threw  off  his  cloak  ; 
and  one  of  the  other  two,  who  he  now  understands  was  Lord  Mohun,  his 
surtout  coat,  and  all  immediately  drew.  The  duke  and  lord  pushed  at  each 
other  but  a  very  little  wdiile,  when  the  duke  closed,  and  took  the  lord  by 
the  collar,  who  fell  down  and  groaned,  and  the  duke  fell  upon  him.  That 
just  as  Lord  ]\Iohun  was  dropping,  he  saw  him  lay  hold  of  tlie  duke's 
sword,  but  could  not  tell  whether  the  sword  was  at  that  time  in  his  body  ; 
nor  did  he  see  any  wound  given  after  the  closing,  and  was  sure  Lord 
3Iohun  did  not  shorten  his  sword.  He  declared  he  did  not  see  the  seconds 
fight;  but  they  had  their  swords  in  their  hands,  assisting  their  lords." 

It  further  appeared  that  the  bodies  of  the  deceased  noblemen  were 
examined  by  Messrs.  Boussier  and  Amie,  surgeons  ;  and  that  in  that  of  the 
duke,  a  wound  was  found  between  the  second  and  third  ribs  on  his  right 
side  ;  and  also  that  there  were  wounds  in  his  right  arm,  which  had  cut  the 
artery  and  one  of  the  small  tendons,  as  well  as  others  in  his  right  and  left 
leg.  There  was  also  a  wound  in  his  left  side  between  liis  second  and  third 
ribs,  which  ran  down  into  his  body,  and  pierced  the  midriff  and  caul  :  but 
it  ajiju'ared  that  the  immediate  cause  of  the  sudden  death  of  his  grace  was 
tiie  wound  in  his  arm.  It  was  further  proved,  as  regarded  the  body  of 
Lord  Mohun,  that  there  was  a  wound  between  the  short  ribs,  quite 
through  his  belly,  and  another  about  three  inches  deep  in  the  upper  part  of 
his  thigh  ;  a  large  wound,  about  four  inches  wide,  in  his  groin,  a  little 
higher,  which  was  the  cause  of  his  immediate  death  ;  and  another  small 
wound  on  his  left  side  ;  and  that  the  fingers  of  his  left  hand  were  cut. 

Tije  defence  made  by  the  prisoner  was,  that  "the  duke  called  him  to  go 
abroad  with  him,  but  he  knew  not  anytliing  of  the  matter  till  he  came 
into  the  field." 

Some  Scottish  noblemen,  and  other  gentlemen  of  rank,  gave  Mr.  Hamilton 
a  very  excellent  character,  asserting  that  he  was  brave,  honest,  and  inoftln- 
sive  ;  and  the  jury,  having  considered  of  the  affair,  gave  a  verdict  of  "  Man- 
slaughter;" in  consequence  of  which  the  prisoner  prayed  the  benefit  of  the 
statute,  which  was  allowed  him. 

At  the  time  the  lives  of  these  noblemen  were  thus  unfortunately  sacri- 
ficed, many  persons  thought  they  fell  by  the  hands  of  the  seconds ;  and 
some  writers  en  the  subject  subsequently  affected  to  be  of  the  same  opinion  : 
but  nothing  appears  in  the  written  or  printed  accounts  of  the  transaction, 
nor  did  anything  arise  en  the  trial,  to  warrant  so  ungenerous  a  suspicion  ; 
it  is  therefore  but  justice  to  the  memory  of  all  the  parties  to  discredit  sucli 
insinuations. 

VOL,    I.  D 


13  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALEMDAR. 


WILLIAM  LOWTHER  AND  RICHARD  KEELE, 

EXECUTED     FOR    THE    MURDER    JF   EDWARD    PERRY,    A    TURNKEY    OF    CLERKENWEtL 

PRIDEWELL. 

William  Lowther  was  a  native  of  Cumberland,  and  being  bound  to 
the  master  of  a  Newcastle  ship  which  traded  to  London,  he  became 
acquainted  with  low  abandoned  company  in  the  metropolis.  Richard 
Keele  was  a  native  of  Hampshire,  and  served  his  time  to  a  barber  at  Win- 
chester ;  and  on  coming  to  London,  he  married  and  settled  in  his  own 
business  in  Rotherhithe  :  but  not  living  happily  witli  his  wife,  he  parted 
from  her,  cohabited  with  another  woman,  and  associated  with  a  number  of 
disorderly  people. 

On  the  10th  of  December,  1713,  they  were  indicted  at  the  Old  Bailey, 
for  assisting  Charles  Houghton  in  the  murder  of  Edward  Perry.  The 
case  was  as  follows  : — The  prisoners,  together  with  two  other  desperate 
oftenders,  of  the  name  of  Houghton  and  CuUum,  having  been  convicted  of 
felony  at  the  Old  Bailey,  were  sentenced  to  be  kept  to  hard  labour  in 
Clerkenwell  Bridewell  for  t^vo  years.  On  their  being  carried  thither,  Mr. 
Boreman,  the  keeper,  thought  it  necessary  to  put  them  in  irons,  to  prevent 
their  escape.  This  they  all  refused  to  submit  to ;  and  Boreman  having 
ordered  the  irons,  they  broke  into  the  room  where  the  arms  were  deposited, 
seized  wliat  they  thought  fit,  and  then  attacked  the  keeper  and  his  assist- 
ants, and  cruelly  beat  them.  Lowther  bit  off  part  of  a  man's  nose.  At 
this  time.  Perry,  one  of  the  turnkeys,  was  without  the  gate,  and  desired 
the  prisoners  to  be  peaceable  ;  but,  advancing  towards  them,  he  was 
stabbed  by  Houghton,  and,  during  the  fray,  Houghton  was  sliot  dead. 
Tiie  prisoners  being  at  length  victorious,  many  of  them  made  their  escape  ; 
but  the  neighbours  giving  their  assistance,  Keele  and  Lowther,  and  several 
others,  were  taken  and  convicted  on  the  clearest  evidence. 

Some  time  after  conviction,  a  smith  went  to  the  prison  to  take  measure 
of  them  for  chains,  in  which  they  were  to  be  hung,  pursuant  to  an  order 
from  tlie  secretary  of  state's  office;  but  they  for  some  time  resisted  him  in 
this  duty. 

On  the  morning  of  execution  (tlie  13th  December,  1713),  they  were 
carried  from  Newgate  to  Clerkenwell  Green,  and  there  hanged  on  a 
gallows  ;  after  which,  their  bodies  were  put  in  a  cart,  drawn  by  four 
horses,  decorated  with  plumes  of  black  feathers,  and  hung  in  chains. 


WILLIAM  JOHNSON  AND  JANE  HOUSDEN. 

EXECUTED    FOR   THE    MURDER    OF    SPURLING,    A    TURNKEY    IN    THE     OLD     BAILEY. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that  two  instances  should  have  occurred 
within  so  short  a  space  of  time  as  nine  montlis,  in  which  the  officers  of  the 
Crown  should  have  fallen  victims  to  the  exertions  which  they  were  com- 
pelled to  make  in  the  discharge  of  their  duties.  The  male  prisoner  in  this 
ease,  William  Johnson,  was  a  native  of  Northamptonshire,  where  he  served 
his  time  to  a  butcher,  and,  removing  to  London,  he  opened  a  shop  in  New- 


TRK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  I'J 

port  Market ;  but  business  not  succeeding  to  his  expectation,  he  pursued 
a  variety  of  speculations,  until  at  length  he  sailed  to  Gibraltar,  where  he 
was  appointed  a  mate  to  one  of  the  surgeons  of  the  garrison.  Having 
saved  some  money  at  this  place,  became  back  to  his  native  country,  ■where 
he  soon  spent  it,  and  then  had  recourse  to  the  highway  for  a  supply. 
Being  apprehended  in  consequence  of  one  of  his  robberies,  he  was  convicted, 
but  received  a  pardon.  Previously  to  this  he  had  been  acquainted  with 
Jane  Housden,  his  fellow  in  crime,  who  had  been  tried  and  convicted  of 
coining,  but  had  obtained  a  pardon;  but  who,  in  September,  1714,  was 
again  in  custody  for  a  similar  ofience.  On  the  day  that  she  was  to  be 
tried,  and  just  as  she  was  brought  down  to  the  bar  of  the  Old  Bailey, 
Johnson  called  to  see  her  ;  but  Mr.  Spurling,  the  head  turnkey,  telling 
him  that  he  could  not  speak  to  her  till  her  trial  was  ended,  he  instantly 
drew  a  pistol,  and  shot  Spurling  dead  on  the  spot,  in  the  presence  of  the 
court  and  all  the  ])ersous  attending  to  hear  the  trials,  Mrs.  Housden  at 
the  same  time  encouraging  him  in  the  perpetration  of  this  singular  nmr- 
der.  The  event  had  no  sooner  happened,  than  the  judges,  thinking  it  unne- 
cessary to  proceed  on  the  trial  of  the  woman  for  coining,  ordered  both  the 
parties  to  be  tried  for  the  murder  ;  and  there  being  many  witnesses  to  the 
deed,  they  were  convicted,  and  received  sentence  of  death.  From  this  time 
to  that  of  their  execution,  which  took  place  September  19th  1714,  and 
even  at  the  place  of  their  death,  they  behaved  as  if  they  were  wholly 
insensible  of  the  enormity  of  the  crime  which  they  had  committed  ;  and 
notwithstanding  the  publicity  of  their  offence,  they  had  the  confidence  to 
deny  it  to  the  last  moment  of  their  lives :  nor  did  they  show  any  signs  of 
compunction  for  their  former  sins.  After  hanging  the  usual  time,  Johnson 
was  hung  in  chains  near  Holloway,  between  Islington  and  Highgate, 


THE  EARL  OF  DERWENTWATER,  LORD  KEXxMURE. 
THE  EARL  OF  WINTON,  AND  OTHERS, 

EXECUTED    FOR    TEEASON. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  crime  of  these  individuals,  intimately 
connected  as  they  were  with  the  history  of  the  Royal  Family  of  England, 
must  be  too  well  known  to  require  them  to  be  minutely  repeated.  On  the 
accession  of  George  the  First  to  the  throne  of  Great  13ritain,  the  question 
of  the  right  of  succession  of  King  James  the  Third,  as  he  was  termed, 
which  had  long  been  secretly  agitated,  began  to  be  referred  to  more 
openly  ;  and  his  friends,  finding  themselves  in  considerable  force  in  Scot- 
land, sent  an  invitation  to  him  in  France,  where  he  had  taken  refuge,  to 
join  them,  for  the  purpose  of  making  a  demonstration,  and  of  endeavouring 
to  assume  by  force,  that  which  was  denied  him  as  of  right.  The  noble- 
men, whose  names  appear  at  the  head  of  this  article,  were  not  the  least 
active  in  their  endeavours  to  support  the  title  of  the  Pretender,  by  enlisting 
men  under  his  standard  ;  and  their  proceedings,  altiiough  conducted  with 
all  secrecy,  were  soon  made  known  to  the  government.  The  necessary 
steps  were  immediately  taken  for  quelling  the  anticipated  rebellion ;  and 
many  persons  were  apprehended  on  suspicion  of  secretly  aiding  the  rebels, 
and  were  committed  to  tiaol. 


20 


TUE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALE.NDAF!. 


Meanwhile  the  Earl  of  Mar,  the  chief  supporter  of  tlie  Pretender,  wag 
in  open  rebellion  at  the  liead  of  an  army  of  3000  men,  which  was  rapidly 
increasing,  marchinp- from  town  t)  town  in  Scotland,  proclaiming  the  Pre- 
tender as  King  of  England  and  Scotland,  by  the  title  of  James  III.  An 
attempt  was  made  by  stratagem  to  surprise  the  castle  of  Edinburgh;  and 
with  tliis  object,  son)e  of  the  king's  soldiers  were  base  enough  to  receive  a 
bribe  to  admit  those  of  the  Earl  of  ]Mar,  who  were,  by  means  of  ladders  of 
•  rope,  to  scale  the  walls,  and  surprise  the  guard  ;  but  the  Lord  Justice  Clerk, 
having  some  suspicion  of  the  treachery,  seized  the  guilty,  and  many  of 
them  were  executed. 

Tlie  rebels  were  greatly  chagrined  at  this  failure  of  their  attempt ;  and 
the  French  king^  Louis  XIV.,  from  whom  t?iey  hoped  for  assistance,  dying 
about  this  tinw,  the  leaders  became  disheartened,  and  contemplated  the 
abandonment  of  their  project,  until  their  king  could  appear  in  person  among 
them. 

They  were  aided,  however,  by  the  discontent  which  showed  itself  in 
another  quarter.  In  Northumberland  the  spirit  of  rebellion  was  fermented 
by  Thomas  Forster,  then  one  of  the  members  of  parliament  for  that  county  ; 
who,  being  joined  by  several  noblemen  and  gentlemen,  attempted  to  seize 
the  large  and  commercial  town  of  Newcastle,  but  was  driven  back  by  the 
friends  of  the  government.  Forster  now  set  up  the  standard  of  the  Pre- 
tender, and  proclaimed  him  the  lawful  king  of  Great  Britain  and  Scotland, 
wherever  he  went ;  and,  eventually  joining  the  Scotch  rebels,  he  marched 
with  them  to  Preston,  in  Lancashire.  They  were  there  attacked  by  Ge- 
nerals Carpenter  and  AVills,  who  succeeded  in  routing  them,  and  in  making 
1500  persons  prisoners;  amongst  whom  wei*e  the  Earl  of  Derwentwatei 
and  Lord  AVidrington,  English  peers  ;  and  the  Earls  of  Nithisdale,  Win- 
ton,  and  Carnwarth,  Viscount  Kenmure,  and  Lord  Nairn,  Scotch  peers. 

These  noblemen,  with  about  three  hundred  more  rebels,  were  conveyed 
to  London  ;  while  the  remainder,  taken  at  the  battle  of  Preston,  were  sent 
to  Liverpool,  and  its  adjacent  towns.  At  Highgate,  the  party  intended  for 
trial  in  London  was  met  by  a  strong  detachment  of  foot-guards,  ^Yho  tied 
them  back  to  back,  and  placed  two  on  each  horse  ;  and  in  this  ignomi- 
nious manner  were  they  held  up  to  the  derision  of  the  populace,  the  lords 
being  conveyed  to  the  Tower,  and  the  otliers  to  Newgate  and  other 
prisons. 

The  Earl  of  Mar,  on  the  day  of  the  battle,  attempted  to  cross  the  Forth, 
btit  was  prevented  by  a  squadron  of  the  British  fleet,  which  had  anchored 
off  Edinburgh  ;  and  Sir  John  ^Mackenzie,  on  the  part  of  the  Pretender, 
having  fortified  the  town  of  Inverness,  Lord  Lovat,  (at  this  tmie  an  adlie- 
rent  of  the  reigning  monarch,  but  subsequently  a  friend  to  the  cause  of  the 
Stuarts,  for  aiding  whose  rebellion  in  1745  he  was  beheaded,)  armed  his 
tenants,  and  drove  him  from  his  fortifications.  The  Pretender  subsequently 
manaoed  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  British  ships  appointed  to  prevent 
his  landing,  and  crossing  the  Channel  in  a  small  French  vessel,  disembaiked 
in  Scotland,  with  only  six  followers  ;  but  having  obtained  the  assistance  of 
a  few  half-armed  Higlilanders,  on  the  9th  of  January  1716,  he  made  a 
public  entry  into  the  palace  of  Scone,  the  ancient  place  of  coronation  for 
the  Scottish  kings.  He  there  assumed  the  functions  of  a  king,  and  so  mueli 
of  the  powers  of  royalty  as  he  was  able  to  secure,  and  issued  a  proclama- 
lion  for  his  coronation.     The  Duke  of  Argyle,  at  this  time  with  his  army 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  f>l 

in  winter  quarter?  at  Stirling,  however,  determined  to  attack  tlie  rebel 
forces,  and  advancing  upon  tliem,  tb.ey  fled  at  his  approach.  The  Pre- 
tender having  been  encouraged  to  rebel  by  France,  was  in  anticipation  of 
receiving  succour  at  the  hands  of  the  French  king,  and  in  the  hope  of  sonif, 
aid  reaching  him,  he  proceeded  to  Dundee,  and  thence  to  Montrose,  where 
soon  rendered  hopeless  by  receiving  no  news  of  the  approach  of  the  forei  oners, 
he  dismissed  his  adherents.  The  king's  troops  pursued  and  put  several 
to  death  ;  but  the  Pretender,  accompanied  by  the  Earl  of  JMar,  and  some 
of  the  leaders  of  the  rebellion,  had  the  good  fortune  to  get  on  board  a  ship 
lying  before  Montrose ;  and,  in  a  dark  night,  put  to  sea,  escaped  the  EnglLsli 
fleet,  and  landed  in  France. 

The  unfortunate  noblemen  who  had  been  secured  were,  meanwhile,  com  - 
mitted  to  the  custody  of  the  keeper  of  the  Tower ;  and  the  House  of  Com- 
mons unanimously  agreed  to  impeach  them,  and  expel  Forster  from  his 
seat  as  one  of  their  members ;  while  the  courts  of  common  law  proceeded 
with  the  trials  of  those  of  less  note.  The  articles  of  impeachment  beino- 
sent  by  the  Commons,  the  Lords  sat  in  judgment;  Earl  Cowper,  the  Lord 
Chancellor  of  England,  being  constituted  Lord  High  Steward. 

All  the  Peers  who  were  charged,  except  the  Earl  of  Winton,  pleaded 
guilty  to  the  indictment,  but  oftered  pleas  of  extenuation  for  their  guilt,  in 
hopes  of  obtaining  mercy.  In  that  of  the  Earl  of  Derwentwater,  he  sug- 
gested that  the  proceedings  in  the  House  of  Commons,  in  impeaching  him, 
were  illegal. 

Proclamation  was  then  made,  and  the  Lord  High  Steward  proceeded  to 
pass  sentence  upon  James  Earl  of  Derwentwater,  William  Lord  Widdrincr- 
ton,  William  Earl  of  Nithisdale,  Robert  Earl  of  Carnwarth,  AYilliam 
Viscount  Kenmure,  and  William  Lord  Nairn. 

His  lordship  having  detailed  the  circumstances  attending  their  impeach- 
ment, and  having  answered  the  argumentative  matter  contained  in  their 
pleas,  and  urged  in  extenuation  of  their  offences,  proceeded  to  say, — 

*■'  It  is  my  duty  to  exhort  your  lordships  to  think  of  the  aggravations. 
as  well  as  the  mitigations  (if  there  be  any),  of  your  offences  ;  and  if  I  could 
have  the  least  hopes  that  the  prejudices  of  habit  and  education  would  not 
be  too  strong  for  the  most  earnest  and  charitable  entreaties,  I  would  beg 
you  not  to  rely  any  longer  on  those  directors  of  your  consciences  by  whose 
conduct  you  have,  very  probably,  been  led  into  this  miserable  condition 
(in  allusion  to  their  lordships  being  members  of  the  Roman  Catholic  church) ; 
but  that  your  lordships  would  be  assisted  by  some  of  those  pious  and 
learned  divines  of  the  church  of  England,  who  have  constantly  borne  that 
infallible  mark  of  sincere  Christians,  universal  charity. 

"  And  now,  my  lords,  nothing  remains  but  that  I  pronounce  upon  you 
(and  sorry  I  am  that  it  falls  to  my  lot  to  do  it)  that  terrible  sentence  of  the 
law,  which  must  be  the  same  that  is  usually  given  against  the  meanest 
offender  of  the  like  kind. 

"  The  most  ignominious  and  painful  parts  of  it  are  usually  remitted,  by 
the  grace  of  the  crown,  to  persons  of  your  quality  ;  but  the  law,  in  tliis  case, 
being  deaf  to  all  distinctions  of  persons,  requires  I  should  pronounce,  and 
accordingly  it  is  adjudged  by  this  court, 

"  That  you,  James  earl  of  Derwentwater,  William  lord  Widdrington. 
William  earl  of  Nithisdale,  Robert  earl  of  Carnwarth,  ^Villiam  viscount 


22  THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Kcnmure,  and  William  lord  Nairn,  and  every  of  you,  return  to  the  prison 
of  the  Tower,  from  whence  you  came  ;  from  thence  you  must  be  drawn  to 
the  place  of  execution ;  when  you  come  there,  you  must  be  hanged  by  the 
neck,  but  not  till  you  be  dead  ;  for  you  must  be  cut  down  alive ;  then  your 
bowels  must  be  taken  out,  and  burnt  before  your  faces ;  then  your  heads 
must  be  severed  from  your  bodies,  and  your  bodies  divided  each  into  four 
quarters  ;  and  these  must  be  at  the  king's  disposal.  And  God  Almighty 
be  merciful  to  your  souls." 

After  sentence  thus  passed,  the  lords  were  remanded  to  the  Tower,  and 
on  the  1  hth  of  February  orders  were  sent  to  the  lieutenant  of  the  Tower, 
and  the  sherifts,  for  their  execution.  Great  solicitations  were  made  in 
favour  of  them,  which  not  only  reached  the  court,  but  the  two  houses  of 
parliament,  and  petitions  were  delivered  in  both,  which  being  supported, 
occasioned  debates.  That  in  the  House  of  Commons  went  no  farther  than 
to  occasion  a  motion  for  adjournment,  so  as  to  prevent  any  farther  interpo- 
sition there ;  but  the  matter  in  the  House  of  Peers  was  carried  on  with 
more  success,  where  petitions  were  delivered  and  spoke  to,  and  it  was 
carried  by  nine  or  ten  voices  that  they  should  be  received  and  read.  The 
question  was  also  put,  whether  the  King  had  power  to  reprieve,  in  case 
of  impeadiment ;  and  this  being  carried  in  the  affirmative,  a  motion  was 
made  to  address  his  majesty  to  desire  him  to  grant  a  reprieve  to  the  lords 
under  sentence;  but  the  movers  only  obtained,  this  clause,  viz.,  "  To  re- 
prieve such  of  the  condemned  lords  as  deserved  his  mercy  ;  and  that  the 
time  of  the  respite  should  be  left  to  his  majesty's  discretion." 

The  address  having  been  presented,  his  majesty  replied  : — 

"  That  on  this,  and  other  occasions,  he  would  do  what  he  thought  most 
consistent  with  the  dignity  of  his  crown,  and  the  safety  of  his  people." 

The  great  parties  which  had  been  made  by  the  rebel  lords,  as  was  said, 
by  the  means  of  money,  and  the  rash  expressions  too  common  in  the 
mouths  of  many  of  their  friends,  as  if  the  government  did  not  dare  to 
execute  them,  did  not  a  little  contribute  to  hasten  their  execution ;  for  on 
the  same  day  that  the  address  was  presented,  the  :23rd  of  February,  it  was 
resolved  in  council,  that  the  Earl  of  Derwentwater  and  the  Lord  Ken- 
aiure  should  be  beheaded  on  the  next  day  ;  and  the  Earl  of  Nithisdale, 
apprehending  he  should  be  included  in  the  warrant,  succeeded  in  making 
his  escape  on  the  evening  before,  in  a  woman's  riding-hood,  supposed  to 
have  been  conveyed  to  him  by  his  mother  on  a  visit. 

On  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  February,  three  detachments  of  the  life, 
guards  went  from  Whitehall  to  Tower-hill,  and,  having  taken  their  stations 
round  the  scaffi)ld,  the  two  lords  were  brought  from  the  Tower  at  ten 
o'clock,  and,  being  received  by  the  sherifts  at  the  bar,  were  conducted  to 
the  transport-office  on  Tower-hill.  At  the  expiration  of  about  an  hoiir, 
the  Earl  of  Derwentwater  sent  word  that  he  was  ready  ;  on  which  sir 
John  Fryer,  one  of  the  sheriffs,  walked  before  him  to  the  scaftbld,  and, 
when  there,  told  him  he  miglit  have  what  time  he  pleased  to  prepare 
himself  for  death. 

His  lordship  desired  to  read  a  paper  which  he  had  written,  the  substance  of 
which  was,  that  he  was  sorry  for  having  pleaded  guilty  ;  that  he  acknow- 
V^d^red  no  kino-  but  king  James  the  Third,  for  whom  he  had  an  inviolable 
£tl"ection :  that  the  kingdom  wonld  never  be  happy  until  the  ancient  con- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  2U 

stitution  was  restored,  and  lie  wished  that  his  death  miglit  contrihute  to 
that  end.  His  lordsliip  professed  to  die  in  the  liunian  Catholic  faith,  and 
said  at  the  end  of  the  speech  which  he  delivered,  that  "  if  that  Prince  who 
then  governed  had  given  him  life,  he  shonld  have  thought  himself  obliged 
never  more  to  take  up  arms  against  him."  He  then  read  some  prayers, 
and  kneeled  to  see  how  the  block  would  fit  him  ;  and  having  told  the 
executioner  that  he  foi'gave  him,  as  well  as  all  his  enemies,  he  desired  him 
to  strike  when  he  should  repeat  the  words  "Sweet  Jesus"  the  third 
time.  He  immediately  proceeded  to  prepare  himself  for  the  blow  of  the 
axe,  and  having  placed  his  neck  so  that  it  might  be  fairly  struck,  he  said, 
'\Sweet  Jesus,  receive  my  spirit!  Sweet  Jesus,  be  merciful  unto  me!  Sweet 
Jesus — "  and  was  proceeding  in  his  prayer,  when  his  head  was  severed 
from  his  body  at  one  blow.  The  executioner  then  took  it  up,  and  carrying 
it  to  the  four  corners  of  the  scaffold,  said,  "  Beheld  the  head  of  a  traitor. — 
Cod  save  Kmg  George." 

The  body  was  directly  wrapped  in  black  baize,  and  being  carried  to  a 
coach,  was  delivered  to  the  friends  of  the  deceased  :  and  the  scaffold  having 
been  cleared,  fresh  baize  was  put  on  the  block,  and  new  saw-dust  strewed, 
so  that  no  blood  should  appear.  Lord  Kenmure  was  then  conducted  to  the 
place  of  execution. 

His  lordship  was  a  Protestant,  and  was  attended  by  two  clergymen. 
He  declined  saying  much  to  them,  hoAvever,  telling  one  of  them  that  he 
had  prudential  reasons  for  not  delivering  his  sentiments ;  which  were  sup- 
posed to  arise  from  his  regard  to  Lord  Carnwarth,  who  was  his  brother-in- 
law,  and  who  was  then  interceding  for  the  royal  mercy.  Lord  Kenmure 
having  finished  his  devotions,  declared  that  he  forgave  the  executioner,  to 
whom  he  made  a  present  of  eight  guineas.  He  was  attended  by  a  surgeon, 
who  drew  his  finger  over  that  part  of  the  neck  where  the  blow  was  to  be 
struck  ;  and  being  executed  as  Lord  Derwentwater  had  been,  his  body  was 
delivered  to  the  care  of  an  undertaker. 

George,  Earl  of  Winton,  not  having  pleaded  guilty  with  the  other  lords, 
was  brought  to  his  trial  on  the  15th  of  March,  when  the  principal  matter 
urged  in  his  favour  was  that  he  had  surrendered  at  Preston,  in  consequence 
of  a  promise  from  General  Wills  to  grant  him  his  life  :  in  answer  to  which 
it  was  sworn  that  no  promise  of  mercy  was  made,  but  that  the  rebels  sur- 
rendered at  discretion. 

The  circumstances  of  the  Earl  of  Winton  having  left  his  house  with  four- 
teen or  fifteen  of  his  servants  well  mounted  and  armed,  his  joining  the  Earl 
Carnwarth  and  Lord  Kenmure,  his  proceeding  with  the  rebels  through  the 
various  stages  of  their  march,  and  his  surrendering  with  the  rest,  were 
fully  proved  :  notwithstanding  which,  his  counsel  moved  in  arrest  of  judg- 
ment ;  but  the  plea  on  which  this  motion  was  founded  being  thought  insuffi- 
cient, his  peers  unanimously  found  him  guilty.  The  Lord  High  Steward 
then  pronounced  sentence  on  him,  after  ha,ving  addressed  him  in  forcibk 
terms,  in  the  same  manner  as  he  had  sentenced  the  other  peers. 

The  Earls  of  Winton  and  Nithisdale  afterwards  found  msans  to  escape 
out  of  the  Tower ;  and  Messrs.  Forster  and  M'Intosh  escaped  from  New- 
gate :  but  it  was  supposed  that  motives  of  mercy  and  tenderness  in  the 
Prince  of  Wales,  afterwards  George  the  Second,  favoured  the  flight  of  all 
tnese  gentlemen. 

This   rebellion   occasioned  the  untimely  death  of  many  other  persona 


24  THE    NE'.V    NEWGAXK    CALENDAK. 

Five  were  executed  at  Manchester,  six  at  Wigan,  and  eleven  at  Preston ; 
but  a  considerable  number  was  brought  to  London,  and,  being  arraigned  in 
tlie  Court  of  Exchequer,  most  of  tliem  pleaded  guilty,  and  suflered  the 
utmost  ricrour  of  the  law. 


JAMES  SHEPPARD. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

Tins  is  a  very  singular  case  of  treason  ;  for  though  tlie  crime  for  which 
Sheppard  suffered  was  committed  three  years  after  the  rebellion  was 
quelled,  yet  the  same  misjudged  opinions  urged  this  youth  to  enthusiasm  in 
the  cause  of  the  Pretender  as  those  which  actuated  the  former  offenders. 
It  is  still  more  singular  that  he,  neither  being  a  Scotchman  born,  nor  in  any 
way  interested  in  the  mischiefs  which  he  contemplated,  should,  unsolicited, 
volunteer  in  so  dangerous  a  cause. 

James  Sheppard  was  the  son  of  Thomas  Sheppard,  glover,  in  Soutl;- 
wark  ;  but  his  father  dying  when  he  was  about  five  years  of  age,  he  was 
sent  to  school  in  Hertfordshire,  whence  his  uncle,  Dr.  liinchclifte,  removed 
him  to  Salisbury,  where  he  remained  at  school  three  years.  Being  at 
Salisbury  at  the  time  of  the  rebellion,  he  imbibed  the  principles  of  his 
school-fellows,  many  of  whom  were  favourers  of  the  Pretender  ;  and  he 
A'as  confirmed  in  his  sentiments  by  reading  some  pamphlets  which  were 
then  put  into  his  hands. 

AVhen  he  quitted  Salisbury,  Dr.  Hinchcliffe  put  him  apprentice  to  JNIr. 
Scott,  a  coach-painter  in  Devonshire-street,  Bishopsgate  ;  and  he  continued 
in  this  situation  about  fourteen  months,  when  he  was  apprehended  for  the 
crime  which  cost  him  his  life. 

Sheppard,  having  conceived  the  idea  that  it  would  be  a  praiseworthy 
action  to  kill  the  king,  wrote  a  letter,  which  he  intended  for  a  nonjuriug 
minister  of  the  name  of  Leake  ;  but,  mistaking  the  spelling,  he  directed  it 
"  To  the  Rev.  jNIr.  Heath."     The  letter  was  in  the  following  terms : — 

"  Sir, — From  the  many  discontents  visible  throughout  this  kingdom,  I 
infer  that  if  the  prince  now  reigning  could  be  by  death  removed,  our  king 
being  here,  he  might  be  settled  on  his  throne  witliout  much  loss  of  blood. 
For  the  more  ready  effecting  of  this,  1  propose  that,  if  any  gentleman  will 
pay  for  my  passage  into  Italy,  and  if  our  friends  will  entrust  one  so  young 
with  letters  of  invitation  to  his  majesty,  I  will,  on  his  arrival,  smite  tlie 
usurper  in  his  palace.  In  this  confusion,  if  sufficient  forces  may  be  raised, 
l;is  majesty  may  appear  ;  if  not,  he  may  retreat  or  conceal  himself  till  a 
fitter  opportunity.  Neither  is  it  presumptuous  to  hope  that  this  may  suc- 
ceed, if  we  consider  how  easy  it  is  to  cut  the  thread  of  human  life  ;  how 
great  confusion  the  death  of  a  prince  occasions  in  the  most  peaceful  nation  ; 
and  how  mutinous  the  people  are,  how  desirous  of  a  change.  But  we  will 
suppose  the  worst — that  I  am  seized,  and  by  torture  examined.  Now,  that 
this  may  endanger  none  but  myself,  it  will  be  necessary  that  the  gentlemen 
who  defray  my  charges  to  Italy  leave  England  before  my  departure ;  that 
J  be  ignorant  of  his  majesty's  abode ;  that  I  lodge  with  some  whig ;  th;it 
you  abscond  ;  and  that  this  be  communicated  to  none.  But,  be  the  event 
as  it  will,  I  can  expect  nothing  less  than  a  most  cruel  death  ;  which,  tha; 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  ^5 

1  n;ay  the  better  support,  it  will  be  requisite  that,  from  my  arrival  till  the 
attempt,  I  every  day  receive  the  Holy  Sacrament  from  one  who  shall  be 
ignorant  of  the  design.  "•  James  Sheppard." 

Having  carried  it  to  Mr.  Leake's  house,  he  called  again  for  an  answer 
but  he  was  apprehended,  and  carried  before  Sir  John  Fryer,  a  magistrate. 

When  he  was  brought  to  his  trial,  he  behaved  in  the  most  firm  and 
composed  manner ;  and,  after  the  evidence  was  given,  and  the  jury  had 
found  him  guilty  of  high  treason,  he  was  asked  why  sentence  should  not 
be  passed  on  him  according  to  law,  when  he  said  "  He  could  not  hope  for 
mercy  from  a  prince  whom  he  would  not  own."  The  Recorder  then 
proceeded  to  pass  sentence  on  him  ;  in  pursuance  of  which,  he  was  executed 
at  Tyburn  on  the  17th  March,  1718.  He  was  attended  by  a  non-juring 
clergyman  up  to  the  time  of  his  execution,  between  whom  and  the  ordinary 
the  most  indecent  disputes  arose,  extending  even  up  to  the  time  of  his 
arriving  at  the  scaffold,  when  the  latter  quitted  the  field  and  left  the  other 
to  instruct  and  pray  with  the  malefactor  as  he  might  think  proper. 


THE  MARQUIS  DE  PALEOTTI, 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    SERVANT. 

Tuis  nobleman  was  at  the  head  of  a  noble  family  in  Italy,  and  was 
born  at  Bologna.  In  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne  he  was  a  Colonel  in  the 
imperial  army.  The  Duke  of  Shrewsbury,  being  at  Rome,  fell  in  love 
with  and  paid  his  addresses  to  the  sister  of  the  JMarquis;  and  the  lady 
having  been  married  to  him  in  Germany,  they  came  to  England.  The 
Marquis  quitting  the  army  at  the  peace  of  Utrecht,  visited  England  to  see 
his  sister  ;  and  being  fond  of  an  extravagant  course  of  life,  and  attached  to 
gaming,  he  soon  ran  in  debt  for  considerable  sums.  His  sister  paid  his 
debts  for  some  time,  till  she  found  it  would  be  a  burdensome  and  endless 
task  ;  and  she  therefore  declined  all  further  interference.  The  habits  of 
the  Marquis,  however,  were  in  nowise  changed,  and  being  one  dav 
walking  in  the  street,  he  directed  his  servant,  an  Italian,  to  go  and  borrow 
some  money.  The  servant,  having  met  with  frequent  denials,  declined 
going  :  on  which  the  Marquis  drew  his  sword  and  killed  him  on  the  spot. 

He  was  instantly  apprehended,  and  committed  to  prison ;  and  being  tried 
at  the  next  sessions,  was  convicted  on  full  evidence,  and  received  sentence 
of  death.  The  Duke  of  Shrewsbury  being  dead,  and  his  duchess  having 
little  interest  or  acquaintance  in  England,  it  appears  that  no  endeavours 
were  used  to  sav"  him  from  the  punishment  which  awaited  him,  and  he 
was  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  17th  of  March,  1718. 

Italian  pride  had  taken  deep  root  in  the  mind  of  this  man.  To  his  last 
moment  it  was  predominant.  He  petitioned  the  sheriffs  that  his  body 
should  not  be  defiled  by  touching  the  unhappy  Englishmen  doomed  to 
suffer  with  him,  and  that  he  might  die  before  them,  and  alone.  The 
sheriffs,  in  coui'tesy  to  a  stranger,  granted  this  request,  and  thus,  in  his 
last  struggle,  he  maintained  the  superiority  of  his  rank. 


TOL.  1. 


26  THK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


JOHN    PRICE, 

COMMONLY    CALLED    JACK    KETCH,    EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

Although  the  circumstances  attending  the  crime  of  this  malefuctcr  d^ 
not  present  any  features  of  general  interest,  the  fact  of  the  offender  having 
tiUerl  tlie  office  of  public  executioner,  and  of  his  being  deprived  of  life  on 
that  very  scaftbld  on  which  he  had  exercised  the  functions  of  his  revolting 
office,  render  the  case  not  a  little  remarkable.  It  would  appear  that  the 
jirisoner  was  bom  of  decent  parents,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Martin' s-in-tbf 
Fields,  London  ;  and  tliat  his  father,  who  was  in  the  service  of  his  country 
having  been  blown  u])  at  the  demolition  of  Tangiers,  he  was  put  apprentice 
to  a  rag  merchant.  His  master  dying,  he  ran  away  and  went  to  sea,  and 
served  with  credit  on  board  different  ships  in  the  navy,  for  the  space  of 
18  years  ;  but  at  length  was  paid  off  and  discharged  from  further  service. 

The  office  of  public  executioner  becoming  vacant,  it  was  given  to  him, 
and  but  for  his  extravagance,  he  might  have  long  continued  in  it,  and 
subsisted  on  its  dreadfully-earned  wages.  On  returning  from  an  execution, 
however,  he  was  arrested  in  Holborn  for  debt,  which  he  discharged,  in 
part,  with  the  wages  he  had  tliat  day  earned,  and  the  remainder  with  the 
produce  of  three  suits  of  clothes,  which  he  had  taken  from  the  bodies 
of  the  executed  men  ;  but  soon  afterwards  he  was  lodged  in  the 
JMarshalsea  prison  for  other  debts,  and  there  he  remained  for  want  of  bail ; 
in  consequence  of  which  one  William  Marvel  was  appointed  in  his  stead. 
He  continued  some  time  longer  in  the  jMarshalsea,  when  he  and  a  fellow- 
prisoner  broke  a  hole  in  the  wall,  through  which  they  made  their  escape. 
It  was  not  long  after  this  that  Price  committed  the  offence  for  which  he 
was  executed.  He  was  indicted  on  the  20th  April,  1718,  for  the  murder 
of  Elizabeth,  the  wife  of  William  AYhite,  on  the  13th  of  the  preceding 
month. 

In  the  course  of  the  evidence  it  appeared  that  Price  met  the  deceased 
flear  ten  at  night  in  ]\Ioorfields,  and  attempted  to  ravish  her  ;  but  the  poor 
woman  (who  w^as  the  wife  of  a  watchman,  and  sold  gingerbread  in  the 
streets)  doing  all  in  her  power  to  resist  his  villanous  attacks,  he  beat  her 
so  cruelly  that  streams  of  blood  issued  from  her  eyes  and  mouth,  one  of 
her  arms  was  broken,  some  of  her  teeth  were  knocked  out,  her  head  was 
bruised  in  a  most  dreadful  manner,  and  one  of  her  eyes  was  forced  from  the 
socket.  Some  persons,  hearing  the  cries  of  the  unhappy  creature,  repaired 
to  the  spot,  took  Price  into  custody,  and  lodged  him  in  the  watch-house ; 
and  the  woman,  being  attended  by  a  surgeon  and  a  nurse,  was  unable  to 
speak,  bat  she  answered  the  nurse's  questions  by  signs,  and  in  that  manner 
described  what  had  happened  to  her.  She  died,  after  having  languished 
four  days.  The  prisoner,  on  his  trial,  denied  that  he  was  guilty  of  the 
murder;  but  he  was  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  death.  He  then  gave 
himself  up  to  the  use  of  intoxicating  liquors,  and  continued  obstinately  to 
deny  his  guilt  until  the  day  of  execution.  He  then,  however,  admitted 
the  justice  of  his  punishment,  but  said  that  he  was  in  a  state  of  intoxication 
when  he  committed  the  crime  for  which  he  suffered.  He  was  executed 
on  tli)  21st  May,  1718  at  Bunhill-row,  and  was  afterwards  hung  in  chaina 
al  H  Uoway. 


THE    NEW    MEWGATE    CALENDAR.  2? 

It  maybe  remarked,  that  tlils  case  affords  a  striking  instance  of  the  absence 
of  the  effect  of  example  :  for,  however  much  tlie  miserable  calling  of  the 
unhappy  man  may  have  hardened  his  mind,  and  i-endered  him  callous  to  thos-o 
feelings  of  degradation  which  would  arise  in  the  heart  of  any  ordinary 
jierson,  placed  in  a  similar  situation,  it  cannot  be  supposed  that  his  fear  (;f 
the  dreadful  punishment  of  death  could  have  been  in  any  degree  abated 
by  his  having  so  frequently  witnessed  its  execution  in  all  its  horrors. 


BARBARA  SPENCER, 

STRANGLED,    AND    THEN    BURNED,    FOR    COINING. 

This  is  the  first  case  on  record,  in  which  any  person  appears  to  have 
been  executed  for  counterfeiting  the  coin  of  the  realm.  The  punishment 
for  this  offence,  at  first,  of  necessity,  severe,  to  check  the  alarming  preva- 
lence of  the  crime,  has  long  since  been  materially  mitigated  ;  and  although 
the  evil  still  exists  to  a  great  degree,  it  lias  been  diminished  very  con- 
siderably in  consequence  of  the  judicious  steps  taken  by  the  officers  of  the 
Mint. 

In  the  month  of  May,  1721,  Barbara  Spencer,  with  two  other  women, 
named  Alice  Hall,  and  Elizabeth  Bray,  were  indicted  for  high  treason,  in 
counterfeiting  the  king's  current  coin  of  the  realm.  The  evidence  went  to 
))rove  the  two  latter  prisoners  to  be  agents  only,  and  they  were  acquitted  ; 
while  Spencer  appeared  to  be  the  princij)al,  and  she  was  found  guilty,  and 
sentenced  to  be  burned.  It  turned  out  that  the  prisoner  liad  before  been 
guilty  of  similar  offences,  and  the  sentence  was  carried  into  execution, 
although  not  in  its  direct  terms.  The  law  which  then  existed  was,  indeed, 
that  women,  convicted  of  high  or  petit  treason,  should  be  burned ;  but  the 
v/isdom  and  humanity  of  the  authorities  provided  a  more  easy  death,  in 
directing  that  the  malefactor  should  be  strangled,  while  tied  to  the  stake, 
and  that  the  body  should  afterwards  be  consumed  by  fire. 

While  under  sentence  of  death,  the  prisoner  behaved  in  the  most  inde- 
cent and  turbulent  manner ;  nor  could  she  be  convinced  that  she  had  been 
guilty  of  any  <;rime  in  making  a  few  sliillings.  She  was  for  some  time 
very  impatient  under  the  idea  of  her  approaching  dissolution,  and  was 
particularly  shocked  at  the  thought  of  being  burned  ;  but  at  the  place  of 
execution,  she  seemed  willing  to  exercise  herself  in  devotion,  but  was  much 
interrupted  by  the  mob  throwing  stones  and  dirt  at  her. 

She  was  strangled  and  burned  at  Tyburn  on  the  5th  of  July,  1721. 


Wli^LIAM  SPIGGOT.  AND  THOMAS  PHILLIPS. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGHWAY  ROBBERY. 

This  case  is  rendered  worthy  of  notice,  by  the  fact  that,  the  prisoners 
refusing  to  plead,  they  were  placed  under  the  torture.  They  were  indicted 
for  a  robbery  upon  the  king's  highway ;  but  refused  to  plead  until  some 
of  their  property,  which  had  been  taken  from  them,  was  returned.  This 
was  denied  them  by  the  Court,  under  the  provisions  of  the  statute  of  tlio 


2?*  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALKiXDAR. 

4  th  &  5th  William  and  Mary ;  and  as,  in  spite  of  all  entreaties,  they  persisted 
in  their  refusal,  to  deny  or  confess  the  charge  against  them,  the  Court  ordered 
that  the  judgment  ordained  by  law  should  be  read  to  them.     This  was, 

"  That  the  prisoner  shall  be  sent  to  the  prison  from  whence  he  came, 
and  put  into  a  mean  room,  stopped  from  the  light,  and  shall  there  be  laid 
on  the  bare  ground,  without  any  litter,  straw,  or  other  covering,  and  with- 
out any  garment  about  him,  except  something  to  hide  his  privy  members. 
He  shall  lie  upon  his  back,  his  head  shall  be  covered,  and  his  feet  shall  bo 
bare.  One  of  his  arms  shall  be  drawn  with  a  cord  to  one  side  of  the  room, 
and  the  other  arm  to  the  other  side  ;  and  his  legs  shall  be  served  in  the 
like  maimer.  Then  there  shall  be  laid  upon  his  body  as  much  iron  or  stone 
as  he  can  bear,  and  more.  And  the  first  day  after  he  shall  have  three 
morsels  of  barley  bread,  without  any  drink  ;  and  the  second  day  he  shall 
be  allowed  to  drink  as  much  as  he  can,  at  three  times,  of  the  water  that 
is  next  the  prison-door,  except  running  water,  without  any  bread ;  and 
this  shall  be  his  diet  till  he  dies ;  and  he  against  whom  this  judgment  shall 
be  given,  forfeits  his  goods  to  the  king." 

The  reading  of  this  sentence  producing  no  effect,  they  were  ordered  back 
to  Newgate,  there  to  be  pressed  to  death  ;  but  when  they  came  into  the 
press-room,  Phillips  begged  to  be  taken  back  to  plead.  The  favour  was 
granted,  though  it  might  have  been  denied  to  him ;  but  Spiggot  was  put 
under  the  press,  and  he  continued  half  an  hour,  with  tl^ree  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds'  w^eight  on  his  body;  but,  on  the  addition  of  fifty  pounds 
more,  he  also  begged  to  plead. 

They  were  in  consequence  brought  back,  and  again  arraigned ;  when, 
the  evidence  being  clear  and  positive  against  them,  they  were  convicted, 
and  received  sentence  of  death ;  in  consequence  of  which  they  were  exe- 
cuted at  Tyburn  on  the  8th  of  February.  17:21. 

The  priscmer  Phillips,  after  sentence,  behaved  in  a  manner  which  exhi- 
bited that  he  was  a  person  of  the  most  abandoned  character.  His  compa- 
nion was  more  attentive  to  his  devotions ;  but  Phillips  declared  that  he 
did  not  fear  to  die,  for  that  he  was  sure  of  going  to  heaven.  It  appeared, 
from  the  declarations  of  the  prisoners,  that  they  had  been  very  successful 
in  their  depredations ;  in  the  commission  of  which  they  were  accompanied 
by  a  clergyman  named  Joseph  Lindsay,  and  a  lunatic,  who  had  escaped 
from  Bedlam,  named  Burroughs.  The  mad  prattling  of  the  latter  caused 
the  apprehension  of  his  companions,  while  the  evidence  of  the  former  tended 
materially  to  secure  their  conviction. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  add,  that  that  remnant  of  barbarity,  the  torture, 
has  long  since  been  abolished. 


NATHANIEL  HAWES. 

TORTURED    AND    AFTERWARDS    EXECUTED    FOR    ROniiEK^. 

The  case  of  this  prisoner  may  not  prove  uninteresting,  as  connected  witli 
that  last  detailed. 

Nathaniel  Hawes  was  a  nauve  of  Norfolk,  in  w- hich  county  he  was  born 
m  the  year  1701.  His  father  was  a  grazier  in  good  circumstances;  but 
dying  while  the  son  was  an  iufant.  a  relation  in  Hertfordsliire  took  care  of 
his  education. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  29 

At  a  proper  age  he  was  a^jprenticod  to  an  upliolstercr  in  London  ;  but, 
becoming  connected  with  people  of  bad  character,  he  robbed  his  master 
when  he  had  served  only  two  years  of  his  time,  for  which  he  was  tried  at 
the  Old  Bailey,  and,  being  convicted,  was  sentenced  to  seven  years'  trans- 
portation. 

His  sentence  was,  however,  withdrawn  on  his  becoming  evidence  against 
the  receiver  of  the  stolen  property.  But  the  warning  which  he  had  re- 
ceived was  of  no  avail  ;  and  after  having  been  once  in  custody  for  a  rob- 
bery, when  he  was  again  admitted  king's  evidence,  he  soon  joined  a  fellow 
with  wjiom  he  had  become  acquainted  in  prison,  and  meeting  a  gentleman 
on  Finchley  Common,  they  demanded  his  money,  swearing  to  murder  him, 
if  he  did  not  give  it  to  them. 

The  gentleman  quitted  his  horse,  and  at  the  same  moment  seized  the 
pistol  which  was  placed  at  his  throat  by  the  robber,  and,  presenting  it  to 
the  latter,  told  him  to  expect  death  if  he  did  not  surrender  himself.  His 
companion  having  fled,  H awes  was  now  as  terrified  as  he  had  been  inso- 
lent, and  made  no  opposition  ;  and  the  driver  of  a  cart  coming  up  just  at  the 
moment,  he  was  easily  made  prisoner,  conveyed  to  London,  and  committed 
to  Newgate.  When  the  sessions  came  on,  and  he  was  brought  to  the 
bar,  he  refuged  to  plead  to  his  indictment,  alleging  as  a  reason  for  so 
doing,  that  he  would  die,  as  he  had  lived,  like  a  gentleman : — "  The 
people,"  said  he,  "  who  apprehended  me,  seized  a  suit  of  fine  clothes,  which 
I  intended  to  have  gone  to  the  gallows  in ;'  and  unless  they  are  returned,  1 
will  not  plead ;  for  no  one  shall  say  that  I  was  hanged  in  a  dirty  shirt  and 
ragged  coat." 

On  this,  sentence  was  pronounced  that  he  should  be  pressed  to  death ; 
whereupon  he  was  taken  from  the  Court,  and,  being  laid  on  his  back, 
sustained  a  load  of  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds'  weight  about  seven 
minutes ;  but,  unable  any  longer  to  bear  the  pain,  he  entreated  he  might 
be  conducted  back  to  the  Court.  He  then  pleaded  not  guilty ;  but  the 
evidence  against  him  being  conclusive,  he  was  convicted,  and  sentenced 
to  die. 

He  was  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  22nd  of  Decembei,  1721. 

The  subject  of  torture  may  not  be  inaptly  illustrated  by  an  account  given 
by  Stedman  of  a  scene  witnessed  by  him  at  Surinam,  when  a  young  man, 
a  free  negro,  was  tortured  for  the  murder  of  the  overseer  of  the  estate  of 
Altona  in  the  Para  Creek.  He  says,  ''This  man  having  stolen  a  sheep  to 
entertain  a  favourite  young  woman,  the  overseer,  who  burned  with  jea- 
lousy, had  determined  to  see  him  hanged ;  to  prevent  which,  the  negro 
shot  him  dead  among  the  sugar-canes.  For  these  offences,  of  course,  he 
was  sentenced  to  be  broken  alive  upon  the  rack,  without  the  benefit  of  the 
covp  de  grace,  or  mercy-stroke.  Informed  of  the  dreadful  sentence,  he 
composedly  laid  himself  down  upon  his  back  on  a  strong  cross,  on  which, 
with  his  arms  and  legs  extended,  he  was  fastened  by  ropes.  The  execu- 
tioner, also  a  black  man,  having  now  with  a  hatchet  chopped  off  his  left 
hand,  next  took  up  a  heavy  iron  bar,  with  which,  by  repeated  blows,  he 
broke  his  bones  to  shivers,  till  the  marrow,  blood,  and  splinters  flew  about 
the  field ;  but  the  prisoner  never  uttered  a  groan  nor  a  sigh  !  The  ropes 
being  next  unlashed,  I  imagined  him  dead,  and  felt  happy  ;  till  the  magis- 
trates stirring  to  depart,  he  writhed  himself  from  the  cross,  when  he  fell  on 
the  grass,  and  damned  them  all  as  a  set  of  barbarous  rascals.      .At  the  same 


30  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR 

time,  removing  his  right  hand  by  the  help  of  his  teeth,  he  rested  his  head 
on  part  of  the  timber,  and  asked  the  by-standers  for  a  pipe  of  tobacco, 
which  was  infamously  answered  by  kicking  and  spitting  on  him,  till  I, 
with  some  American  seamen,  thought  proper  to  prevent  it.  He  then 
begged  his  hea<i  might  be  chopped  off,  but  to  no  purpose.  At  last,  seeing 
no  end  to  his  misery,  he  declared,  '  that  though  he  had  deserved  death,  he 
had  not  expected  to  die  so  many  deaths  :  however,'  said  he,  '  you  Chris- 
tians have  missed  your  aim  at  last,  and  I  now  care  not,  were  I  to  remain 
thus  one  month  longer.'  After  which  he  sung  two  extempore  songs  with 
a  clear  voice  ;  the  subjects  of  which  were  to  bid  adieu  to  his  living  friends, 
and  to  acquaint  his  deceased  relations  that  in  a  very  little  time  he  should  be 
with  them,  to  enjoy  their  company  for  ever  in  a  better  place.  This  done, 
he  calmly  entered  into  conversation  w^th  some  gentlemen  concerning  his 
trial,  relating  every  particular  with  uncommon  tranquillity.  '  But,'  said 
he  abruptly,  '  by  the  sun  it  must  be  eight  o'clock,  and  by  any  longer  dis- 
course 1  should  be  sorry  to  be  the  cause  of  your  losing  your  breakfast.'  Then 
casting  his  eyes  on  a  Jew,  whose  name  was  Deveries,  '  Apropos,  sir,' 
said  he,  '  won't  you  please  to  pay  me  the  ten  shillings  you  owe  me  ? ' 
'  For  what  to  do  ? '  '  To  buy  meat  and  drink,  to  be  sure  :  don't  you 
perceive  I'm  to  be  kept  alive  ? '  Which  speech,  on  seeing  the  Jew  stare 
like  a  fool,  the  mangled  wretch  accompanied  with  a  loud  and  hearty  laugh. 
Next,  observing  the  soldier  that  stood  sentinel  over  him  biting  occasionally 
a  piece  of  dry  bread,  he  asked'  him  how  it  came  to  pass  that  he,  a  tchite 
man,  should  have  no  meat  to  eat  along  with  it.  '  Because  I  am  not  so 
rich,'  answered  the  soldier.  '  Then  I  will  make  you  a  present,  sir,'  said 
the  negro.  '  First  pick  my  hand  that  was  chopped  off,  clean  to  the  bones  ; 
next  begin  to  devour  my  body  till  you  are  glutted  ;  when  you  will  have 
both  bread  and  meat,  as  best  becomes  you  : '  which  piece  of  humour  was 
followed  by  a  second  laugh.  And  thus  he  continued  until  I  left  him. 
which  was  about  three  hours  after  the  dreadful  execution." 

Subsequently,  on  proceeding  to  the  spot,  the  writer  discovered  that  after 
the  poor  wretch  had  lived  thus  more  than  six  hours,  he  was  knocked  on 
the  head  by  the  commiserating  sentinel ;  and  that  having  been  raised  upon 
a  gallows,  the  vultures  were  busy  picking  out  the  eyes  of  the  mangled 
corpse,  in  the  skull  of  which  was  clearly  discernible  the  mark  of  the 
soldier's  musket. 


CAPTAIX  JOHN  MASSEY. 

EyECDTED    FOR    PIRACY. 

Captai.s  Massey  was  the  son  of  a  gentleman  of  fortune,  who  gave  hun 
an  excellent  education.  When  young,  he  grew  weary  of  home ;  and  his 
father  havinw  procured  him  a  commission  in  the  army,  he  served  with 
great  credit  as  lieutenant  under  the  command  of  the  Duke  of  Marlborough, 
during  the  wars  in  Flanders,  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Anne.  After  this  he 
went  with  his  regiment  to  Ireland,  and  at  length  got  appointed  to  the  rank 
of  lieutenant  and  engineer  to  the  Royal  African  Company,  and  sailed  in 
one  of  their  ships  to  direct  the  building  of  a  fort.  The  ship  being  ill  sup- 
plied with  provisions,  the  sufferings  of  the  crew  were  inexpressibly  great. 
Those  who  lived  to  get  on  shore  drank  so  grtedily  of  the  frc^h  water,  that 


1 


TflK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  31 

tliey  wtre  thrown  into  fluxes,  which  destroyed  them  so  rapidly,  thut  onlv 
Captain  Massey  and  a  very  few  of  his  people  were  still  alive,  these,  bein"« 
totally  unable  to  build  a  fort,  and  seeing  no  prospect  of  relief,  began  to 
abandon  themselves  to  despair  ;  but  at  this  time  a  vessel  happening  to 
come  near  the  shore,  they  made  signals  of  distress,  on  which  a  boat  was 
sent  off  to  their  assistance. 

They  were  no  sooner  on  board  than  they  found  the  vessel  was  a  pirate ; 
And,  distressed  as  they  had  been,  they  too  hastily  engaged  in  their  lawless 
plan,  rather  than  run  the  hazard  of  perishing  on  shore.  Sailing  from  hence, 
they  took  several  prizes  ;  and  at  length  on  the  ship  reaching  Jamaica,  Mr. 
Massey  seized  the  first  opportunity  of  deserting;  and  repairing  to  the 
governor,  he  gave  such  information,  that  the  crew  of  the  pirate  vessel  were 
taken  into  custody,  convicted,  and  hanged.  Massey  might  have  been 
provided  for  by  the  governor,  who  treated  him  with  singular  respect,  on 
account  of  his  services  to  the  public ;  but  he  declined  his  generous  offers, 
through  an  anxiety  to  visit  his  native  country.  On  his  sailing  for  England, 
the  governor  gave  him  recommendatory  letters  to  the  lords  of  the  admi- 
ralty ;  but,  astonishing  as  it  may  seem,  instead  of  his  being  caressed,  he 
was  taken  into  custody,  and  committed  till  a  session  of  admiralty  was  held 
for  his  trial,  when  he  pleaded  guilty,  and  received  sentence  of  death. 

His  sentence  was  subsequently  carried  out,  although  it  may  readily  be 
supposed  that  that  due  attention  was  scarcely  given  to  the  case  which  the 
interests  of  the  prisoner  demanded. 


ARUNDEL  COOKE,  ESQ.  AND  JOHN  WOODBURNE. 

EXKCUTED    FOR    CUTTING    AND    MAIMING. 

The  prosecution  of  these  offenders  took  place  under  tlie  provisions  of  a 
statute,  j)assed  in  tlie  reign  of  Charles  the  Second,  commonly  called  "  Sir 
John  Coventry's  Act,"  the  origin  of  which  we  have  elsewhere  described, 
and  which  has  since  been  followed  by  an  enactment,  more  extensive  in  its 
operation,  called  "  Lord  EUenborough's  Act." 

Mr.  Cooke,  who  by  virtue  of  his  profession  as  a  barrister  was  entitled 
to  the  rank  of  esquire,  was  born  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  in  Suffolk,  and 
was  a  man  of  considerable  fortune  at  the  time  of  his  execution.  Wood- 
burne,  his  companion  in  crime,  was  a  labouring  man  in  his  service,  who, 
having  a  family  of  six  children,  was  induced  to  join  in  the  commission  of 
the  crime,  of  which  he  was  found  guilty,  upon  the  promise  of  the  payment 
to  him  of  100/.  for  his  aid  in  the  diabolical  plan.  Mr.  Cooke,  it  appears, 
was  married  to  the  daughter  of  Mr.  Crisp,  the  victim  of  his  attack.  The 
latter  was  a  gentleman  of  very  large  property,  and  of  infirm  habit  of  body, 
aad  having  made  his  will  in  favour  of  his  son-in-law,  the  latter  became 
anxious  to  possess  the  estate,  and  determined,  by  murdering  the  old  gentle- 
man, to  secure  its  immediate  transfer  to  himself.  For  this  purpose,  he  pro- 
cured the  co-operation  of  Woodburne  on  the  terms  wliich  we  have  already 
mentioned,  and  Christmas  evening  of  the  year  17iJl  was  fixed  upon  for  the 
perpetration  of  the  intended  murder.  Mr.  Crisp  was  to  dine  with  his 
son-in-law  on  that  day,  and  Woodburne  was  directed  to  lie  in  wait  in  the 
churchyard,  which  lay  between  the  houses  of  the  old  gentleman  and  his 
fa.va- in-law,  behind  a  tomb-stone,  in  the  evening,  when,  at  a  given  signal, 
he  was  to  fall  upon  and  kill  the  former.     The  time  arrived  when  Mr.  Crisp 


32  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

was  to  depart,  and  uptm  his  going  out,  Mr.  Cooke  followed  him,  and  thcr. 
aided  his  assistant  in  a  most  violent  attack  upon  his  father-in-law. 
The  old  man  was  left  for  dead,  but  in  spite  of  the  wounds  which  he  had 
received,  he  crawled  back  to  his  daughter,  to  whom  he  communicated  his 
suspicions,  that  her  husband  was  the  originator  of  the  murderous  attempt 
which  had  been  made. 

Woodburne  was  impeached  by  his  sudden  disappearance;  and  the  affair 
having  created  a  great  deal  of  excitement  in  the  neighbourhood,  he  was 
followed  and  secured,  and  then  he  exposed  the  enormity  of  his  offence,  by 
confessing  the  whole  of  the  circumstances  attending  its  commission.  Mr. 
Cooke  was  also  taken  into  custody,  and  a  bill  of  indictment  was  preferred 
at  the  ensuing  assizes,  at  Bury  St.  Edmunds,  upon  which  the  two  prisoners 
were  tried  and  found  guilty. 

Upon  their  being  called  up  to  receive  sentence  of  death,  Cooke  desired 
to  be  heard :  and  the  court  complying  with  his  request,  he  urged  that 
"judgment  could  not  pass  on  the  verdict,  because  the  act  of  parliament 
simply  mentions  an  intention  to  maim  or  deface,  whereas  he  was  firmly 
resolved  to  have  committed  murder."  He  quoted  several  law  cases  in 
favour  of  the  arguments  he  had  advanced,  and  hoped  that  judgment  might 
be  respited  till  the  opinion  of  the  twelve  judges  could  be  taken  on  the  case. 

Lord  Chief  Justice  King,  however,  who  presided  on  this  occasion, 
declared  that  he  could  not  admit  the  force  of  Mr.  Cooke's  plea,  consistently 
with  his  own  oath  as  a  judge  :  "  for  (said  he)  it  would  establish  a  principle 
in  the  law  inconsistent  with  the  first  dictates  of  natural  reason,  as  the 
greatest  villain  might,  when  convicted  of  a  smaller  offence,  plead  that  the 
judgment  must  be  arrested,  because  he  intended  to  commit  a  greater.  In 
the  present  instance  tlierefore  judgment  cannot  be  arrested,  as  the  intention 
is  naturally  in^plied  when  the  crime  is  actually  committed." 

Sentence  of  death  was  then  passed,  and  the  prisoners  were  left  for 
execution.  After  condemnation,  the  unhappy  man  "Woodburne  exhibited 
signs  of  the  most  sincere  penitence ;  but  his  wretched  tempter  to  crime 
conducted  himself  with  unbecoming  reserve  and  moroseness,  steadily 
denying  his  guilt,  and  employing  his  most  strenuous  exertions  to  procure 
a  pardon. 

The  3d  April,  1722,  was  at  length  fixed  for  the  execution  of  the 
sentence,  and  Cook  was  hanged  at  four  in  the  morning  of  that  day,  in 
obedience  to  a  request  which  he  made,  in  order  that  he  should  not  be 
exposed  to  the  public  gaze  ;  while  AVoodburne  was  turned  oft",  in  the 
afternoon,  on  the  same  gallows.  The  execution  took  place  at  Biiry  St 
Edmunds,  the  crime  jiaving  been  committed  withm  a  mile  of  that  place. 


CHRISTOPHER  LAYER,  ESQ. 

EXECUTED    FOR    HIGH    TREASON. 

Mr.  Layer  was  a  barrister  of  considerable  standing  and  reputation,  at 
the  time  when  he  was  convicted  and  executed  on  a  charge  of  bemg  the 
projector  of  a  scheme  for  the  destruction  of  the  king,  and  the  subversion 
of  the  government,  which  had  for  its  object  the  elevation  of  the  Pretender 
to  the  throne  of  England.  ^ 

Numerous  were  the  plots  which  had  been  laid  for  the  same  purpose,  he... 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  33 

frequent  were  the  proceedings  which  had  been  had  upon  complaints  laid 
before  the  various  courts  of  criminal  justice  in  the  kingdom,  since  the  year 
l7lo,  when  the  rebellion  first  broke  out;  but  the  plan  laid  by  Mr.  Layei 
was  one  of  those  which  gained  the  greatest  degree  of  notoriety.  This 
infatuated  man  had  received  a  liberal  education,  and  was  a  member  of  the 
society  of  the  Inner  Temple ;  but  being  impressed  with  the  possibility  of 
the  success  of  a  scheme  for  the  dethronement  of  the  existing  monarch,  and 
the  elevation  of  the  Pretender  to  the  rank,  to  which  it  was  contended  that 
he  was  entitled,  he  made  a  journey  to  Rome,  in  order  to  confer  with  that 
prince  upon  the  propriety  of  putting  his  design  into  execution,  promising 
that  he  would  effect  so  secret  a  revolution  in  England,  that  no  person  in 
authority  should  be  apprised  of  the  scheme  until  it  had  been  actually 
completed.  Having  procured  the  concurrence  of  the  prince,  he  instantly 
returned  to  London,  and  proceeded  to  the  completion  of  his  preparations 
His  plan  was  to  hire  an  assassin  to  murder  the  king  on  his  return  from 
Kensington  ;  and,  this  being  done,  the  other  parties  engaged  in  the  plot 
were  to  seize  the  guards  ;  and  the  Prince  of  Wales  and  his  children,  and 
the  great  officers  of  state,  were  to  be  secured,  and  confined  during  the 
confusion  that  such  an  event  would  naturally  produce. 

Mr.  Layer  having  settled  a  correspondence  with  several  Roman  Catholics, 
non-jurors,  and  other  persons  disafiected  to  the  government,  he  engaged  a 
small  number  of  disbanded  soldiers,  who  were  to  be  the  principal  actors  in 
the  intended  tragedy.  A  meeting  of  the  whole  of  the  partisans  having, 
however,  been  held  at  Stratford,  they  talked  so  loudly  of  the  plot,  that 
their  designs  were  suspected,  and  information  was  conveyed  to  the  autho- 
rities ;  upon  which  Mr.  Layer  was  taken  into  custody,  under  a  secre- 
tary of  state's  warrant,  and  conveyed  to  the  house  of  a  king's  messenger 
for  security.  His  chambers  being  searched,  papers  were  found,  the  con- 
tents of  which  sufficiently  indicated  his  intentions,  and  witnesses  as  to 
repeated  declarations  on  his  part,  in  reference  to  the  rebellion,  having  been 
discovered  in  the  persons  of  two  women,  who  were  living  under  his  pro- 
tection, it  was  determined  that  a  prosecution  should  be  instantly  commenced 
against  him.  But  it  was  not  until  he  had  nearly  given  his  jailers  the 
slip,  that  this  dttermination  was  carried  into  execution  with  effect;  for  it 
appears  that  the  prisoner  became  convinced  of  the  practicability  of  an 
escape  from  the  room  where  he  was  confined,  through  an  ale-house,  which 
was  situated  at  the  back  of  the  messenger's  house,  and  resolved  to  make 
the  attempt  to  procure  his  liberty.  He  therefore  formed  a  rope  of  his 
blanket,  and,  dropping  from  the  window  of  his  apartment,  he  fell  into  the 
yard  below,  unscathed  ;  but  in  his  descent,  he  overset  a  bottle-rack,  and 
from  the  noise  which  was  caused,  the  family  of  the  house  was  disturbed 
Mr.  Layer  managed,  nevertheless,  to  gain  the  street  in  the  confusion  which 
prevailed  ;  but  being  instantly  pursued  by  officers,  he  was  traced  to  have 
taken  a  boat  at  the  Horse  Ferry,  Westminster,  from  thence  to  St.  George's 
Fields;  and  he  was  at  length  overtaken  at  Xewington  Butts.  On  the 
following  day  he  was  committed  to  Newgate ;  and  a  Grand  Jury  of  the 
county  of  Essex  having  found  a  true  bill  against  him  for  high  treason, 
his  trial  came  on  before  Chief  Justice  Pratt,  and  the  other  judges  of  the 
Court  of  King's  Bench,  in  the  month  of  January  1723,  when,  after  an 
inquiry,  which  lasted  sixteen  hours,  he  was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  if 
death  in  the  customary  manner. 

VOL.  I.  P 


S4  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

As  he  had  some  important  aflfiiirs  to  settle,  from  the  nature  of  his  pro- 
fession, the  court  did  not  order  his  execution  till  more  than  two  months 
after  he  had  been  condemned  ;  and  the  king  repeatedly  reprieved  him,  to 
prevent  his  clients  being  sutterers  by  his  affairs  being  left  in  a  state  of 
confusion. 

After  conviction,  3Ir.  Layer  was  committed  to  the  Tower ;  and  at  length 
the  sheriffs  of  London  and  ^Middlesex  received  a  warrant  to  execute  the 
sentence  of  the  law.  He  was  carried  to  Tyburn  on  a  sledge,  on  the  15th 
^Larch  17'23,  to  be  hanged,  being  dressed  in  a  suit  of  black,  full  trimmed, 
and  wearino-  a  tie-wig.  At  the  place  of  execution  he  was  assisted  in  his 
devotions  by  a  nonjuring  clergyman ;  and  when  these  were  ended,  he  spoke 
to  the  surrounding  multitude,  declaring  that  he  deemed  King  James  (so 
he  called  the  Pretender)  his  lawful  sovereign.  He  said  that  King  George 
was  a  usurper,  and  that  damnation  would  be  the  fate  of  those  who  sup- 
ported his  government.  He  insisted  that  the  nation  would  never  be  in  a 
state  of  peace  till  the  Pretender  was  restored,  and  therefore  advised  the 
people  to  take  up  arms  in  his  behalf.  He  professed  himself  willing  to  die 
for  the  cause,  and  expressed  great  hopes  that  Providence  would  eventually 
support  the  right  heir  to  the  throne.  His  body  having  been  suspended 
during  the  accustomed  time,  it  was  quartered,  and  the  head  was  after- 
wards exposed  on  Temple  Bar.  Among  others  concerned  in  this  strange 
scheme  was  Lord  Grey,  an  ancient  nobleman  of  the  Roman  Catholic  reli- 
gion, who  died  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower,  before  the  necessary  legal  proceed- 
ings against  him  could  take  place. 


PHILIP  ROACH, 

EXECUTED    FOR    PIRACY    AND    MURDER. 

This  fellow  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  having,  during  his  youth,  fol- 
lowed a  seafaring  life,  he  was  advanced  to  the  position  of  first  mate,  on 
board  a  "West-Indiaman,  which  sailed  to  and  from  Barbadoes.  Having, 
however,  become  acquainted  with  a  fisherman  named  Neale,  who  hinted  to 
him  that  large  sums  of  money  might  be  acquired  by  insuring  ships,  and 
then  causing  them  to  be  sunk,  to  defraud  the  insurers,  he  was  wicked 
enough  to  listen  to  this  horrid  idea  ;  and,  being  recommended  to  a  gentle- 
man who  had  a  ship  bound  to  Cape  Breton,  he  got  a  station  on  board, 
next  in  command  to  the  captain,  by  whom  he  was  entrusted  with  the 
management  of  the  vessel. 

On  the  voyage,  it  would  appear  that  he  would  have  abstained  from 
carrying  out  his  diabolical  plan ;  but  having  brought  some  Irishmen  on 
board  with  him,  they  persisted  in  pursuing  their  original  design,  or  in  de- 
manding that  the  vessel  should  be  seized.  Accordingly,  one  night,  when 
the  captain  and  most  of  the  crew  were  asleep.  Roach  gave  orders  to  two  of 
the  seamen  to  furl  the  sails  ;  which  being  immediately  done,  the  poor  fel- 
lows no  sooner  descended  on  the  deck,  than  Roach  and  his  associates  mup 
dered  them,  and  threw  them  overboard.  At  this  instant  a  man  and  a  boy 
at  the  yard-arm,  observing  wliat  passed,  and  dreading  a  similar  fate,  hur- 
ried towards  the  topmast-head,  when  one  of  the  Irishmen,  named  Cullen, 
followed  them,  and,  seizin^  the  boy,  threw  him  into  the  sea.     The   man. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  35 

thinking  to  effect  at  least  a  present  escape,  descended  to  tlie  main-deck  ; 
but  he  was  instantly  butchered,  and  committed  to  the  deep.  The  noise 
occasioned  by  these  transactions  had  alarmed  the  sailors  below,  and  they 
luu-ried  up  with  all  possible  expedition  ;  but  were  severally  seized  and 
murdered  as  fast  as  they  came  on  deck,  and  were  thrown  into  the  sea.  At 
length  the  master  and  mate  came  on  the  quarter-deck  ;  but  they  were 
doomed  to  share  the  same  fate  as  their  unhappy  shipmates. 

These  execrable  murders  being  perpetrated,  the  nmrderers  determined  to 
commence  pirates,  and  that  Roach  should  be  the  captain,  as  tlie  reward  uf 
Ills  superior  villany. 

They  had  intended  to  sail  up  the  Gulf  of  St.  Lawrence  ;  but  as  they 
were  witliin  a  few  days'  voyage  of  the  Bristol  Channel,  when  the  bloody 
tragedy  was  acted,  and  found  themselves  short  of  provisions,  they  put  into 
Portsmouth ;  and,  giving  the  vessel  a  fictitious  name,  they  painted  her 
afresh,  and  then  sailed  for  Ilotterdam.  At  this  city  they  disposed  of  their 
cargo,  and  took  in  a  fresh  one ;  and  being  unknown,  an  English  gentle- 
man, named  Annesley,  shipped  considerable  property  on  board,  and  took 
his  passage  with  them  for  the  port  of  London  ;  but  the  villains  threw  this 
unfortunate  gentleman  overboard,  after  tliey  liad  been  only  one  day  at  sea. 
When  the  ship  arrived  in  the  river  Thames,  Mr.  Annesley's  friends  made 
inquiry  after  him,  in  consequence  of  his  having  sent  letters  to  England, 
describing  the  ship  in  wliich  lie  proposed  to  embark  ;  but  Roach  denied  any 
knowledge  of  the  gentleman,  and  even  disclaimed  his  own  name.  Not- 
withstanding his  confident  assertions,  it  was  rightly  presumed  who  he  was, 
and  a  letter  which  he  sent  to  his  wife  being  stopped,  he  was  taken  into 
custody,  and  canned  before  the  secretary  of  state  for  examination.  While 
there,  having  denied  that  he  was  the  person  he  was  taken  to  be,  his  inter- 
cepted letter  was  shown  to  him  ;  on  which  he  instantly  confessed  his  crimes, 
and  was  committed  to  take  his  trial.  He  was  subsequently  hanged  at 
Execution  Dock,  on  the  otli  of  August,  17i*3. 


JOSEPH  BLAKE,  alias  BLUESKIN, 

EXECUTED    FOR    HOUSEBREAKING. 

At  about  this  time  London  and  its  vicinity  were  infested  by  a  gang  of 
villains  of  the  most  desperate  character,  of  whom  this  criminal  was  the 
captain.  With  his  name  are  associated  those  of  offenders  whose  exploits, 
though  they  may  be  better  known,  were  not  more  daring  or  more  vil- 
lanous.  The  notorious  Jonathan  Wild,  whose  system  of  atrocity  will  be 
found  to  be  exposed  in  the  notice  given  hereafter  of  his  life  and  death,  and 
his  no  less  notorious  victim  and  coadjutor.  Jack  Sheppard,  were  both  inti- 
mately connected  with  the  proceedings  of  Blake  ;  while  others  of  equal  cele- 
brity filled  up  the  number  of  his  followers.  The  Mint  in  South wark  was, 
during  the  early  part  of  the  life  of  these  oflenders,  a  place  which,  being  by  a 
species  of  charter  freed  from  the  intrusion  of  the  bailiffs,  formed  an  admirable 
hiding-place  and  retreat  for  criminals,  as  well  as  debtors.  A  system  of  watch 
and  ward  was  maintained  among  them,  and,  like  the  Alsatia  of  Sir  Walter 
Scott's  admirable  novel  of  "  The  Fortunes  of  Nigel,"  which  is  now  known 
by  the  name  of  Whitefriars,  its  privacy  was  seldom  intruded  upon  by  the 


36  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

appearance  of  the  officers  of  justice.  The  salutary  laws  of  the  commence- 
ment of  the  reign  of  the  Hanover  family,  however,  soon  caused  these  dena 
of  infamy  to  be  rooted  out ;  and  the  districts  referred  to  are  now  knowii 
only  by  repute,  as  having  been  privileged  in  the  manner  which  has  been 
described. 

To  return  to  the  subject  of  our  present  narrative  :  he  was  a  native  of 
London,  and  having  been  sent  to  school  at  the  age  of  six  years,  he  dis- 
played more  intelligence  in  acquiring  a  proficiency  in  the  various  arts  of 
roguery,  than  in  becoming  acquainted  with  those  points  of  decent  instruc- 
tion, with  which  his  parents  desired  he  should  make  himself  intimate. 
While  at  school,  he  formed  an  acquaintance  with  a  lad  of  his  own  age, 
named  Blewitt,  who  afterwards,  with  himself,  became  a  member  of  Jona- 
than Wild's  gang.  No  sooner  had  they  left  school,  than  they  started  in 
life  as  pickpockets ;  and  our  hero,  before  he  attained  the  age  of  fifteen 
years,  had  been  in  half  the  prisons  in  the  metropolis.  From  this  they 
turned  street  robbers ;  and  forming  connexions  with  others,  their  pro- 
ceedings became  notorious,  and  they  were  apprehended.  Blake,  however, 
was  admitted  evidence  against  his  companions,  Avho  were  convicted ;  and 
having  by  that  means  obtained  his  own  acquittal,  he  claimed  a  part  of  the 
reward  offered  by  government.  He  was  informed  by  the  Court,  that  his 
demand  could  not  be  granted,  because  he  was  not  a  voluntary  evidence;  since, 
so  far  from  having  surrendered,  he  had  made  an  obstinate  resistance,  and 
was  much  wounded  before  he  was  taken  ;  and  instead  of  rewarding  him, 
they  ordered  him  to  find  security  for  his  good  behaviour,  or  to  be  trans- 
ported. Not  being  able  to  give  the  requisite  bail,  he  was  lodged  in  Wood- 
street  Compter,  and  there  he  remained  for  a  considerable  period  ;  during 
which  his  patron,  Wild,  allowed  him  three  and  sixpence  per  week.  At 
length  he  prevailed  upon  two  gardeners  to  enter  into  the  necessary  sure- 
ties ;  and  their  recognisance  having  been  taken  by  Sir  John  Fryer,  for  his 
good  behaviour,  for  seven  years,  he  once  more  regained  his  liberty.  This 
object  was,  however,  no  sooner  attained,  than  he  was  concerned  in  several 
robberies  with  Jack  Sheppard ;  and  they  at  length  committed  that  offence 
for  which  Blueskin  was  executed.  We  have  already  said  that  he  had 
become  notorious  for  the  daring  which  he  displayed,  and  the  frequency  of 
his  attacks  upon  the  property  of  others ;  and  he  had  become  no  less  cele- 
brated among  his  companions,  who  had  favoured  him  with  the  appellation 
of  Blueskin,  from  the  darkness  of  his  complexion,  and  had  besides  honoured 
him  by  dubbing  him  captain. 

At  the  October  sessions  of  the  Old  Bailey,  17^3,  he  was  indicted  under 
the  name  of  Joseph  Blake,  alias  Blueskin,  for  breaking  and  entering  the 
dwelling-house  of  William  Kneebone,  in  St.  Clement's  Church-yard,  and 
stealing  one  hundred  and  eight  yards  of  woollen  cloth,  value  thirty-six 
pounds,  and  other  property.  It  was  sworn  by  the  prosecutor,  that  the 
8iitry  was  effected  by  cutting  the  bars  of  his  cellar-window,  and  by 
subseqtiently  breaking  open  the  cellar-door,  which  had  been  bolted  and 
padlocked  ;  and  that  afterwards,  on  his  going  to  Jonathan  Wild,  and 
acquainting  him  with  what  had  occcured,  he  was  conducted  to  Blake's 
lodgings,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  his  apprehension.  The  prisoner 
refusing  to  open  the  door.  Quilt  Arnold,  one  of  Wild's  men,  broke  it  open. 
On  this  Blake  drew  a  penknife,  and  swore  that  he  would  kill  the  first  man 
that  entered  ;  in  answer  to  which  Arnold  sa' d,  "  I'hen  I.  am  the  first  man. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  37 

and  Mr.  Wild  is  not  far  beliind  ;  and  if  you  don't  deliver  your  penknife 
immediately,  I  will  chop  your  arm  off."  Hereupon  the  prisoner  dropped 
tlie  knife  ;  and  Wild  entering,  he  was  taken  into  custody. 

It  further  appeared,  that  as  the  parties  were  conveying  Blake  to  New- 
gate, they  came  by  the  house  of  the  prosecutor  ;  on  which  Wild  said  to 
the  prisoner,  "  There's  the  ken  ;"  and  the  latter  replied,  "  Say  no  more  of 
that,  Mr.  Wild,  for  I  know  I  am  a  dead  man  ;  but  what  I  fear  is,  that 
I  shall  afterwards  be  carried  to  Surgeons'  Hall,  and  anatomised  ;"  to 
which  Wild  replied,  "No,  I'll  take  care  to  prevent  that,  for  I'll  give 
you  a  coffin."  William  Field,  an  accomplice,  who  was  evidence  on  the 
trial,  swore  that  the  robbery  was  committed  by  Blake,  Sheppard,  and 
himself;  and  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty. 

As  soon  as  the  verdict  was  given,  Blake  addressed  the  Court  in  the 
following  terms  : — "  On  Wednesday  morning  last,  Jonathan  Wild  said  to 
Simon  Jacobs  (then  a  prisoner),  "  I  believe  you  will  not  bring  forty  pounds 
this  time  (alluding  to  the  reward  paid  by  Government) ;  I  wish  Joe 
(meaning  me)  was  in  your  case ;  but  I'll  do  my  endeavour  to  bring  you 
off  as  a  single  felon."  And  then  turning  to  me,  he  said,  "  I  believe  you 
must  die — I'll  send  you  a  good  book  or  two,  and  provide  you  a  coffin,  and 
you  shall  not  be  anatomised." 

The  prisoner  having  been  convicted,  it  was  impossible  that  this  revela- 
tion of  the  circumstances,  under  which  he  was  impeached  could  be  noticed; 
l)ut  subsequent  discoveries  distinctly  showed  that  Wild's  system  was  pre- 
cisely that  which  was  pointed  out;  namely,  to  lead  on  those  who  chose  to 
submit  themselves  to  his  guidance,  to  the  full  extent  to  which  they  could 
go,  so  as  to  be  useful  to  him  ;  and  then  to  deliver  them  over  to  justice  for 
the  offcnce&  in  which  he  had  been  the  prime  mover,  securing  to  himself 
the  reward  payable  upon  their  conviction.  His  position  screened  him  from 
punishment,  while  his  power  ensured  the  sacrifice  of  the  victims,  who  had 
so  long  been  his  slaves.  It  appears  that  Wild  was  near  meeting 
his  end  in  this  case.  He  was  to  have  given  evidence  against  Blake,  but 
going  to  visit  him  in  the  bail-dock,  previous  to  his  trial,  the  latter  sud- 
denly drew  a  clasped  penknife,  with  which  he  cut  Jonathan's  throat.  The 
knife  was  blunt,  and  the  wound,  though  dangerous,  did  not  prove  mortal ; 
but  the  informer  was  prevented  from  giving  the  evidence  which  had  been 
expected  from  him.  AVhile  under  sentence  of  death,  Blake  did  not  show 
a  concern  proportioned  to  his  calamitous  situation.  When  asked  if  he 
was  advised  to  commit  the  violence  on  Wild,  he  said  No  ;  but  that  a  sudden 
thought  entered  his  mind  :  had  it  been  premeditated,  he  would  have  pro- 
vided a  knife,  which  would  have  cut  oft'  his  head  at  once.  On  the  nearer 
approach  of  death  he  appeared  still  less  concerned  ;  and  it  was  thought 
that  his  mind  was  chiefly  bent  on  meditating  means  of  escaping  :  but 
seeing  no  prospect  of  getting  away,  he  took  to  drinking,  which  lie  conti- 
nued to  the  day  of  his  death  ;  and  he  was  observed  to  be  intoxicated,  eyen 
while  he  was  under  the  gallows. 

He  was  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  11th  of  November,  1723. 


S8 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAP.. 


JOHN  SHEPPARD. 


EXECUTED    FOE    HOUSE-BREAKING. 


The  prisoner,  whose  name  heads  tliis  article,  war,  a  companion  and  fellow 
in  crime  to  the  notorious  Blueskin.  The  name  of  Jack  Sheppard  is  one 
■wliich  needs  no  introduction.  His  exploits  are  so  notorious,  that  notliing 
more  is  necessary  than  to  recount  them.  Sheppard  was  born  in  Spitalfields, 
in  the  year  1702  ;  his  father  was  a  carpenter  and  bore  the  character  of  an 
honest  man  ;  but  dying  when  his  son  was  yet  young,  he,  as  well  as  a  younger 
brother,  Tom  Sheppard,  soon  became  remarkable  for  their  disregard  for 
honesty.  Our  hero  was  apprenticed  to  a  carpenter  in  Wych-street,  like 
his  father,  and  during  the  first  four  years  of  his  service  he  behaved  with 
comparative  respectability  ;  but  frequenting  a  public-house,  called  the 
Black  Lion,  in  Drury  Lane,  he  became  acquainted  with  Blueskin,  his 
subsequent  companion  in  wickedness,  and  Wild,  his  betrayer,  as  well  as 
with  some  women  of  abandoned  character,  who  afterwards  also  became 
his  coadjutors.  His  attentions  were  more  particularly  directed  to  one  of 
them,  named  Elizabeth  Lion,  or  Edgeworth  Bess,  as  she  was  familiarly 
called  from  the  town  in  which  she  was  born,  and  while  connected  with 
her  he  frequently  committed  robberies  at  the  various  houses,  in  which  he 
was  employed  as  a  workman.  He  was,  however,  also  acquainted  with  a 
woman  named  Maggott,  who  persuaded  him  to  commit  his  first  robbery  in 
the  house  of  Mr.  Bains,  a  piece-broker,  in  White  Horse  Yard,  Drury 
Lane.  He  was  at  this  time  still  resident  at  his  master's  house ;  and  having 
stolen  a  piece  of  fustian,  he  took  it  home  to  his  trunk,  and  then  returning 
to  the  house  which  he  was  robbing,  he  took  the  bars  out  of  the  cellar- 
window,  entered,  and  stole  goods  and  money  to  the  amount  of  '2'2l.  which 
he  carried  to  Maggott.  As  Sheppard  did  not  go  home  that  night,  nor  on 
the  following:  day,  his  master  suspected  that  he  had  made  bad  connexions, 
and  searching  his  trunk  found  the  piece  of  fustian  that  had  been  stolen  ; 
but  Sheppard,  hearing  of  this,  broke  open  his  master's  house  in  the  night, 
and  carried  ofi'  the  fustian,  lest  it  should  be  brought  in  evidence  against 
him. 

This  matter  received  no  further  attention ;  but  Sheppard's  master 
seemed  desirous  still  to  favour  him,  and  he  remained  some  time  longer  in 
the  family ;  but  after  associating  himself  with  the  worst  of  company,  and 
frequently  staying  out  the  whole  night,  his  master  and  he  quarrelled, 
and  the  headstrong  youth  totally  absconded  in  the  last  year  of  his  appren- 
ticeship. 

Jack  now  worked  as  a  journeyman  carpenter,  with  a  view  to  the  easier 
commission  of  robbery;  and  being  employed  to  assist  in  repairing  the 
house  of  a  gentleman  in  ]May  Fair,  he  took  an  opportunity  of  carrjing  oft 
a  sum  of  money,  a  quantity  of  plate,  some  gold  rings,  and  four  suits 
of  clothes.  Not  long  after  this  Edgeworth  Bess  was  apprehended,  and 
lodged  in  the  round-house  of  the  parisli  of  St.  Giles's,  where  Sheppa,rd 
went  to  visit  her;  but  the  beadle  refusing  to  admit  him,  he  knocked  hin^ 
down,  broke  open  the  door,  and  carried  her  off  in  triumph ;  an  exploit 
which  acquired  him  a  high  degree  of  credit  among  his  companions.  Tom 
Sheppard  being  now  as  deep  in  crime  as  his  brother,  he  prevailed  on  Jack 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  39 

tr»  lend  him  forty  shillings,  and  take  him  as  a  partner  in  his  robberies. 
The  tirst  act  they  committed  in  concert  was  the  robbing  of  a  public-house 
in  Southwark,  whence  they  carried  off'  some  money  and  wearing  apparel  ; 
but  Jack  ])erinitted  his  brother  to  reap  the  whole  advantage  of  this  booty. 
Not  long  alter  this,  in  conjunction  with  Edgeworth  Bess,  they  broke  ojien 
the  shop  of  JNIrs.  Cook,  a  linen-draper  in  Clare  Market,  and  carried  off' goods 
to  the  value  of  53/.;  and  in  less  than  a  fortnight  afterwards,  they  stole 
some  articles  from  the  house  of  Mr.  Phillips  in  Drury  Lane.  Tom  Slie])pard 
going  to  sell  some  of  the  goods  stolen  at  Mrs.  Cook's,  was  apprehended,  and 
committed  to  Newgate,  when,  in  the  hope  of  being  admitted  an  evidence, 
he  impeached  his  brother  and  Bess ;  but  they  were  sought  for  in  vain. 

At  length  James  Sykes,  otherwise  called  Hell-and-Fury,  one  of 
Sheppaid's  companions,  meeting  with  him  in  St.  Giles's,  enticed  him  into 
a  public-house,  in  the  hope  of  receiving  a  reward  for  apprehending  him  ; 
and  while  they  were  drinking  Sykes  sent  for  a  constable,  who  took  Jack 
into  custody,  and  carried  him  before  a  magistrate.  After  a  short  examina- 
tion, he  was  sent  to  St.  Giles's  round-house  ;  but  he  bi'oke  through  the  rouf 
of  that  place  and  made  his  escape  in  the  night. 

Within  a  short  time  after  this,  as  Sheppard  and  an  associate,  named 
Benson,  were  crossing  Leicester  Fields,  the  latter  endeavoured  to  pick  a 
gentleman's  pocket  of  his  watch  ;  but  failing  in  the  attempt,  the  gentle- 
man called  out  ''•  A  pickpocket !  "  on  which  Sheppard  was  taken,  and 
lodged  in  St.  Ann's  round-house,  where  he  was  visited  by  Edgeworth  Bess, 
who  was  detained  on  suspicion  of  being  one  of  his  accomplices.  On  the 
following  day  they  were  carried  before  a  magistrate,  and  some  persons 
appearing  who  charged  them  with  felonies,  they  were  committed  to  the 
New  Prison  ;  but  as  they  passed  for  husband  and  wife,  they  were  permitted 
to  lodge  together  in  a  room  known  by  the  name  of  the  Newgate 
ward.  They  were  here  visited  by  many  of  their  friends,  Blueskin  among 
the  number ;  and  being  provided  by  them  with  the  implements  necessary 
to  enable  them  to  escape.  Jack  proceeded  to  secure  the  object  which  he  had 
in  view  with  that  alacrity  and  energy  which  always  characterised  his 
actions.  The  removal  of  his  fetters  by  means  of  a  file  was  a  work  which 
occupied  him  a  very  few  minutes,  and  he  then,  with  the  assistance  of  hi* 
companion,  prepared  for  flight.  The  first  obstacle  which  presented  itself  to 
them  was  in  the  shape  of  the  heavy  cross-bars  which  defended  the  aperture, 
by  which  light  and  air  were  admitted  to  their  cell ;  but  the  application  of 
their  file  soon  removed  the  difficulty.  There  was  then  another  point  of  a 
more  dangerous  character  to  overcome — the  descent  to  the  yard.  Their 
window  was  twenty-five  feet  in  height,  and  the  only  means  of  reaching 
the  earth  was  by  the  employment  of  their  blankets  as  ropes.  Thesi', 
however,  would  not  enable  them  to  touch  the  ground;  but  they  found  that 
there  was  a  considerable  distance  for  them  to  drop,  even  after  they  should 
have  arrived  at  the  extreme  end  of  their  cord.  Gallantry  induced  our  hero 
to  give  the  first  place  to  Bess,  and  she,  having  stripped  off"  a  portion  of  her 
clothes,  so  as  to  render  herself  lighter,  descended  in  perfect  safety.  Jack 
followed,  and  they  found  some  consolation  in  their  being  at  least  without 
the  gaol,  although  there  were  yet  the  Avails  of  the  yard  to  climb.  These 
were  topped  with  a  strong  chevaux  de  /rise  of  iron,  and  were  besides 
twenty-two  feet  high  ;  but  passing  round  them  until  they  came  to  tlio 
great  gates,  the  adventurous  pair  found  means  by  the  locks  and  bolts,  by 


40  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

which  they  were  held  together,  to  surmount  this,  apparently  the  greatest 
ditficulty  of  all,  and  they  once  again  stood  on  the  open  ground  outside  the 
gaol.  Bess  having  now  re-assumed  the  clothes,  of  which  she  had  denuded 
herself,  in  order  that  she  might  be  the  more  agile  in  her  escape,  and  which 
she  had  taken  the  precaution  to  throw  over  the  wall  before  her,  she  and  her 
paramour,  once  more  enjoying  the  free  air  of  liberty,  marched  into  town. 

It  may  readily  be  supposed  that  our  hero's  fame  was  increased  by  the 
report  of  this  exploit,  and  all  the  thieves  of  St.  Giles's  soon  became  anxious  to 
become  his  "  palls."  He  did  not  hesitate  to  accept  the  companionship  of  two 
of  them,  named  Grace,  a  cooper,  and  Lamb,  an  apprentice  t  >  a  mathematical 
instrument  maker  ;  and  at  the  instigation  of  the  latter  they  committed  a 
robbery  in  the  house  of  his  master,  near  St.  Clement's  church,  to  a  considerable 
amount.  The  apprentice,  however,  was  suspected,  and  secured,  and  being 
convicted,  received  sentence  of  transportation.  Our  hero  meanwhile 
escaped,  and  joining  with  Blueskin,  they  did  not  fail  in  obtaining  consider- 
able booty.  The  mode  of  disposing  of  the  plunder  which  they  adopted 
was  that  of  employing  a  fellow  named  Field  to  procure  them  a  market ; 
and  having  committed  the  robbery  at  Kneebone's,  already  mentioned  in 
Blake's  memoir,  they  lodged  its  proceeds  in  a  stable,  which  they  had 
hired,  near  the  Horse  Ferry,  Westminster.  Field  was  applied  to,  to  find 
a  customer  for  the  property,  and  he  promised  to  do  so,  and  was  as  good  as  his 
word ;  for  breaking  open  the  stable,  he  carried  ofip  the  goods  himself,  and 
then  conveyed  information  of  the  robbery  to  Wild,  alleging  that  he  had 
been  concerned  in  it.  Blueskin,  it  will  have  been  seen,  was  tried  and 
convicted  for  the  robbery,  and  suffered  execution  ;  and  Sheppard  having 
also  been  secured,  he  too  was  sentenced  to  death. 

On  Monday,  30th  August,  1724,  a  warrant  was  sent  for  his  execution, 
together  with  that  of  some  other  convicts,  but  neither  his  ingenuity  nor  his 
courage  forsook  him  upon  this,  any  more  than  upon  any  previous  occasion. 
In  the  gaol  of  Newgate  there  was  a  hatch  within  the  lodge  in  which  the 
gaolers  sat,  which  opened  into  a  dark  passage,  from  which  there  were  a  few 
eteps  leading  to  the  hold  containing  the  condemned  cells.  It  was  customary 
for  the  prisoners,  on  their  friends  coming  to  see  them,  to  be  conducted  to 
this  hatch  ;  but  any  very  close  communication  was  prevented  by  the  surveil- 
lance of  the  gaolers,  and  by  large  iron  spikes  which  surmounted  the  gate 
The  visits  of  Edgeworth  Bess  to  her  paramour  were  not  unattended  with 
advantage  to  the  latter,  for  while  in  conversation,  she  took  the  oppor- 
tunity of  diverting  the  attention  of  the  gaoler  from  her,  while  she  delivered 
the  necessary  instruments  to  Sheppard  to  assist  him  in  his  contemplated 
escape.  Subsequent  visits  enabled  Jack  to  approach  the  wicket ;  and  by 
constant  filing  he  succeeded  in  placing  one  of  the  spikes  in  such  a  position 
as  that  it  could  be  easily  wTenched  off.  On  the  evening  on  which  the 
warrant  for  his  execution  arrived,  Mrs.  Maggott,  who  was  an  immensely 
powerful  woman,  and  Bess,  going  to  visit  him,  he  broke  off  the  spike  while 
the  keepers  were  employed  in  drinking  in  the  lodge,  and  thrusting  his 
head  and  shoulders  through  the  aperture,  the  women  pulled  him  down, 
and  smuggled  him  through  the  outer  room,  in  which  the  gaolers  were 
indulging  themselves,  into  the  street.  This  second  escape  not  a  little 
increased  his  notoriety  ;  but  an  instant  pursuit  being  made,  he  was  com- 
])clled  to  lie  close.  Consulting  -with  one  Page,  a  butcher,  it  was  deter- 
mined that  they  should  go  to  Waruden,   in  Northamptonshire,  together 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CAt.ENDAU.  4] 

wliorc  tlii'ivlations  of  the  latter  lived  ;  but  on  arriving  there,  being  treated 
with  indifference,  tliey  immediately  retraced  their  steps  to  London. 

On  the  niglit  after  tlieir  return,  they  were  walking  througli  Fleet-street, 
when  they  saw  a  watchmaker's  shop  attended  only  by  a  boy,  and  having 
])a5sed  it,  they  turned  back,  and  Sheppard,  driving  his  hand  through  the 
window,  stole  three  watches,  with  which  tliey  made  their  escape.  They 
subsequently  retired  to  Finchley  for  security  ;  but  the  gaolers  of  Newgate 
gaining  information  of  their  retreat,  took  Siieppard  into  custody,  and  once 
more  conveyed  him  to  "  The  Stone  Jug." 

Such  steps  were  now  taken  as  it  was  thought  would  be  effectual  to 
])revent  his  future  escape.  He  was  put  into  a  strong  room,  called  the 
Castle,  handcuffed,  loaded  with  a  heavy  pair  of  irons,  and  chained  to  a 
staple  fixed  in  the  floor.  The  curiosity  of  the  public  being  greatly  excited 
i)y  his  former  escape,  he  was  visited  by  great  numbers  of  people  of  all 
ranks,  and  scarce  any  one  left  him  without  making  him  a  present  in  money. 
Although  he  did  not  disdain  these  substantial  proofs  of  public  generosity, 
wiiich  enabled  him  to  obtain  those  luxuries,  which  were  not  provided  bv  the 
city  authorities  for  his  prison  fare,  his  thoughts  were  constantly  fixed  on 
the  means  of  again  eluding  his  keepers ;  and  the  opportunity  was  not 
long  wanting  when  he  might  carry  his  design  into  execution. 

On  the  fourteenth  of  October,  the  sessions  began  at  the  Old  Bailey,  and 
the  keepers  being  much  engaged  in  attending  the  Court,  he  thought 
rightly,  that  they  would  have  little  time  to  visit  him,  and,  therefore,  that 
the  present  juncture  would  be  the  most  favourable  to  carry  his  plan  into 
execution.  About  two  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  following  day,  one 
of  the  keepers  carried  him  his  dinner ;  and  having  carefully  examined  his 
irons,  and  found  them  fast,  he  left  him.  Sheppard  now  immediately  pro- 
ceeded to  the  completion  of  the  great  work  of  his  life,  his  second  escape 
from  Newgate ;  in  describing  which  we  shall  extract  from  Mr.  Ainsworth's 
work  of  "  Jack  Sheppard,"  in  which  that  gentleman  has  given  a  lasting 
fame  to  our  hero,  and  has  founded  a  most  interesting  romance  on  the  real 
circumstances  of  the  life  of  this  daring  and  extraordinary  offender.  He 
says,  "  Jack  Sheppard's  first  object  was  to  free  himself  from  his  hand-cuffs. 
This  he  accomplished  by  holding  the  chain  that  connected  them  firmly 
between  his  teeth,  and,  squeezing  his  fingers  as  closely  together  as  possible, 
he  succeeded  in  drawing  his  wrists  through  the  manacles.  He  next  twisted 
the  heavy  gyves  round  and  round,  and  partly  by  main  strength,  partly  bv  a 
dexterous  and  weii-applied  jerk,  snapped  asunder  tlie  central  link,  by 
which  they  were  attached  to  the  padlock.  Taking  off'  his  stockings,  he 
then  drew  up  the  basils  as  far  as  he  was  able,  and  tied  the  fragments  of  the 
broken  chains  to  his  legs,  to  prevent  them  from  clanking,  aud  impeding  his 
future  exertions."  Upon  a  former  attempt  to  make  his  way  up  the  cliimney, 
he  had  been  impeded  by  an  iron  bar  which  was  fixed  across  it,  at  a  height 
of  a  few  feet.  To  remove  this  obstacle,  it  was  necessary  to  make  an  extensive 
breach  in  the  wall.  With  the  broken  links  of  the  chain,  which  served  him 
in  lieu  of  more  efficient  implements,  he  commenced  operations  just  above 
the  chimney-piece,  and  soon  contrived  to  pick  a  hole  in  the  plaster.  He 
found  the  wall,  as  he  suspected,  solidly  constructed  of  brick  and  stone  ;  and, 
with  the  slight  and  inadequate  tools  which  he  possessed,  it  was  a  work  of 
infinite  skill  and  labour  to  get  out  a  single  brick.  That  done,  however,  he 
was  well  aware  the  rest  would  be  comparatively  easy  ;    and  as  he  threw 

VOL.  I.  O 


42  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALKXDAR. 

the  hrick  to  the  ground,  he  exclaimed  triumphantly,  "  The  first  step  h 
taken — the  main  difficulty  is  overcome." 

"  Animated  by  this  trifling  success,  he  proceeded  with  fresh  ardour,  and 
the  rapidity  of  his  progress  was  proclaimed  by  the  heap  of  bricks,  stones, 
and  mortar,  which  before  long  covered  the  floor.  At  the  expiration  of  an 
hour,  by  dint  of  unremitting  exertion,  he  made  so  large  a  breach  in  the 
chimney  that  he  could  stand  upright  in  it.  He  was  now  within  a  foot  of 
the  bar,  and  introducing  himself  into  the  hole,  he  speedily  worked  his  way 
to  it.  Regardless  of  the  risk  he  ran  by  some  heavy  stones  dropping  on  his 
head  or  feet, — regardless  also  of  the  noise  made  by  the  falling  rubbish,  and  of 
the  imminent  risk  to  which  he  was  consequently  exposed  of  being  interrupted 
by  some  of  the  gaolers,  should  the  sound  reach  their  ears,  he  continued  to 
pull  dowTi  large  masses  of  the  wall,  which  he  flung  upon  the  floor  of  the  cell. 
Having  worked  thus  for  another  quarter  of  an  hour,  without  being  sensible 
of  fatigue,  though  he  was  half  stifled  by  the  clouds  of  dust  which  his 
exertions  raised,  he  had  made  a  hole  about  three  feet  wide  and  six  higli, 
and  uncovered  the  iron  bar.  Grasping  it  firmly  with  both  hands,  he 
quickly  wrenched  it  from  the  stones  in  which  it  was  mortised,  and  leapt 
to  the  ground.  On  examination  it  proved  to  be  a  flat  bar  of  iron,  nearly 
a  yard  in  length,  and  more  than  an  inch  square.  '  A  capital  instrument 
for  my  purpose,'  thought  Jack,  shouldering  it,  '  and  worth  all  the  trouble 
I  have  had  in  procuring  it.'  While  he  was  thus  musing,  he  thought  he 
heard  the  lock  tried.  A  chill  ran  through  his  frame,  and  grasping  the 
heavy  weapon,  with  which  chance  had  provided  him,  he  prepared  to  strike 
down  the  first  person  who  should  enter  his  cell.  After  listening  attentively 
for  a  short  time  without  drawing  breath,  he  became  convinced  that  his 
apprehensions  were  groundless,  and,  greatly  relieved,  sat  down  upon  the 
chair  to  rest  himself  and  prepare  for  future  efibrts. 

•'  Acquainted  with  every  part  of  the  gaol.  Jack  well  knew  that  his  only 
chance  of  eflecting  an  escape  must  be  by  the  roof.  To  reach  it  would  be  a 
most  difficult  undertaking.  Still  it  was  possible,  and  the  difficulty  was 
only  a  fresh  incitement.  The  mere  enumeration  of  the  obstacles  which 
existed  would  have  deterred  any  spirit  less  daring  than  Sheppard's  from 
even  hazarding  the  attempt.  Independently  of  other  risks,  and  the  chance 
of  breaking  his  neck  in  the  descent,  he  was  aware  that  to  reach  the  leads 
he  should  have  to  break  open  six  of  the  strongest  doors  of  the  prison. 
Armed,  however,  with  the  implement  he  had  so  fortunately  obtained,  he 
did  not  despair  of  success.  '  My  name  will  not  only  be  remembered  as 
that  of  a  robber,'  he  mused,  '  but  it  shall  be  remembered  as  that  of  a  bold 
one;  and  this  night's  achievement,  if  it  does  nothing  else,  shall  prevent  me 
from  being  classed  with  the  common  herd  of  depredators.'  Roused  by 
this  reflection,  he  grasped  the  iron  bar,  which,  when  he  sat  down,  he  had 
laid  upon  his  knees,  and  stepped  quickly  across  the  room.  In  doing  so, 
he  had  to  clamber  up  the  immense  heap  of  bricks  and  rubbish  which  now 
littered  the  floor,  amounting  almost  to  a  cart-load,  and  reaching  up  nearly 
to  the  chimney-piece ;  and  having  once  more  got  into  the  chimney,  he 
climbed  to  a  level  with  the  ward  above,  and  recommenced  operations  as 
vigorously  as  before.  He  was  now  aided  with  a  powerful  implement,  witii 
which  he  soon  contrived  to  make  a  hole  in  the  wall. 

"  The  ward  which  Jack  was  endeavouring  to  break  was  called  tl;e  Red- 
room  from  the  circuniatance  of  its  walls  having  once  been  painted  in  that 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CAtENHAR.  4S 

colour  :  all  traces  of  which,  however,  had  lont^  since  disappeared.  Liko 
tne  Castle,  Avhich  it  resembled  in  all  respects,  except  that  it  was  destitute 
even  of  a  barrack  bedstead,  the  Red-room  was  reserved  for  state  ])risoners. 
and  had  not  been  occupied  since  tlieyear  1716,  when  the  gaol  was  crowded 
l»y  the  Preston  rebels.  Having  made  a  hole  in  the  wall  sufficiently  large 
to  pass  through,  Js.<;k  first  tossed  the  bar  into  the  room  and  then  crept 
after  it.  As  soon  as  he  had  gained  his  feet,  he  glanced  round  the  bare 
black  walls  of  the  cell,  and,  oppressed  by  the  misty  close  atmosphere, 
exclaimed,  '  I  will  let  a  little  fresh  air  into  this  dungeon  :  they  say  it  has 
not  been  opened  for  eight  years,  but  I  won't  be  eight  minutes  in  getting 
out.'  In  stepping  across  the  room,  some  sharp  point  in  the  floor  pierced 
his  foot,  .and  stooping  to  examine  it,  he  found  that  the  wound  had  been 
inflicted  by  a  long  rusty  nail,  which  projected  from  the  boards.  Totally 
disregarding  the  pain,  he  picked  up  the  nail,  and  reserved  it  for  future  use. 
Nor  was  he  long  in  making  it  available.  On  examining  the  door,  he  found 
it  secured  by  a  large  rusty  lock,  which  he  endeavoured  to  pick  with  the 
nail  he  had  just  acquired  :  but  all  his  efforts  proving  ineftectual,  he  removed 
the  plate  that  covered  it  with  tlie  bar,  and  with  his  fingers  contrived  to 
draw  back  the  bolt. 

"  Opening  the  door,  he  then  stepped  into  a  dark  narrow  passage,  leading, 
as  he  was  well  aware,  to  the  Chapel.  On  the  left  there  were  doors  com- 
municating with  the  King's  Bench  Ward,  and  the  Stone  Ward,  two  lar<je 
holds  on  the  master  debtors'  side.  But  Jack  was  too  well  versed  in  the 
geography  of  the  place  to  attempt  either  of  them.  Indeed,  if  he  had  been 
ignorant  of  it,  the  sound  of  voices,  which  he  could  faintly  distinguisli, 
would  have  served  as  a  caution  to  him.  Hurrying  on,  his  progress  was 
soon  checked  by  a  strong  door,  several  inches  in  thickness  and  nearly  as 
wide  as  the  passage.  Running  his  hand  carefully  over  it  in  search  of  the 
lock,  he  perceived,  to  his  dismay,  that  it  was  fastened  on  the  other  side. 
After  several  vain  attempts  to  burst  it  open,  he  resolved,  as  a  last  alter- 
native, to  break  through  the  wall  in  the  part  nearest  the  lock.  This  was 
a  much  more  serious  task  than  he  anticipated.  The  wall  was  of  consi- 
derable thickness,  and  built  altogether  of  stone ;  and  the  noise  he  was 
compelled  to  make  in  using  the  heavy  bar,  which  brought  sparks  with 
every  splinter  he  struck  oft",  was  so  great,  that  he  feared  it  must  be  heard 
by  the  prisoners  on  the  debtors'  side.  Heedless,  however,  of  the  conse- 
i^uences,  he  pursued  his  task.  Half  an  hour's  labour,  during  which  he 
was  obliged  more  than  once  to  pause  to  regain  breath,  sufticed  to  make  a 
hole  wide  enough  to  allow  a  passage  for  his  arm  up  to  the  elbow.  In  this 
way  he  was  able  to  force  back  a  ponderous  bolt  from  its  socket ;  and  to  his 
unspeakable  delight,  found  that  the  door  instantly  yielded.  Once  more 
cheered  by  daylight,  he  hastened  forward  and  entered  the  Chapel. 

"  Situated  at  the  upper  part  of  the  south-east  angle  of  the  gaol,  tiie 
Chapel  of  Old  Newgate  was  divided  on  the  north  side  into  three  grated 
compartments,  or  pens,  as  they  were  termed,  allotted  to  the  common 
debtors  and  felons.  In  the  north-west  angle  there  was  a  small  pen  for 
female  offenders ;  and  on  the  south,  a  more  commodious  inclosure  appro- 
priated to  the  master  debtors  and  strangers.  Immediately  beneath  th*? 
pulpit  stood  a  large  circular  pen,  where  malefactors  under  sentence  of 
death  sat  to  hear  the  condemned  sermon  delivered  to  them,  and  where  tney 
formed  a  public  spectacle  to  the  crowds  which  curiosity  generally  attracieO 


44  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

cn  those  occasions.  To  return.  Jack  had  got  into  one  of  the  pens  at  the 
north  side  of  the  chapel.  The  inclosure  hy  wliich  it  was  surrounded  was 
about  twelve  feet  higla ;  the  under  part  being  composed  of  oaken  planks, 
the  upper  part  of  a  strong  iron  grating,  surmounted  by  sharp  iron  spikes. 
In  the  middle  there  was  a  gate  :  it  was  locked.  But  Jack  speedily  burst 
it  open  with  the  iron  bar.  Clearing  the  few  impediments  in  his  way. 
he  soon  reached  the  condemned  pew,  where  it  had  once  been  his  fate  to 
sit ;  and  extending  himself  on  the  seat  endeavoured  to  snatch  a  moment's 
repose.  It  was  denied  him,  for  as  he  closed  his  eyes — though  but  for  an 
Instant  — the  whole  scene  of  his  former  visit  to  the  place  rose  before  him. 
There  he  sat  as  before,  with  the  heavy  fetters  on  his  limbs,  and  beside 
him  sat  his  three  companions  who  had  since  expiated  their  offences  on  the 
gibbet.  The  chapel  was  again  crowded  with  visitors,  and  every  eye  fixed 
upon  him.  So  perfect  was  the  illusion,  that  he  could  almost  fancy  he 
heard  the  solemn  voice  of  the  Ordinary  warning  him  that  his  race  was 
nearly  run,  and  imploring  him  to  prepare  for  eternity.  From  this  perturbed 
state  he  was  roused  by  the  thoughts  of  his  present  position,  and  fancying 
he  heard  approaching  voices,  he  started  up.  On  one  side  of  the  chapel 
there  was  a  large  grated  window,  but,  as  it  looked  upon  the  interior  of  the 
gaol,  Jack  preferred  following  the  course  he  had  originally  decided  upon,  to 
making  any  attempt  in  this  quarter.  Accordingly  he  proceeded  to  a  gate 
wliich  stood  upon  the  south,  and  guarded  the  passage  communicating  with 
the  leads.  It  was  grated,  and  crested  with  spikes,  like  tliat  he  had  just 
burst  open ;  and  thinking  it  a  needless  w'aste  of  time  to  force  it,  he  broke 
off  one  of  the  spikes,  which  he  carried  with  him  for  further  purposes,  and 
then  climbed  over  it.  A  short  flight  of  steps  brought  him  to  a  dark 
passage,  into  which  he  plunged.  Here  he  found  another  strong  door, 
making  the  fifth  he  had  encountered.  AYell  aware  that  the  doors  in  this 
passage  were  much  stronger  than  those  in  the  entry  he  had  just  quitted, 
he  was  neither  surprised  nor  dismayed  to  find  it  fastened  by  a  lock  of 
unusual  size.  After  repeatedly  trying  to  remove  the  plate,  which  w-as  so 
firmly  screwed  down  that  it  resisted  all  his  efforts,  and  vainly  attempting 
to  pick  it  with  his  spike  and  n.iil,  he  at  length,  after  half  an  hour's  inef- 
fectual labour,  wrenched  oft"  the  box  by  means  of  the  iron  bar,  and  the 
door,  as  he  laughingly  expressed  it,  '  was  his  humble  servant.' 

"  But  this  difficulty  was  only  overcome  to  be  succeeded  by  one  still 
greater.  Hastening  along  the  passage,  he  came  to  the  sixth  door.  For 
this  he  was  prepared :  but  he  was  not  prepared  for  the  almost  insur- 
mountable difficulties  which  it  presented.  Running  his  hand  hastily  over 
it,  he  was  startled  to  find  it  one  complicated  mass  of  bolts  and  bars.  It 
seemed  as  if  all  the  precautions  previously  taken  were  here  accumulated. 
Any  one  less  courageous  than  himself  would  have  abandoned  the  attempt 
from  the  conviction  of  its  utter  hopelessness ;  but  though  it  might  for  a 
moment  damp  his  ardour,  it  could  not  deter  him.  Once  again  he  passed 
his  hand  over  the  surface,  and  carefully  noted  all  the  obstacles.  There  was 
a  lock,  apparently  more  than  a  foot  wide,  strongly  plated,  and  girded  to 
the  door  with  thick  iron  hoops.  Below  it  a  prodigiously  large  bolt  wa| 
^hot  into  the  socket,  and,  in  order  to  keep  it  there,  was  fastened  by  a  hasp, 
and  further  protected  by  an  immense  padlock.  Besides  this,  the  door 
was  crossed  and  recrossed  by  iron  bars,  clenched  by  broad-headed  nails. 
An  iron  fillet  secured  the  socket  of  the  bolt  and  the  box  of  the  lock  to  the 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAU.  45 

main  post  of  the  door- way.     Nothing  disheartened  by  this  survey,  Jack 

set  to  work  upon  the  lock,  which  he  attacked  with  all  his  implements ; . 

now  attempting  to  pick  it  with  the  nail ; — now  to  wrench  it  oti"  with  the 
bar,  but  all  without  effect.  He  not  only  failed  in  making  any  impression 
but  seemed  to  increase  the  difficulties,  for  after  an  hour's  toil  he  liad  broken 
the  nail,  and  slightly  bent  the  iron  bar.  Completely  overcome  by  fatio-ue, 
with  strained  muscles  and  bruised  hands,  streaming  with  perspiration,  an«l 
with  lips  so  parched  that  he  would  gladly  have  parted  with  a  treasure  if 
he  had  possessed  it  for  a  draught  of  water,  he  sunk  against  the  wall,  and 
while  in  this  state  was  seized  with  a  sudden  and  strange  alarm.  He 
fancied  that  the  turnkeys  had  discovered  his  flight,  and  were  in  pursuit  of 
him — that  they  had  climbed  up  the  chimney — entered  the  bed-rooms — 
tracked  him  from  door  to  door,  and  were  now  only  detained  by  the  gate, 
which  he  had  left  unbroken  in  the  chapel.  So  strongly  was  he  impressed 
with  this  idea,  that  grasping  the  iron  bar  with  both  hands  he  dashed  it 
furiously  against  the  door,  making  the  passage  echo  with  the  blows.  By 
degrees  his  fears  vanished,  and,  hearing  nothing,  he  grew  calmer.  His 
spirits  revived,  and  encouraging  himself  with  the  idea  that  the  present 
impediment,  though  the  greatest,  was  the  last,  he  set  himself  seriously  to 
consider  how  it  might  best  be  overcome.  On  reflection,  it  occurred  to  him 
that  he  might,  perhaps,  be  able  to  loosen  the  iron  fillet — a  notion  no  sooner 
conceived  than  executed.  With  incredible  labour,  and  by  the  aid  of  both 
spike  and  nail,  he  succeeded  in  getting  the  point  of  the  bar  beneath  the 
fillet.  Exerting  all  his  energies,  and  using  the  bar  as  a  lever,  he  forced 
off  the  iron  band,  which  was  full  seven  feet  high,  seven  inches  wide,  and 
two  inches  thick,  aud  which  brought  with  it,  in  its  fall,  the  box  of  the 
lock,  and  the  socket  of  the  bolt,  leaving  no  further  hindrance.  Overjoyed 
beyond  measure  at  having  vanquished  this  apparently  insurmountable 
obstacle.  Jack  darted  through  the  door. 

"  Ascending  a  short  flight  of  steps.  Jack  found  at  the  summit  a  door, 
which,  being  bolted  on  the  inside^  he  speedily  opened.  The  fresh  air, 
which  blew  in  his  face,  greatly  revived  him.  He  had  now  reached  what 
were  called  the  Lower  Leads — a  flat,  covering  a  part  of  the  prison  conti- 
guous to  the  gateway,  and  surrounded  on  all  sides  by  walls  about  fourteen 
feet  high.  On  the  north  stood  the  battlements  of  one  of  the  towers  of  the 
gate.  On  this  side  a  flight  of  wooden  steps,  protected  by  a  hand-rail,  led 
to  a  door  opening  upon  the  summit  of  the  prison.  This  door  was  crested 
with  spikes,  and  guarded  on  the  right  by  a  bristling  semi-circle  of  similar 
weapons.  Hastily  ascending  the  steps,  Jack  found  the  door,  as  he  antici- 
pated, locked.  He  could  have  easily  forced  it,  but  he  preferred  a  more 
expeditious  mode  of  reaching  the  roof  which  suggested  itself  to  him. 
Mounting  the  door  he  had  last  opened,  he  placed  his  hands  on  the  wall 
above,  and  quickly  drew  himself  up.  Just  as  he  got  on  the  roof  of  the 
prison,  St.  Sepulchre's  clock  struck  eight.  It  was  instantly  answered  by 
the  deep  note  of  St.  Paul's  ;  and  the  concert  was  prolonged  by  other  neigh- 
bouring churches.  Jack  had  been  thus  six  hours  in  accomplishing  his 
arduous  task. 

"  Though  nearly  dark,  there  was  still  light  enough  left  to  enable  him  to 
liscern  surrounding  objects.  Through  the  gloom  he  distinctly  perceived 
the  dome  of  St.  Paul's,  hanging  like  a  black  cloud  in  the  air ;  and,  nearer 
to  him.  he  remarked  the  golden  ball  on  tho  summit  of  the  College  of 


46  THE    NEW   NEWGATF   CALENDAR. 

Piiysicians,  compared  by  Garth  to  a  '  gilded  pill.'  Other  towers  and 
spires ; — St.  Martin's,  on  Ludgate-hill,  and  Christ  Church,  in  Newgate- 
street,  were  also  distinguishable.  As  he  gazed  down  into  the  courts  of  the 
prison,  he  could  not  help  shuddering,  lest  a  false  step  might  precipitate 
him  below.  To  prevent  the  recurrence  of  any  such  escape  as  that  just 
described,  it  was  deemed  expedient,  in  more  recent  times,  to  keep  a 
watchman  at  the  top  of  Newgate.  Not  many  years  ago,  two  men  employed 
in  this  duty  quarrelled  during  the  night,  and  in  the  morning  their  bodies 
were  found  stretched  upon  the  pavement  of  the  yard  below.  Proceeding 
along  the  wall,  Jack  reached  the  southern  tower,  over  the  battlements  of 
which  he  clambered,  and  crossing  it,  dropped  upon  the  roof  of  the  gate. 
lie  then  scaled  the  northern  tower,  and  made  his  way  to  the  summit  of 
that  part  of  the  prison  which  fronted  Giltspur-street.  Arrived  at  the 
extremity  of  the  building,  he  found  that  it  overlooked  the  flat  roof  of  a 
house,  which,  as  far  as  he  could  judge  in  the  darkness,  lay  at  a  depth  of 
about  twenty  feet  below. 

"  Not  choosing  to  hazard  so  great  a  fall.  Jack  turned  to  examine  the 
building,  to  see  whether  any  more  favourable  point  of  descent  presented 
itself,  but  could  discover  nothing  but  steep  walls,  without  a  single  available 
projection.  Finding  it  impossible  to  descend  on  any  side,  without  incurring 
serious  risk,  Jack  resolved  to  return  for  his  blanket,  by  the  help  of  which 
he  felt  certain  of  accomplishing  a  safe  landing  on  the  roof  of  the  house  in 
Giltspur-street.  Accordingly  he  began  to  retrace  his  steps,  and  pursuing 
the  course  he  had  recently  taken,  scaling  the  two  towers,  and  passing  along 
the  walls  of  the  prison,  he  descended  by  means  of  the  door  upon  the  Lower 
Leads.  Before  he  re-entered  the  prison  he  hesitated,  from  a  doubt  whether 
he  was  not  fearfully  increasing  his  risk  of  capture ;  but,  convinced  that  he 
had  no  other  alternative,  he  went  on.  During  all  this  time  he  had  never 
quitted  the  iron  bar,  and  he  now  grasped  it  with  the  firm  determination  of 
selling  his  life  dearly  if  he  met  with  any  opposition.  A  few  seconds 
sufticed  to  clear  the  passages  through  which  it  had  previously  cost  him 
more  than  two  hours  to  force  his  way.  The  floor  was  strewn  with  screws, 
nails,  fragments  of  wood  and  stone,  and  across  the  passage  lay  the  heavy 
iron  fillet.  He  did  not  disturb  any  of  the  litter,  but  left  it  as  a  mark  of 
his  prowess.  He  was  now  at  the  entrance  of  the  chapel,  and  striking  the 
door  over  which  he  had  previously  climbed  a  violent  blow  with  the  bar, 
i:,  flew  open.  To  vault  over  the  pews  was  the  work  of  a  moment ;  and 
having  gained  the  entry  leading  to  the  Red  Room,  he  passed  through  the 
first  door,  his  progress  being  only  impeded  by  the  pile  of  broken  stones, 
which  he  himself  had  raised.  Listening  at  one  of  the  doors  leading  to  the 
master-debtors'  side,  he  heard  a  loud  voice  chanting  a  Bacchanalian  melody ; 
and  the  boisterous  laughter  that  accompanied  the  song,  convinced  him  that 
no  suspicion  was  entertained  in  that  quarter.  Entering  the  Red  Room,  he 
crept  through  the  hole  in  the  wall,  descended  the  chimney,  and  arrived 
once  more  in  his  old  place  of  captivity.  How  difterent  were  his  present  feel- 
ings, compared  with  those  he  had  experienced  on  quitting  it !  Then,  full 
of  confidence,  he  half  doubted  his  power  of  accomplishing  his  designs. 
Now  he  had  achieved  them,  and  felt  assured  of  success.  The  vast  heap  of 
rubbish  on  the  floor  had  been  so  materially  increased  by  the  bricks  and 
i/iaster  thrown  down  in  his  attack  upon  the  wall  of  the  Red  Room,  that  it 
was  with  some  difiiculty  that  he  could  find  the  blanket,  which  was  almost 


I 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALEiNDAR.  47 

tniried  beneath  the  pile.  Ho  next  searched  for  his  stockings  and  >ihoes,  and 
when  found,  put  them  on.  He  now  prepared  to  return  to  the  roof,  and 
tlirowing  the  blanket  over  his  left  arm,  aiid  shouldering  the  iron  bar,  he 
again  clambered  up  the  chimney,  regained  the  Red  Room,  hurried  along 
the  first  passage,  crossed  the  chapel,  threaded  the  entry  to  the  Lower  Leads, 
and  in  less  than  three  minutes  after  quitting  the  Castle,  had  reached  the 
northern  extremity  of  the  prison.  Previously  to  his  descent,  he  had  left 
the  nail  and  spike  on  the  wall,  and  with  these  he  fastened  the  blanket  to 
the  coping-stone.  This  done,  he  let  himself  carefully  down  by  it,  and 
having  only  a  few  feet  to  drop,  alighted  in  safety. 

"  Having  now  got  fairly  out  of  Newgate,  for  the  second  time,  with  a 
heart  throbbing  with  exultation,  he  hastened  to  make  good  his  escape. 
To  his  great  joy  he  found  a  small  garret  door  in  the  roof  of  the  opposite 
house  open  ;  he  entered  it,  crossed  tlie  room,  in  which  there  was  only  a 
small  truckle-bed,  over  which  he  stumbled,  opened  another  door  and  gained 
the  stair-head.  As  he  was  about  to  descend,  his  chains  slightly  rattled. 
'  O  lud  !  what's  that  ? '  cried  a  female  voice  from  an  adjoining  room 
*  Only  the  dog,'  replied  the  rough  tones  of  a  man,  and  all  was  again  silent 
Securing  the  chain  in  the  best  way  he  could.  Jack  then  hurried  down  two 
pair  of  stairs,  and  had  nearly  reached  the  lobby,  when  a  door  suddenly 
opened,  and  two  persons  appeared,  one  of  whom  held  a  light.  Retreating 
as  quickly  as  he  could.  Jack  opened  the  first  door  he  came  to,  entered  a 
room,  and  searching  in  the  dark  for  some  place  of  concealment,  fortunately 
discovered  a  screen,  behind  which  he  crept." 

Having  lain  down  here  for  about  two  hours,  he  once  more  proceeded 
down  stairs,  and  saw  a  gentleman  take  leave  of  the  family  and  quit  the 
house,  lighted  by  the  servant ;  and  as  soon  as  the  maid  returned,  he 
resolved  to  venture  at  all  hazards.  In  stealing  down  the  stairs  he  stum- 
bled against  a  chamber  door,  but  instantly  recovering  himself,  he  got  into 
the  street. 

By  this  time  it  was  after  twelve  o'clock,  and  passing  by  the  watch-house 
of  St.  Sepulchre,  he  bid  the  watchman  good  night ;  and  going  up  Holborn, 
he  turned  down  Gray's  Inn  Lane,  and  at  about  two  in  the  moi-ning,  he  got 
into  the  fields  near  Tottenham  Court  Road,  where  he  took  shelter  in  a  cow- 
house, and  slept  soundly  for  about  three  hours.  His  fetters  were  still  on 
his  legs,  and  he  dreaded  the  approach  of  daylight  lest  he  should  be  disco- 
vered. His  mind,  however,  was  somewhat  relieved  for  the  present,  for  at 
sevpii  o'clock  the  rain  began  to  fall  in  torrents,  so  that  no  one  ventured 
near  his  hiding-place.  Night  coming  on,  the  calls  of  hunger  drove  him  to 
seek  some  refreshment  ,  and  going  to  Tottenham  Court  Road,  he  ventured 
to  purchase  some  bread  and  cheese  and  small-beer  at  a  chandler's  shop. 
He  had  during  the  day  been  planning  various  means  to  procure  the  release 
of  his  legs  from  the  bondage  of  his  chains,  and  now  having  forty-five 
shillings  in  his  possession,  he  attempted  to  procure  a  hammer.  His  efforts, 
however,  proved  ineffectual,  and  he  was  compelled  to  return  to  his  shelter 
for  the  night.  The  next  day  brought  him  no  relief;  and  having  again  gone 
to  the  chandler's  shop,  he  once  more  went  back  to  his  place  of  concealment. 
The  next  day  was  Sunday,  and  he  now  beat  the  basils  of  his  irons  with  a 
stone,  so  that  he  might  slip  them  over  his  heels,  but  the  master  of  the 
cow-house  coming,  interrupted  him,  and  demanded  to  know  how  he  came 
there    so  confined  by  irons.     Ihe  answer  given  was,  that  he  had  escaped 


4B  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

from  Bridewell,  where  lie  had  been  confined  because  he  was  unable  to  give 
security  for  the  payment  of  a  sum  of  money  for  the  maintenance  of  a  child 
he  had  had  sworn  to  him,  and  the  master  of  the  house  desiring  him  to  be 
gone,  then  quitted  him.  A  shoemaker  soon  after  coming  near,  Jack  called 
him,  and  telling  him  the  same  story,  induced  him,  by  a  bribe  of  twenty  shil- 
lings, to  procure  him  a  hammer  and  a  punch.  They  set  to  work  together 
to  remove  the  irons,  and  his  legs  were  at  length  freed  from  this  encumbrance 
at  about  five  o'clock. 

When  night  came  on,  our  adventurer  ti^d  a  handkerchief  about  his 
head,  tore  his  woollen  cap  in  several  places,  and  also  his  coat  and  stockings, 
so  as  to  have  the  appearance  of  a  beggar;  and  in  this  condition  he  went  to 
a  cellar  near  Charing  Cross,  whei'e  he  supped  on  roast  veal,  and  listened  to 
the  conversation  of  the  company,  all  of  whom  were  talking  of  the  escape 
of  Sheppard.  On  the  Monday  he  sheltered  himself  at  a  public-house  of 
little  trade  in  Rupert-street,  and  conversing  witli  the  landlady  about  Shep- 
pard, he  told  her  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  get  out  of  the  kingdom,  and 
the  keepers  would  certainly  have  him  again  in  a  few  days  ;  on  which  the 
woman  wished  that  a  curse  might  fall  on  those  who   should  betray  him. 

On  the  next  day  he  hired  a  garret  in  Newport  Market,  and  soon  after- 
wards, dressing  himself  like  a  porter,  he  went  to  Blackfriars,  to  the  house 
of  Mr.  Applebee,  printer  of  the  dying  speeches,  and  delivered  a  letter,  in 
which  he  ridiculed  the  printer  and  the  Ordinary  of  Newgate,  and  inclosed 
a  communication  for  one  of  the  keepers  of  the  gaol. 

Some  nights  after  this  he  broke  open  the  shop  of  jMr.  Rawlins,  a  pawn- 
broker, in  Drury  Lane,  where  he  stole  a  sword,  a  suit  of  wearing  apparel, 
some  snuff-boxes,  rings,  watches,  and  other  effects  to  a  considerable 
amount ;  and  determining  to  make  the  appearance  of  a  gentleman  among 
his  old  acquaintance  in  Drury  Lane  and  Clare  Jlarkct,  he  dressed  himself 
in  a  suit  of  black  and  a  tie-wig,  wore  a  ruffled  shirt,  a  silver-hilted  sword,  a 
diamond  ring,  and  a  gold  watch,  and  joined  them  at  supper,  though  he 
knew  that  diligent  search  was  making  after  him  at  that  very  time.  On 
the  31st  of  October  he  dined  with  two  women  at  a  public-house  in  New- 
gate-street, and  about  four  in  the  afternoon  they  all  passed  under  Newgate 
in  a  hackney-coach,  having  first  drawn  up  the  blinds.  Going  in  the 
evening  to  a  public-house  in  IMaypole  Alley,  Clare  Market,  Sheppard  sent 
for  his  mother,  and  treated  her  with  brandy,  when  the  poor  w^oman 
dropped  on  her  knees,  and  begged  that  he  would  immediately  retire  from 
the  kingdom.  He  promised  to  do  so ;  but  now  being  grown  mad  from  the 
effects  of  the  liquor  he  had  drunk,  he  wandered  about  from  public-house 
to  public-house  in  the  neighbourhood  till  near  twelve  o'clock  at  night, 
when  he  was  apprehended  in  consequence  of  the  information  of  an  ale-house 
boy,  who  knew  him.  When  taken  into  custody  he  was  quite  senseless, 
and  was  conveyed  to  Newgate  in  a  coach,  without  beinor  capable  of  making 
any  resistance,  although  he  had  two  loaded  pistols  in  his  possession  at  the 
time.  He  was  now  lodged  securely  enough ;  and  his  fame  being  increased 
by  his  recent  exploits,  he  was  visited  by  many  persons  of  distinction, 
whom  he  diverted  by  a  recital  of  the  particulars  of  many  robberies  in 
which  he  had  been  concerned,  but  he  invariably  concluded  his  narration 
by  expressing  a  hope  that  his  visitors  would  endeavour  to  procure  the  exer- 
cise of  the  royal  mercy  in  his  jeiialf,  to  which  he  considered  tnat  hia 
remarkable  dexterity  gave  him  some  claim. 


TDE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  49 

Havino-  been  already  convicted,  it  was  unnecessary  that  the  forms  ot  a 
trial  should  be  again  gone  through,  and  on  the  10th  of  November  he  was 
carried  to  the  bar  of  the  Conrt  of  King's  Bench  :  when  a  record  of  his  con- 
viction having  been  read,  and  an  affidavit  made  that  he  was  the  same  per- 
son alluded  to  in  it,  sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon  him  by  Mr.  Justice 
Powis,  and  a  rule  of  court  was  made  for  his  execution  on  the  following 
Monday.  He  subsequently  regularly  attended  chapel  in  the  gaol,  and 
behaved  there  with  apparent  decency,  but  on  his  quitting  its  walls,  he  did 
not  hesitate  to  endeavour  to  prevent  any  seriousness  among  his  fellow  pri- 
soners. All  his  hopes  were  still  fixed  upon  his  being  pardoned,  and  cveji 
tvhen  the  day  of  execution  arrived,  he  did  not  appear  to  have  given  over  all 
expectations  of  eluding  justice ;  for  having  been  furnished  with  a  penknife, 
fie  put  it  in  his  pocket,  with  a  view,  when  the  melancholy  procession  came 
opposite  Little  Turnstile,  to  have  cut  the  cord  that  bound  his  arms,  and, 
throv/ing  himself  out  of  the  cart  among  the  crowd,  to  have  run  through 
the  narrow  passage  where  the  sheriff's  officers  could  not  follow  on 
horseback,  and  he  had  no  doubt  but  he  should  make  his  escape  by  the 
assistance  of  the  mob.  It  was  not  impossible  that  this  scheme  might  have 
succeeded  ;  but  before  Sheppard  left  the  press-yard,  one  Watson,  an  officer, 
searching  his  pockets,  found  the  knife,  and  was  cut  with  it  so  as  to  occasion 
a  great  effusion  of  blood.  He,  however,  had  yet  a  farther  view  to  his  pre- 
servation even  after  execution  ;  for  he  desired  his  acquaintance  to  put  him 
into  a  warm  bed  as  soon  as  he  should  be  cut  down,  and  to  try  to  open  a 
vein,  which  he  had  been  told  would  restore  him  to  life. 

He  behaved  with  great  decency  at  the  place  of  execution,  and  confessed 
that  he  had  committed  two  robberies,  for  which  he  had  been  tried,  but 
had  been  acquitted.  His  execution  took  place  at  Tyburn,  on  the  16th  of 
November,  1724,  in  the  twenty-third  year  of  his  age.  He  died  with 
difficulty  ;  and  there  were  not  wanting  those  among  the  crowd  assembled, 
who  pitied  him  for  the  fate  which  befel  him  at  so  early  a  period  of  his 
life.  When  he  was  cut  down,  his  body  was  delivered  over  to  his  friends, 
who  carried  it  to  a  public-house  in  Long  Acre ;  from  which  it  was  re- 
moved in  the  evening,  and  buried  in  the  church-yard  of  St.  Martin's-in 
the-Fields. 

The  adventures  of  this  notorious  offender  excited  more  attention  than 
those  of  niany  of  our  most  celebrated  warriors.  He  was,  for  a  consideral)le 
time,  the  principal  subject  of  conversation  in  all  ranks  of  society.  Histo- 
ries of  his  life  issued  from  the  press  in  a  variety  of  forms.  A  pantomimic 
entertainment  was  brought  forward  at  Drury-lane  theatre,  called  "  Har- 
lequin Sheppard,"  wherein  his  adventures,  prison-breakings,  and  other 
extraordinary  escapes,  were  represented  ;  and  another  dramatic  work  was 
published,  as  a  farce  of  three  acts,  called  "  The  Prison-Breaker  ;"  or,  "  The 
Adventures  of  John  Sheppard  ;"  and  a  part  of  it,  with  songs,  catches, 
and  glees  added,  was  performed  at  Bartholomew  Fair,  imder  the  title  of 
"  The  Quaker's  Opera." 

The  arts  too,  were  busied  in  handing  to  posterity  memoranda  for  us 
never  to  f-^llow  the  example  of  Jack  Sheppard. 

Sir  James  Thornhill  *,  the  first  painter  of  the  day,  painted  his  portrait, 

*  This  celebrated  painter,  -whilst  decorating  the  dome  of  St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  nearly  fell  a 
victim  to  his  zeal  in  that  undertaking.  One  day,  when  pursuing  his  task  on  the  scaffold  erected 
round  the  dome  tor  Uaat  uurpose,  he  kept  walking  backwards,  surveying  the  effec-t  of  his  Tori^ 

VOL.  I.  .a 


OO  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

from  which  engravings  in  mezzotinto  were  made  ;  and  the  few  still  in 
preservation  are  objects  of  curiosity.  On  this  subject  the  following  lines 
were  written  at  the  time  : — 

"   Thornhill,  'tis  thine  to  gild  with  fame 
The  ohscure,  and  raise  the  humble  name  ; 
To  make  the  form  elude  the  grave, 
And  Sheppard  from  oblivion  save. 

Though  life  in  vain  the  wretch  implores. 
An  exile  on  the  farthest  shores, 
Thy  pencil  brings  a  kind  reprieve. 
And  bids  the  dying  robber  live. 

This  piece  to  latest  time  shall  stand, 
And  show  the  wonders  of  thy  hand  : 
Thus  former  masters  graced  their  name, 
And  gave  egregious  robbers  fame. 

Apelles  Alexander  drew, 
Caesar  is  to  Aurelius  due  ; 
Cromwell  in  Lily's  works  doth  shine, 
And  Sheppard,  Thornhill,  lives  in  thine." 

In  modern  times,  the  adventures  of  Sheppard  and  his  contemporaries 
have  become  even  better  known  and  more  remarked,  in  consequence  of 
the  work  to  which  we  have  already  alluded,  and  from  which  we  have 
made  an  extract  which  details  his  exploits  with  great  exactness ;  but  at 
the  same  time  o-ives  to  them  a  degree  of  romantic  interest  to  which  they 
are  hardly  entitled.  The  rage  for  house-breakers  has  become  immense, 
and  the  fortunes  of  the  most  notorious  and  the  most  successful  of  thieves 
have  been  made  the  subject  of  entertainments  at  no  fewer  than  six  of  the 
London  theatres. 

Blewitt,  whose  name  is  mentioned  in  the  foregoing  sketch,  as  one  of 
the  earliest  companions  of  Sheppard,  was  eventually  hanged,  with  others, 
for  the  murder  of  a  fellow  named  Ball,  a  publican  and  ex-thief,  who  lived 
in  the  jMint,  and  who  had  provoked  the  anger  of  his  murderers,  by  threat- 
enincr  to  denounce  them.  Their  execution  took  place  on  the  12th  of  April, 
1726. 

until  he  had  nearly  approached  the  edge,  from  which  another  step  would  have  precipitated  him. 
At  this  instant  his  servant,  who  perceived  the  danger  his  master  was  in,  wth  a  wonderful  pre- 
sence of  mind  seized  a  pot  of  colour,  and  threw  it  over  the  painting.  This  caused  Sir  James 
to  rush  forward  for  the  preservation  of  his  work,  and  he  was  thus  saved  from  being  dashed  to 
pieces  which,  but  for  this  timely  intervention,  must  have  been  his  fate.  This  eminent  man 
painted  the  whole  of  the  cupola  of  St.  Paul's,  and  also  the  halls  of  Greenwich  Hospital  and 
Blenheim.  He  was  born  in  1675,  and  was  originally  a  house-painter,  but  afterwards  applied 
nimself  to  historical  subjects,  and  equalled  the  best  painters  of  his  time.  In  1719  he  was 
appointed  Historical  Painter  to  George  I.,  and  shortly  afterwards  was  created  a  knight.  He 
was  employed  in  several  extensive  works,  for  which  he  was  in  general  very  inadequately  paid  ; 
and  at  times  even  found  it  difficult  to  obtain  the  stipulated  price.  His  demands  were  contesteil 
at  Greenwich  Hospital,  although  he  only  received  25a\  a  square  yard ;  about  the  same  time  a 
foreigner,  for  doing  less  work  at  Montague  House,  received  2000/.  for  bis  work,  besides  COO/, 
for  his  diet.  For  St.  Paul's  he  received  40«.  a  square  yard.  He  also  decorated  More  Park, 
but  was  obliged  to  sue  Mr.  Styles  for  it  ;  he,  however,  not  only  recovered  3,500/.  the  sum  agreed 
to  >>e  paid  him,  but  500/.  more  for  decorations  about  the  house.  Notwithstanding  these  ditE 
culties,  he  acquired  a  considerable  fortune,  and  was  several  years  in  parliament ;  lie  w.is  also  a 
Fellow'  of  the  Roval  Society.  His  genius  was  equally  happy  in  history,  allegory,  landscape, 
and  architecture ;  he  even  practised  the  last  science  as  a  man  of  business,  and  built  several 
houses.  He  died  in  1734,  iu  the  same  place  where  he  was  born.  He  left  a  son,  who  follo^^ed 
his  father's  profession ;  and  a  daughter,  who  married  the  celebrated  Hogarth. 


TUB   NEW    NEWOaTE    CALENDAR.  5} 


JONATHAN  AVILD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FELONIOUSLY    CONNIVING    WITH    THIEVES. 

The  name  of  this  most  notorious  offender  must  be  familiar  to  all ;  his 
arts  and  practices  are  scarcely  less  universally  known.  The  power  exer- 
cised by  him  over  thieves  of  all  classes,  and  of  both  sexes,  was  so  great  as 
that  he  may  have  been  considered  their  cliief  and  director,  at  the  same 
time  that  he  did  not  disdain  to  become  their  coadjutor,  or  the  participator 
in  the  proceeds  of  their  villany.  The  system  which  he  pursued  will  be 
sufficiently  disclosed  in  the  notices  which  follow  of  the  various  transactions 
in  which  he  was  engaged  ;  but  it  appears  to  have  been  founded  upon  the 
principle  of  employing  a  thief  so  long  as  his  efforts  proved  profitable,  or 
until  their  suspension  should  be  attended  with  advantage,  and  then  of  ter- 
minating his  career  in  the  most  speedy  and  efficacious  manner,  by  the 
gallows. 

The  subject  of  this  narrative  was  born  at  "Wolverhampton  in  Stafibrd- 
shire,  about  the  year  1682  ;  and  his  parents  being  persons  of  decent 
character  and  station,  he  was  put  to  school,  where  he  gained  a  competent 
knowledge  of  the  ordinary  minor  branches  of  education.  At  the  age  of 
fifteen  he  was  apprenticed  to  a  buckle-maker,  at  Birmingham;  and  at  the 
age  of  twenty-two,  his  time  having  expired,  he  was  united  to  a  young 
woman  of  respectability,  whom  he  was  well  able  to  support  by  the  exer- 
cise of  his  trade.  His  wife  soon  afterwards  presented  him  with  a  son  ;  but 
getting  tired  of  a  life  of  quietude,  he  started  for  London,  leaving  his  wife 
and  child  destitute,  and  soon  gained  fresh  employment.  His  disposition, 
however,  led  him  into  extravagances,  and  having  contracted  some  debts, 
he  was  arrested,  and  thrown  into  AVood-street  Compter,  where,  according 
to  his  own  statement,  "  it  was  impossible  but  he  must,  in  some  measure, 
be  led  into  the  secrets  of  the  criminals  there  under  confinement,  and 
particularly  under  Air.  Hitchin's  management."  He  remained  in  prisor 
upwards  of  four  years,  and  the  opportunity  which  was  aftbrded  him,  of 
becoming  acquainted  with  the  persons,  as  well  as  the  practices  of  thieves 
was  not  lost  upon  him.  A  woman  named  Mary  Milliner,  one  of  the  most 
abandoned  prostitutes  and  pickpockets  on  the  town,  who  was  also  in 
custody  for  debt,  soon  attracted  his  attention,  and  an  intimacy  having 
commenced  in  the  prison,  on  their  discharge  they  lived  together  a*;  man 
and  wife.  The  possession  of  a  small  sum  of  money  having  been  obtained, 
they  opened  a  public-house  in  Cock  Alley,  Cripplegate ;  and  from  the 
notoriety  of  Airs.  Alilliner,  and  her  intimate  acquaintance  Avith  the  thieves 
of  the  metropolis,  it  soon  became  the  resort  of  the  lowest  of  the  class 
AVhile  AV'ild  was  thus  pursuing  his  course  to  his  pecuniary  jwlvantage, 
however,  he  lost  no  time  in  acquiring  a  proficiency  in  all  trie  arts  of 
knavery ;  and  having,  Avith  great  assiduity,  penetrated  into  the  secrets  of 
bis  customers,  he  started  as  a  "  fence,"  or  receiver  of  stolen  goods ;  and  by 
this  means  he  obtained  that  power,  which  subsequently  proved  so  useful 
to  him,  and  so  dangerous  to  those  who  entrusted  him  with  their  secrets.  He 
was  at  first  at  little  trouble  to  dispose  of  the  articles  brought  to  him  by 
thieves  at  something  less  than  their  real  value,  no  law  existing  for  the 
punishment  of  the  receivers  of  stolen  goods;  but  the  evil  "having  increased 


52  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

at  length  to  an  enormous  degree,  it  was  deemed  expedient  by  the  legisla- 
ture to  frame  a  law  for  its  suppression ;  and  an  act  was  therefore  passed, 
consionin2;  such  as  should  be  convicted  of  receivino;  Poods,  knowing  them 
to  have  been  stolen,  to  transportation  for  the  space  of  fourteen  years. 

This  was  a  check  of  no  very  trifling  character  to  his  proceedings,  but 
his  imagination  suggested  to  him  a  plan  by  which  he  would  save  himself 
from  all  his  profits  being  lost.  He  therefore  called  a  meeting  of  thieves, 
and  observed  that,  if  they  carried  their  booties  to  such  of  the  pawnbrokers 
as  were  known  to  be  not  much  affected  by  scruples  of  conscience,  they  would 
scarcely  receive  on  the  property  one-fourth  of  the  real  value  ;  and  that  if 
they  were  oftered  to  strangers,  either  for  sale  or  by  way  of  deposit,  it  was 
a  chance  of  ten  to  one  but  the  parties  offering  were  rendered  amenable  to 
the  laws.  The  most  industrious  thieves,  he  said,  were  now  scarcely  able  to 
obtain  a  livelihood,  and  must  either  submit  to  be  half-starved,  or  live  in 
great  and  continual  danger  of  Tyburn.  He  had,  however,  devised  a  plan 
for  removing  the  inconveniences  which  existed,  which  he  would  act  upon 
most  honourably,  providjd  they  would  follow  his  advice,  and  behave 
towards  him  with  equal  honesty.  He  proposed,  therefore,  that  when  they 
made  prize  of  anything,  they  should  deliver  it  to  him,  instead  of  carrying  it 
to  the  pawnbroker,  saying,  that  he  would  restore  the  goods  to  the  owners, 
by  which  means  greater  sums  might  be  raised,  while  the  thieves  would 
remain  perfectly  secure  from  detection.  This  proposition  was  one  which 
met  with  universal  approbation,  and  the  plan  was  immediately  carried  into 
effect,  convenient  places  being  established  as  the  depositaries  of  the  stolen 
goods.  The  plan  thus  concerted,  it  became  the  business  of  ^Yild  to  apply 
to  persons  who  had  been  robbed,  and  pretending  to  be  greatly  concerned  at 
their  misfortunes,  to  say,  that  some  suspected  goods  had  been  stopped  by  a 
friend  of  his,  a  broker,  who  would  be  willing  to  give  them  up  ;  and  he 
failed  not  then  to  throw  out  a  hint  that  the  broker  merited  some  reward 
for  his  disinterested  conduct  and  for  his  trouble,  and  to  exact  a  promise 
that  no  disagreeable  consequences  should  follow,  becavise  the  broker  had 
omitted  to  secure  the  thieves  as  well  as  the  property.  The  person  whose 
goods  had  been  carried  off"  was  not  generally  unwilling  by  this  means  to 
save  himself  the  trouble  and  expense  of  a  prosecution,  and  the  money  paid 
was. generally  sufficient  to  remunerate  the  "broker,"  as  well  as  his  agent. 
This  trade  was  successfully  carried  on  for  several  years,  and  considerable 
sums  of  money  were  amassed ;  but  at  length  another  and  a  safer  plan  was 
adopted.  The  name  of  our  hero  having  become  pretty  extensively  known, 
instead  of  applying  to  the  parties  who  had  been  plundered,  he  opened  an 
office,  to  which  great  numbers  resorted,  in  the  hope  of  obtaining  the  resti- 
tution of  their  property.  In  this  situation  he  lost  no  opportunity  of  pro- 
curing for  himself  the  greatest  credit,  as  well  as  the  greatest  profit  possible. 
He  made  a  great  parade  in  his  business,  and  assumed  a  consequence  which 
■enabled  him  more  effectually  to  impose  upon  the  public.  When  persona 
came  to  his  office,  they  were  informed  that  they  must  each  pay  a  crown  in 
consideration  of  receiving  his  advice.  This  ceremony  being  despatched,  he 
entered  into  his  book  the  name  and  address  of  the  applicants,  with  all  the 
particulars  they  could  communicate  respecting  the  robberies,  and  the 
rewards  that  would  be  given  provided  the  goods  were  recovered  :  they  were 
then  required  to  call  again  in  a  few  days,  when,  he  said,  he  hoped  he 
should  be  able  to  give  them  some  agreeable  intelligence.     Upon  returning 


TllK    NEW    NKWGATE    CALENDAR.  53 

to  know  thtj  success  of  his  inquiries,  he  told  them  that  he  had  received 
KMine  information  concerning  their  goods,  hut  that  the  agent  he  had 
em  ployed  to  trace  them  had  apprised  him  that  the  rohhcrs  pretended  they 
could  "raise  more  money  by  pawning  the  property  than  by  restoring  it  for 
the  ])romised  reward  ;  saying,  however,  that  if  he  could  by  any  means 
jirocure  an  interview'  with  the  villains,  he  doubted  not  of  being  able  to 
settle  matters  agreeably  to  the  terms  already  stipulated ;  but,  at  the  same 
time,  artfully  insinuating  that  the  safest  and  most  expeditious  method 
would  be  to  make  some  addition  to  the  reward ;  and  thus  having  secured 
tlu?  promise  of  the  largest  sum  that  could  be  obtained,  he  would  direct  a 
tliird  call,  and  then  the  goods  would  be  ready  to  be  delivered.  It  will  be 
seen  that  considerable  advantages  were  derived  from  examining  the  person 
who  had  been  robbed;  for  by  that  means  he  became  acquainted  with  par- 
ticulars which  the  thieves  might  omit  to  communicate,  and  was  enabled 
to  detect  them  if  they  concealed  any  part  of  their  booties.  Being  in  pos- 
session of  the  secrets  of  every  notorious  thief,  they  were  imder  the  necessity 
of  comjdying  with  whatever  terms  he  thought  proper  to  exact,  because 
they  were  aware  that,  by  opposing  his  inclination,  they  would  involve 
themselves  in  the  most  imminent  danger  of  being  sacrificed  t)  the  injured 
laws  of  their  coimtry ;  and  thus  he  was  enabled  to  impose  both  on  the 
robber  and  the  robbed.  The  accumulation  of  money  by  these  artifices 
enabled  Wild  to  maintain  the  character  of  a  man  of  consequence  ;  and  to 
support  his  imaginary  dignity,  he  dressed  in  laced  clothes  and  wore  a  sword, 
which  martial  instrument  he  first  exercised  on  the  person  of  his  accom- 
plice and  reputed  wife,  Mary  JMilliner,  who  having  on  some  occasion  pro- 
voked him,  he  instantly  struck  at  her  with  it,  and  cut  off  one  of  her  ears- 
Tliis  event  was  the  cause  of  separation ;  but  in  acknowledgment  of  the 
gi'eat  services  she  had  rendered  him,  by  introducing  him  to  so  advantageous 
a  profession^  he  allowed  her  a  weekly  stipend  till  her  decease. 

In  the  year  1715  Wild  removed  from  his  house  in  Cock  Alley  to  a  Mrs. 
Seagoe's,  in  the  Old  Bailey,  where  he  pursued  his  business  with  the  usual 
success  ;  but  while  resident  there,  a  controversy  of  a  most  singular  character 
arose  between  him  and  a  fellow  named  Charles  Ilitchin,  who  had  been  city 
marshal,  but  had  been  suspended  for  mal- practices,  to  whom  before  his 
adoption  of  the  lucrative  profession  which  he  now  carried  on,  he  had 
acted  as  assistant.  These  celebrated  copartners  in  villany,  under  the  pre- 
text of  controlling  tlie  enormities  of  the  dissolute,  paraded  the  streets  from 
Temple-bar  to  the  Jlinories,  searching  houses  of  ill-fame,  and  apprehending 
disorderly  and  suspected  persons;  but  those  who  complimented  the 
reformers  with  douceurs,  were  allowed  to  practise  every  species  of  wicked 
ness  with  impunity.  Hitchin  and  Wild,  however,  grew  jealous  of  each 
other,  and  an  open  rupture  taking  place,  they  parted,  each  pursuing  the 
business  of  tliief-taking  on  his  own  account. 

Our  readers  will  doubtless  be  somewhat  surprised  to  hear  that  these 
rivals  in  AiUany  appealed  to  the  public,  and  attacked  each  other  with  all 
possible  scurrility  in  pamphlets  and  advertisements.  Never  was  the  press 
so  debased  as  in  publishing  the  productions  of  their  pens.  Hitchin  pub- 
lished what  he  called  "The  Regulator;  or  a  Discovery  of  Thieves  and 
'Thief-takers."  It  is  an  ignorant  and  impudent  insult  to  the  reader,  and 
ireplete  with  abuse  of  Wild,  whom  he  brands,  in  his  capacity  of  thiet- 
ttaker,  with  being  worse  than  the  thief,    W  ild  retorts  with  great  bitterness  • 


54  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

but  Hitchin  having  gi-eatly  debased  the  respectable  post  of  city  raarshal, 
the  lord  mayor  suspended  him  from  that  office.  In  order  to  repair  hiu 
loss,  he  determined,  as  the  most  prudent  step,  to  strive  to  bury  his  aversion, 
and  confederate  witli  Wild.     To  effect  this,  he  wrote  as  follows  : 

"  I  am  sensible  that  you  are  let  into  the  knowledge  of  the  secrets  of  the 
Compter,  particularly  with  relation  to  the  securing  of  pocket-books;  but 
your  experience  is  inferior  to  mine :  I  can  put  you  in  a  far  better  method 
than  you  are  acquainted  with,  and  which  may  be  done  with  safety  ;  for 
though  I  am  suspended,  I  still  retain  the  power  of  acting  as  constable,  and 
notwithstanding-  I  cannot  be  heard  before  my  lord  mayor  as  formerly,  I 
have  interest  among  the  aldermen  upon  any  complaint. 

"  But  I  must  first  tell  you  that  you  sj^oil  the  trade  of  thief-taking,  in 
advancing  greater  rewards  than  are  necessary.  I  give  but  half-a-crown  a 
book,  and  when  thieves  and  pickpockets  see  you  and  me  confederate,  they 
will  submit  to  our  terms,  and  likewise  continue  their  thefts,  for  fear  of 
coming  to  the  gallows  by  our  means.  You  shall  take  a  turn  with  me,  as 
my  servant  or  assistant,  and  we'll  commence  our  rambles  this  night." 

Wild  it  appears  readily  accepted  the  ex-marshal's  proposals,  and  they 
accordingly  proceeded  to  take  their  walks  together,  imposing  upon  the 
unwary  and  confederating  with  thieves,  whom  at  the  same  time  they  did 
not  hesitate  to  make  their  slaves.  One  or  two  instances  of  their  mode  of 
doing  business  may  not  be  uninteresting.  They  are  taken  from  a  pamphlet 
written  by  Wild,  and  may  therefore  be  supposed  to  be  correct. 

"  A  biscuit-baker  near  Wapping  having  lost  a  pocket-book  containing, 
among  other  papers,  an  exchequer  bill  lor  100/.,  applied  to  AVild  for  its 
recovery :  the  latter  advised  him  to  advertise  it,  and  stop  the  payment  of 
the  bill,  which  he  did  accordingly  ;  but  having  no  account  of  his  property, 
he  came  to  Wild  several  times  about  it,  and  at  length  told  him  that  he  had 
received  a  visit  from  a  tall  man,  with  a  long  peruke  and  sword,  calling 
himself  the  city-marshal,  who  asked  him  if  he  had  lost  his  pocket-book  ? 
He  said  that  he  had,  and  desired  to  know  the  inquii'er's  reasons  for  putting 
such  a  question,  or  whether  he  could  give  him  any  intelligence  ;  but  he 
replied,  No,  he  could  not  give  him  any  intelligence  of  it  as  yet,  and  wished 
to  be  informed  whether  he  had  employed  any  person  to  search  after  it  ? 
He  said  that  he  had  employed  one  Wild ;  whereupon  the  marshal  told 
him  he  was  under  a  mistake  ;  that  he  should  have  applied  to  him,  as  he 
was  the  only  person  in  England  that  coxild  serve  him,  being  well  assured 
it  was  entirely  out  of  the  power  of  Wild,  or  any  of  those  fellows,  to  know 
where  the  pocket-book  was  (this  was  very  certain,  he  having  it  at  that 
time  in  his  custody)  ;  and  begged  to  know  the  reward  that  would  be  given  ? 
The  biscuit-baker  replied  that  he  would  give  ten  pounds,  but  the  marshal 
said  that  a  greater  reward  should  be  offered,  for  that  exchequer  bills  and  those 
things  were  ready  money,  and  could  immediately  be  sold  ;  and  that  if  he 
had  employed  him  in  the  beginning,  and  offered  forty  or  fifty  pounds,  he 
would  have  served  him.  Wild  gave  it  as  his  opinion,  that  the  pocket- 
book  was  in  the  marshal's  possession,  and  that  it  would  be  to  no  purpose 
to  continue  advertising  it ;  and  he  advised  the  owner  rather  to  advance  his 
bidding,  considering  what  hands  the  note  was  in,  especially  as  the  marshal 
had  often  told  him  how  easily  he  could  dispose  of  bank-notes  and  cxche- 
<|uer-notes  at  gaming-houses,  which  he  very  much  frequented.  Pursuant 
to  this    advice,    the    losing   party  went  to  the   marshal,  and  bid    forty 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  55 

pounds  for  his  pocket-book  and  bill,  but  '  Zounds,  sir,*  said  the  marslial, 
you  are  too  late  ! '  and  that  was  all  the  satisfaction  he  gave  him.  Thus 
Vi^as  the  poor  biscuit-baker  tricked  out  of  his  exchequer-bill,  which  was 
paid  to  another  person,  though  it  could  never  be  traced  back  ;  but  it  hap- 
pened a  short  time  after,  that  some  of  the  young  fry  of  pickpockets,  under 
the  tuition  of  the  marshal,  fell  out  in  sharing  the  money  given  them  for 
this  very  pocket-book ;  whereupon  one  of  them  came  to  Wild,  and  disco- 
vered the  whole  matter,  viz.  that  he  had  sold  the  pocket-book,  with  the 
100/.  exchequer-note  in  it,  and  other  bills,  to  the  city-marshal,  at  a  tavern 
in  Aldersgate-street,  for  four  or  five  guineas." 

"  The  marshal  going  one  night  up  Ludgate  Hill,  observed  a  well-dressed 
woman  walking  before,  whom  he  told  Wild  was  a  lewd  woman,  for  that 
ne  saw  her  talking  with  a  man.  This  was  no  sooner  spoke  but  he  seized 
Der,  and  asked  who  she  was.  She  made  answer  that  she  was  a  bailiflPa 
wife.  '  You  are  more  likely  to  be  a  prostitute,'  said  the  marshal,  '  and  as 
such  you  shall  go  to  the  Compter.' 

"  Taking  the  woman  through  St.  Paul's  churchyard,  she  desired  liberty  to 
send  for  some  friends,  but  he  would  not  comply  with  her  request.  He 
forced  her  into  the  Nag's  Head  tavern  in  Cheapside,  where  he  presently 
ordered  a  hot  supper  and  plenty  of  wine  to  be  brought  in  ;  commanding 
the  female  to  keep  at  a  distance  from  him,  and  telling  her  that  he  did  not 
permit  such  vermin  to  sit  in  his  company,  though  he  intended  to  make  her 
pay  the  reckoniug.  When  the  supper  was  brought  to  the  table,  he  fell  to 
it  lustily,  and  would  not  allow  the  woman  to  eat  any  part  of  it  with  him, 
or  to  come  near  the  fire,  though  it  was  extreme  cold  weather.  When  he 
had  supped  he  stared  round,  and  applying  himself  to  her,  told  her  that  if 
he  had  been  an  informer,  or  such  a  fellow,  she  would  have  called  for  eatables 
and  wine  herself,  and  not  have  given  him  the  trouble  of  direction,  or  else 
would  have  slipped  a  piece  into  his  hand  ;  adding,  '  You  may  do  what 
you  please ;  but  I  can  assure  you  it  is  in  my  power,  if  I  see  a  woman  in 
the  hands  of  informers,  to  discharge  her,  and  commit  them.  You  are  not 
so  ignorant  but  you  must  guess  my  meaning.'  She  replied,  '  that  she  had 
money  enough  to  pay  for  the  supper,  and  about  three  half-crowns  more ;' 
and  this  desirable  answer  being  given,  he  ordered  his  attendant  to  with- 
Iraw,  while  he  compounded  the  matter  with  her. 

"  When  Wild  returned,  the  gentlewoman  was  civilly  asked  to  sit  by  the 
fire,  and  eat  the  remainder  of  the  supper,  and  in  all  respects  treated  very 
kindly,  only  with  a  pretended  reprimand  to  give  him  better  language  when- 
ever he  should  speak  to  her  for  the  future  ;  and,  after  another  bottle  drunk 
at  her  expense,  she  was  discharged." 

The  object  of  these  allegations  on  the  part  of  Wild  may  be  easily  seen, 
and  the  effect  which  he  desired  was  at  length  produced ;  for  the  marshal, 
having  been  suspended,  and  subsequently  fined  twenty  pounds,  and  pilloried, 
for  a  crime  too  loathsome  to  be  named,  he  was  at  length  compelled  to 
retire ;  and  thus  he  left  Wild  alone  to  execute  his  plans  of  depredation 
upon  the  public.  The  latter,  not  unmindful  of  the  tenure  upon  which  his 
reputation  hung,  was  too  wary  to  allow  discontent  to  appear  among  his 
followers,  and  therefore  he  found  it  to  his  interest  to  take  care  that  where 
he  promised  them  protection,  his  undertaking  should  not  be  neglected  or 
pass  unfulfilled.  His  powers  in  supportmg  his  word  were  greater  than 
can  be  well  imagined,  in  the  present  state  of  things,  Avhere  so  much  cor- 


56  TUE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

ruption  has  been  got  rid  of;  and  where  his  influence  among  persons  in 
office  faik'd  him,  his  exertions  in  procuring  the  testimony  of  false  witnesses 
to  rebut  that  evidence  which  was  truly  detailed,  and  the  nature  of  which  he 
could  always  learn  beforehand,  generally  enabled  him  to  secure  the  object, 
which  he  had  in  view.  His  threats,  however,  were  not  less  amply  fulfilled 
than  his  promises ;  and  his  vengeance  once  declared  was  never  withdrawn, 
and  seldom  failed  in  being  carried  out. 

By  his  subjecting  such  as  incurred  his  displeasure  to  the  punishment 
of  the  law,  he  obtained  the  rewards  offered  for  pursuing  them  to  conviction ; 
and  gi-eatly  extended  his  ascendancy  over  the  other  thieves,  who  considered 
him  with  a  kind  of  awe ;  while,  at  the  same  time,  he  established  his 
character  as  being  a  man  of  great  public  utility. 

A  few  anecdotes  of  the  life  and  proceedings  of  this  worthy  will  suffi- 
ciently exhibit  the  system  which  he  pursued. 

A  lady  of  fortune  being  on  a  visit  in  Piccadilly,  her  servants,  leaving 
lier  sedan  at  the  door,  Avent  to  refresh  themselves  at  a  neighbouring  public- 
house.  Uj)on  their  return  the  vehicle  was  not  to  be  found ;  in  consequence 
of  which  the  men  immediately  went  to  AVild,  and  having  informed  him  of 
their  loss,  and  complimented  him  with  the  usual  fee,  they  were  desired  to 
call  upon  him  again  in  a  few  days.  Upon  their  second  application  Wild 
extorted  from  them  a  considerable  reward,  and  then  directed  them  to  attend 
tlie  chapel  in  Lincoln's-inn- Fields  on  the  following  morning,  during  the 
time  of  pravers.  The  men  went  according  to  the  appointment,  and  under 
the  piazzas  of  the  chapel  perceived  the  chair,  which  upon  examination  they 
found  to  contain  the  velvet  seat,  curtains,  and  other  furniture,  and  that  it 
had  received  no  kind  of  damage. 

A  thief  of  most  infamous  character,  named  Arnold  Powel,  being  con- 
fined in  Newgate,  on  a  charge  of  having  robbed  a  house  in  the  neighbour- 
hood of  Golden  Square  of  property  to  a  great  amount,  was  visited  by- 
Jonathan,  who  informed  him  that,  in  consideration  of  a  sum  of  money,  he 
would  save  his  life ;  adding  that  if  the  proposal  was  rejected,  he  should 
inevitably  die  at  Tyburn  for  the  oftence  on  account  of  which  he  was  then 
imprisoned.  The  prisoner,  however,  not  believing  that  it  was  in  Wild's 
power  to  do  him  any  injury,  bade  him  defiance.  He  was  brought  to  trial; 
but  through  a  defect  of  evidence  he  was  acquitted.  Having  gained  intel- 
ligence that  Powel  had  committed  a  burglary  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Eastlick, 
near  Fleet  Ditch,  "Wild  caused  that  gentleman  to  prosecute  the  robber. 
Upon  receiving  information  that  a  bill  w-as  found  for  the  burglary,  Powel 
sent  for  Wild,  and  a  compromise  was  effected  according  to  the  terms  which 
Wild  himself  had  proposed,  in  consequence  of  which  Powel  was  assured 
that  his  life  should  be  preserved.  Upon  the  approach  of  the  sessions 
Vx'li.d  informed  the  prosecutor  that  the  first  and  second  days  would  be 
employed  in  other  trials ;  and  as  he  was  willing  Mr.  Eastlick  should  avoid 
attending  with  his  witnesses  longer  than  was  necessary,  he  would  give 
tirielv  notice  when  Powel  would  be  arraigned.  But  he  contrived  to  have 
;he  prisoner  put  to  the  bar ;  and  no  persons  appearmg  to  prosecute,  he 
was  necessarily  dismissed;  and  the  court  ordered  Mr.  Eastlick's  recogni- 
sances to  be  estreated.  Powel  Avas  ordered  to  remain  in  custody  till  the 
next  sessions,  there  being  another  indictment  against  him  ;  and  Mr. 
Eastlick  represented  the  behaviour  of  Wild  to  the  court,  who  reprimanded 
nim  with  great  severity.      Powel  now  put    himself  into  a  salivation,  in 


TUE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  57 

*r'ler  to  avoid  being  brought  to  trial  the  next  sessions ;  but,  notwithstand- 
ing this  stratagem,  he  was  arraigned  and  convicted,  and  was  executed  on 
the  20th  of  March,  1717. 

At  this  time  Wild  quitted  his  apartments  at  Mrs.  Seagoc's,  and  hired 
a  house  adjoining  to  the  Coojiers'  Arms,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the 
Old  Bailey.  His  unexampled  villanics  were  now  become  an  object  of 
so  much  consequence,  as  to  excite  the  particular  attention  of  the  legisla- 
ture ;  and  in  the  year  1718  an  act  was  passed,  deeming  every  person  guilty 
of  a  capital  offence  who  should  accept  a  reward  in  consequence  of 
restoring  stolen  effects  without  prosecuting  the  thief.  It  was  the  general 
opinion  that  this  law  would  effectually  suppress  tlie  iniquitous  practices 
he  had  carried  on ;  but,  after  some  interruption  to  his  proceedings,  he 
devised  means  for  evading  it,  which  were  for  several  years  attended  with 
success. 

He  now  declined  the  custom  of  receiving  money  from  the  persons  who 
applied  to  him  ;  but,  upon  the  second  or  third  time  of  calling,  informed 
them  that  all  he  had  been  able  to  learn  respecting  their  business  was,  that 
if  a  sum  of  money  was  left  at  an  appointed  place,  their  property  would  be 
restored  tlie  same  day.  Sometimes,  as  the  person  robbed  was  returning 
from  AVild's  house  be  was  accosted  in  the  street  by  a  man  who  delivered 
the  stolen  effects,  at  the  same  time  producing  a  note,  expressing  the  sum 
that  was  to  be  paid  for  them  ;  but  in  cases  where  he  supposed  danger  was 
to  be  apprehended,  be  advised  people  to  advertise  that  whoever  would 
bring  the  stolen  goods  to  Jonathan  Wild  sliould  be  rewarded,  and  no 
questions  asked. 

In  the  two  first  instances  it  could  not  be  proved  that  he  either  saw  the 
thief,  received  the  goods,  or  accepted  of  a  reward  ;  and  in  the  latter  case  he 
acted  agreeably  to  the  directions  of  the  injured  party,  and  there  appeared 
no  reason  to  criminate  him  as  being  in  confederacy  with  the  felons. 

Our  adventurer's  business  had  by  this  time  so  much  increased,  that  he 
opened  an  office  in  Newtoner's-lane,  to  the  management  of  which  he 
appointed  his  man  Abraham  Mendez,  a  Jew.  This  fellow  proved  a 
remarkably  industrious  and  faithful  servant  to  Jonathan,  who  entrusted 
him  with  matters  of  the  greatest  importance,  and  derived  great  advantage 
from  his  labours.  The  species  of  despotic  governuient  which  he  exercised 
may  be  well  collected  from  the  following  case : — He  had  inserted  in  his 
book  a  gold  watch,  a  quantity  of  fine  lace,  and  other  property  of  consider- 
able value,  which  one  John  Butler  had  stolen  from  a  house  at  Newington 
Green ;  but  Butler,  instead  of  coming  to  account  as  usual,  gave  up  his 
felonious  practices,  and  lived  on  the  produce  of  his  booty.  AVild,  highly 
enraged  at  being  excluded  his  share,  determined  to  pursue  every  possible 
means  to  secure  his  conviction. 

Being  informed  that  he  lodged  at  a  public  house  in  Bishopsgate-street, 
he  went  to  it  early  one  morning,  when  Butler,  hearing  him  ascending  the 
stairs,  jumped  out  of  the  window  of  his  room,  and  climbing  over  the  wall 
of  the  yard  got  into  the  street.  Wild  broke  open  the  doof  of  the  room, 
but  was  disappointed  at  finding  that  the  man  of  whom  he  was  in  pursuit 
had  escaped.  In  the  meantime  Butler  ran  into  a  house  the  door  of  which 
stood  open,  and  descending  to  the  kitchen,  where  some  women  were 
washing,  told  them  he  was  pursued  by  a  bailiff,  and  they  advised  him  to 
conceal  liimself  in  the  coal-hole.      Jonathan  coming  out  of  the  ale-house, 

VOL.  1.  k 


58  THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

and  seeing  a  shop  on  the  opposite  side  of  tlie  way  open,  inquired  of  the 
master,  who  was  a  dyer,  whether  a  man  had  not  taken  refuge  in  his  house  ? 
The  dyer  answered  in  the  negative,  saying  he  had  not  left  his  shop  more 
than  a  minute  since  it  had  been  opened.  Wild  then  requested  to  search 
the  house,  and  the  dyer  having  readily  complied,  he  proceeded  to  the 
kitchen,  and  asked  the  women  if  they  knew  whether  a  man  had  taken 
shelter  in  the  house.  They  also  denied  tliat  they  had,  but  on  his  informing 
them  that  tlie  man  he  sought  was  a  thief,  they  said  he  would  find  him  in 
the  coal-hole. 

Having  procured  a  candle,  Wild  and  his  attendants  searched  the  place 
without  effect,  and  they  examined  every  part  of  the  house  with  no  better 
success.  He  observed  that  the  villain  must  have  escaped  into  the  street ; 
but  the  dyer  saying  that  he  had  not  quitted  the  shop,  and  it  was  impossible 
that  a  man  "•-Id  pass  to  the  street  without  his  knowledge,  they  all  again 
went  into  the  cellar,  and,  after  some  time  spent  in  searching,  the  dyer 
i  (irned  up  a  large  vessel  used  in  his  business,  and  Butler  appeared. 

Butler,  howevei",  knowing  the  means  by  which  an  accommodation  might 
be  effected,  directed  our  hero  to  go  to  his  lodging,  and  look  behind  the 
head  of  the  bed,  where  he  would  find  what  would  recompense  him  for  his 
time  and  ti'ouble.  Wild  went  to  the  place,  and  found  what  perfectly 
satisfied  him ;  but  as  Butler  had  been  apprehended  in  a  public  manner, 
the  other  was  under  the  necessity  of  taking  him  before  a  magistrate,  who 
committed  him  for  trial.  He  was  tried  at  the  ensuing  sessions  at  the  Old 
Bailev ;  but,  by  the  artful  management  of  Wild,  instead  of  being  con- 
demned to  die,  he  was  only  sentenced  to  transportation. 

The  increased  quantity  of  unclaimed  property  now  in  his  liands, 
compelled  Wild  to  seek  some  new  mode  of  disposing  of  it,  in  a  manner 
which  should  benefit  him ;  and  with  this  view  he  purchased  a  sloop,  in 
order  to  transport  the  goods  to  Holland  and  Flanders,  where  he  conceived 
he  should  find  an  easy  market  for  them.  The  command  of  his  vessel 
was  entrusted  to  a  fellow  named  Johnson,  a  notorious  thief;  and  Ostend 
was  selected  by  him  as  the  port  to  which  the  vessel  should  principally 
trade.  The  goods,  however,  not  being  all  disposed  of  there,  he  would 
carrv  them  to  Bruges,  Ghent,  Brussels,  and  other  places.  In  return  he 
brouo-ht  home  lace,  wine,  brandy,  and  the  other  commodities  of  the 
countries  which  he  visited,  which  he  always  contrived  to  land  without 
affordino-  any  trouble  to  the  officers  of  his  Majesty's  customs.  When  this 
traffic  had  continued  for  about  two  years,  a  circumstance  occurred  which 
entirely  and  effectually  prevented  its  being  any  longer  carried  on.  Five 
pieces  of  lace  were  missing  on  the  arrival  of  the  ship  in  England,  and 
Johnson,  deeming  the  mate  to  be  answerable  for  its  production,  deducted 
their  value  from  the  amount  due  to  him  for  his  pay.  The  latter  was 
naturally  violently  irritated  at  this  harsh  proceeding,  and  he  forthwith 
lodijed  an  information  against  his  captain,  for  running  goods  subject  to 
exciseable  duties.  The  vessel  was  in  consequence  seized,  and  Johnson  was 
cast  into  prison  for  penalties  to  the  amount  of  7()0/.  This  was  of  course 
the  ruin  of  the  commercial  proceedings ;  and  the  only  remaining  subject  to 
be  touched  upon  in  this  sketch  is  that  which  proved  the  ruin,  and  the 
termination  of  the  career  of  Jonathan  Wild. 

Johnson  having  obtained  his  liberty  from  the  government  prosecution, 
BJMia  returned  to  his  old  practices  of  robbery ;  but  it  was  not  long  before 


X-^.^/^^^^^^^^^:^  >^W/^'-^^ 


TUE    NEW    MEWOATE    CALENDxVK.  59 

a  disagreement  took  place  between  him  and  Thomas  Edwards,  tlie  keeper  of 
a  house  which  was  t!ie  resort  of  thieves,  in  Long -lane,  with  respect  to  the 
division  of  some  spoil,  and  meeting  one  day  in  the  Strand,  a  scene  of 
mutual  recrimination  took  place  between  them,  and  they  were  at  length 
both  taken  into  custody.  Johnson  was  bailed  by  Wild,  and  Edwards 
gained  his  liberty  by  there  being  no  prosecution  against  him  ;  but  his 
enmity  being  now  diverted  in  some  degree  from  Johnson  to  Wild,  he  was 
no  sooner  at  large  than  he  gave  information  against  him,  in  consequence  of 
which,  his  warehouses  being  searched,  a  great  quantity  of  stolen  goods  was 
discovered.  It  was  pretended  that  the  property  belonged  to  Johnson,  and 
Edwards  was  arrested  at  his  suit  for  a  supposed  debt,  and  lodged  in  the 
JMarslialsea  ;  but  he  soon  procured  bail.  His  anger  against  Johnson  for  this 
act  was  much  increased,  and  he  determined  to  have  his  revenge  upon  him ; 
and  meeting  him  in  the  Whitechapel-road,.he  gave  him  into  the  custody  of  an 
officer,  who  conveyed  him  to  a  neighbouring  ale-house.  AVild  being  sent  for, 
made  his  appearance,  accompanied  by  Quilt  Arnold,  one  of  his  assistants, 
and  they  soon  raised  a  riot,  in  the  midst  of  which  the  prisoner  ran  off. 
Information  was  immediately  given  of  the  escape,  and  of  Wild's  interference 
in  it ;  and  the  attention  of  tlie  authorities  being  now  called  to  this  notorious 
offender,  he  judged  it  piiident  to  abscond,  and  he  remained  concealed  for 
three  weeks.  He  was  unaware  of  the  extent  of  the  danger  which  threatened 
him,  however,  and  at  the  end  of  that  time  he  returned  to  his  house.  Being 
apprised  of  tliis,  Mr.  Jones,  high -constable  of  Holboru  division,  went  to  his 
house  in  the  Old  Bailey  ;  and  on  the  15th  of  February,  17*25,  apprehended 
him  and  Quilt  Arnold,  and  took  them  before  Sir  John  Fryer,  who  com- 
mitted them  to  Newgate,  on  a  charge  of  having  assisted  in  the  escape 
of  Johnson. 

On  Wednesday,  the  24th  of  the  same  month,  Wild  moved  to  be  either 
admitted  to  bail  or  discharged,  or  brought  to  trial  that  session  ;  and  on  the 
following  Friday  a  warrant  of  detainer  was  produced  against  him  in  Court, 
to  which  were  affixed  the  following  articles  of  information  : — 

I.  That  for  many  years  past  he  had  been  a  confederate  with  great 
numbers  of  highwaymen,  pick-pockets,  housebreakers,  shop-lifters,  and 
other  thieves. 

II.  That  he  had  foi'med  a  kind  of  corporation  of  thieves,  of  which  he 
was  the  head  or  director ;  and  that  notwithstanding  his  pretended  services 
in  detecting  and  prosecuting  offenders,  he  procured  such  only  to  be  hanged 
as  concealed  their  booty,  or  refused  to  share  it  with  him. 

III.  That  he  had  divided  the  town  and  country  into  so  many  districts, 
and  appointed  distinct  gangs  for  each,  who  regularly  accounted  with  him 
for  their  robberies.  That  he  had  also  a  particular  set  to  steal  at  churches 
in  time  of  divine  service ;  and  likewise  other  moving  detachments  to  attend 
at  court  on  birth-days,  balls,  &c.  and  at  both  houses  of  parliament,  circuits, 
and  country  fairs. 

IV.  That  the  persons  employed  by  him  were  for  the  most  part  felon 
convicts,  who  had  returned  from  transportation  before  the  time  for  which 
they  were  transported  was  expired ;  and  that  he  made  choice  of  them  to 
be  his  agents,  because  they  could  not  be  legal  evidences  against  him,  and 
because  he  had  it  in  his  power  to  take  from  them  what  part  of  the  stolen 
^oods  he  thought  fit,  and  otherwise  use  them  ill,  or  hang  them,  as  he 
pleased. 


00  TUE    NEW    NEWGATE  CALE>1)AK. 

V.  That  he  had  from  time  to  time  siipi)lied  such  convicted  felons  with 
money  and  clothes,  and  lodged  them  in  liis  own  house,  the  better  to  conceal 
tiiem :  particularly  some  against  whom  there  are  now  informations  for 
counterfeiting  and  diminishing  broad-pieces  and  guineas. 

Yl.  Tiiat  he  had  not  only  been  a  receiver  of  stolen  goods,  as  well  as  of 
writings  of  all  kinds,  for  near  fifteen  years  past,  but  had  frequently  been  a 
confederate,  and  robbed  along  with  the  above-mentioned  convicted  felons. 

YIl.  That  in  order  to  carry  on  these  vile  practices,  and  to  gain  some 
credit  with  the  ignorant  multitude,  he  usually  carried  a  short  silver  staff, 
as  a  badge  of  authority  from  the  government,  which  he  used  to  produce 
when  he  himself  was  concerned  in  robbing. 

YIII.  That  he  had,  under  his  care  and  direction,  several  warehouses  for 
receiving  and  concealing  stolen  goods;  and  also  a  ship  for  carrying  off 
jewels,  watches,  and  other  valuable  goods,  to  Holland,  Avhere  he  had  a 
superannuated  thief  for  his  factor. 

IX.  That  he  kept  in  pay  several  artists  to  make  alterations,  and  trans- 
form watches,  seals,  snuff-boxes,  rings,  and  other  valuable  things,  that 
tliey  might  not  be  known,  several  of  which  he  used  to  present  to  such 
persons  as  he  thought  might  be  of  service  to  him. 

X.  Tliat  he  seldom  or  never  helped  the  owners  to  the  notes  and  papers 
they  had  lost  unless  he  found  them  able  exactly  to  specify  and  describe 
tliem,  and  then  often  insisted  on  having  more  than  half  their  value. 

XI.  And,  lastly,  it  appeared  that  he  had  often  sold  human  blood,  by 
procuring  false  evidence  to  swear  persons  into  facts  of  which  they  were 
not  guilty ;  sometimes  to  prevent  them  from  being  evidences  against  Jiim- 
self,  and  at  other  times  for  the  sake  of  the  great  rewards  given  by  the 
government. 

The  information  of  Mr.  Jones  was  also  read  in  court,  setting  forth 
that  two  persons  would  be  produced  to  accuse  the  prisoner  of  capital 
offences.  The  men  alluded  to  in  the  affidavit  were  John  Follard  and 
Thomas  Butler,  who  had  been  convicted,  but  pardoned  on  condition  of 
their  appearing  to  support  the  prosecution  against  their  former  master. 
On  the  l:?th  of  April  a  motion  for  the  postponement  of  the  trial  until  the 
ensuing  sessions  was  made  on  behalf  of  "Wild,  and  after  some  discussion  it 
was  granted;  the  ground  of  the  postponement   being  alleged  to  be  the 

absence  of  two  material  witnesses  for  the  defence,  named Hays,  of  the 

Packhorse,   Turnham  Green,   and Wilson,   a   clothier  at  Frome,  in 

(Somersetshire. 

On  Saturday,  May  li,  1725,  the  trial  came  on,  and  the  prisoner  was 
tlien  arraigned  on  an  indictment  for  privately  stealing  in  the  house  of 
Catherine  Stretham,  in  the  parish  of  St.  Andrew,  Holborn,  fifty  yards  of 
Jace,  the  property  of  the  said  Catherine,  on  the22dof  January  in  the  same 
year. 

He  was  also  indicted  for  feloniously  receiving  from  the  said  Catherine, 
on  the  10th  of  March,  the  sum  often  guineas,  on  account  and  under  pre- 
tence of  restoring  tlie  said  lace,  and  procuring  the  apprehension  and  prose- 
cution of  the  person  by  whom  the  same  was  stolen. 

Before  the  trial  came  on,  the  prisoner  was  not  a  little  industrious  in 
endeavouring  to  establish  a  feeling  in  his  favour,  and  he  distributed  a  great 
number  of  printed  paj^ers  among  the  jurymen  and  others  walking  about 
the  court,  entitledj  "  A  List  of  persons  discovered,  apprehended,  and  con- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  61 

victcd  of  several  robberies  on  tbe  highway  ;  and  also  for  burglaries  ancl 
housebreaking  ;  and  also  for  returning  from  transportation  ;  by  Jonathan 
Wild."  The  list  contained  the  names  of  thirty-  five  persons  for  robbing  on 
the  highway,  twenty-two  for  housebreaking,  and  ten  for  returning  fron> 
transportation,  and  tlie  following  note  was  appended  to  it. 

"■  Several  others  have  been  also  convicted  for  the  like  crimes ;  but,  remem- 
bering not  the  persons'  names  who  had  been  robbed,  I  omit  the  criminals 
names. 

"  Please  to  observe  that  several  others  have  been  also  convicted  for 
shoplifting,  picking  of  pockets,  &c.  by  the  female  sex,  which  ai'e  capital 
crimes,  and  which  are  too  tedious  to  be  inserted  here,  and  the  prosecutors 
not  willing  of  being  exposed. 

"  In  regard,  therefore,  of  the  numbers  above  convicted,  some  that  have 
yet  escaped  justice,  are  erideavouring  to  taVe  away  the  life  of  the  said 

"  Jonathan  Wild." 

The  prisoner,  being  put  to  the  bar,  requested  that  the  witnesses  might  be 
examined  apart,  which  was  complied  with. 

The  trial  then  commenced,  and  tlie  first  witness  called  was  Henry 
Kelly,  who  deposed  that  by  the  prisoner's  direction  lie  went,  in  company 
with  Margaret  Murphy,  to  the  prosecutor's  shop,  under  pretence  of  buyiiig 
some  lace  ;  that  he  stole  a  tin  box,  and  gave  it  to  jMurphy  in  order  to 
deliver  to  Wild,  wlio  waited  in  the  street  for  the  purpose  of  receiving  their 
booty,  and  rescuing  them  if  they  should  be  taken  into  custody ;  that  they 
returned  together  to  Wild's  house,  where  the  box  being  opened,  was  found 
to  contain  eleven  pieces  of  lace  ;  that  Wild  said  he  could  afford  to  give  no 
more  than  five  guineas,  as  he  should  not  be  able  to  get  more  than  ten 
guineas  for  returning  the  goods  to  the  owner ;  that  the  witness  received  as 
'li's  share  three  guineas  and  a  crown,  and  that  Murphy  had  what  remained 
of  the  five  guineas. 

^Margaret  Murphy  was  next  sworn,  and  her  evidence  corresponded  in 
every  particular  with  that  of  the  former  witness*. 

Catlicrine  Stretham,  the  elder,  deposed  that  between  three  and  four  in 
the  afternoon  of  the  2'2nd  of  January,  a  man  and  woman  came  to  her  house, 
pretending  that  they  wanted  to  purchase  some  lace  ;  that  she  showed  them 
two  or  three  parcels,  to  the  quality  and  price  of  which  they  objected  ;  and 
that  in  about  three  minutes  after  they  had  left  the  shop  #]ie  missed  a  tin 
box,  containing  a  quantity  of  lace,  the  value  of  which  she  estimated  at 
fifty  pounds. 

"The  prisoner's  counsel  on  this  contended,  that  he  could  not  be  legally 
convicted,  because  the  indictment  positively  expressed  that  he  stole  the  lace 
in  the  house,  whereas  it  had  been  proved  in  evidence  that  he  was  at  a  consider- 
able distance  outside  when  the  fact  was  committed.  They  allowed  that  he 
might  be  liable  to  conviction  as  an  accessory  before  the  fact,  or  for 
receiving  the  property,  knowing  it  to  be  stolen  ;  but  conceived  that  he 
could  not  be  deemed  gnilty  of  a  capital  felony,  unless  the  indictmeni 
declared  (as  the  act  directs)  that  he  did  assist,  command,  or  /iire. 

Lord  Raymond,  who  presided,  in  summing  up  the  evidence,  observed  that 
the  guilt  of  the  prisoner  was  a  point  beyond  all  dispute ;  but  that,  as  a 


*  It  may  not  be  uninteresting  to  tlie  readei  to  know  that  Murphy  was  executed  on  the  27th 
jf  *l>rcb,  1728,  for  stealing  plate. 


62  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Similar  case  was  not  to  be  found  in  the  law-books,  it  became  his  duty  to 
act  vnth  groat  caution  :  he  was  not  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  construction 
urged  by  the  counsel  for  the  crown  could  be  put  upon  the  indictment ;  and. 
as  the  life  of  a  fellow-creature  was  at  stake,  he  recommended  the  prisoner 
to  the  mercy  of  the  jury,  who  brought  in  their  verdict  Not  Guilty. 

"Wild  Avas  then  arraigned  on  the  second  indictment,  which  alleged 
an  offence  committed  during  his  confinement  in  Newgate.  The  indictment 
being  opened  by  the  counsel  for  the  crown,  the  following  clause  in  an  act 
passed  in  the  fourth  year  of  the  reign  of  George  the  First  was  ordered  to 
be  read  : — 

"  And  whereas  there  are  divers  persons  who  have  secret  acquaintance 
with  felons,  and  who  make  it  their  business  to  help  persons  to  their  stolen 
goods,  and  by  that  means  gain  money  from  them,  which  is  divided  between 
them  and  the  felons,  whereby  they  greatly  encourage  such  offenders  ;  be 
it  therefore  enacted  by  the  authority  aforesaid,  that  whenever  any  person 
taketh  money  or  reward,  directly  or  indirectly,  under  pretence  or  upon 
account  of  helping  any  person  or  persons  to  any  stolen  goods  or  chattels, 
every  such  person  so  taking  money  or  reward  as  aforesaid  (nnless  such 
person  do  apprehend  or  cause  to  be  apprehended  such  felon  who  stole  the 
same,  and  give  evidence  against  him)  shall  be  guilty  of  felony,  according 
to  the  nature  of  the  felony  committed  in  stealing  such  goods,  and  in  such 
and  the  same  manner  as  if  such  offender  had  stolen  such  goods  and  chat- 
tels in  the  manner,  and  with  such  circumstances,  as  the  same  were  stolen,' 

Mrs.  Stretham  then,  having  repeated  the  evidence  which  she  had  before 
given,  went  on  to  state  that  on  the  evening  of  the  robbery  she  went  to  the 
house  of  the  prisoner  in  order  to  employ  him  in  recovering  the  goods,  but 
that  not  finding  him  at  home,  she  advertised  them,  offering  a  reward  of 
fifteen  guineas  for  their  return,  and  promising  that  no  questions  should  be 
asked.  Tlie  advertisement  proved  ineffectual,  and  she  therefore  again  went 
tu  the  house  of  the  prisoner,  and  seeing  him,  by  his  desire  she  gave  an 
account  of  the  transaction  and  of  the  appearance  of  the  thieves.  He  pro- 
mised to  inquire  after  her  property,  and  desired  her  to  call  again  in  a  few 
days.  She  did  so,  and  at  this  second  visit  he  informed  her  that  he  had 
gained  some  information  respecting  her  goods,  and  expected  more ;  and  a 
man  who  was  present  said  that  he  thought  that  Kelly,  Avho  had  been  tried 
for  passing  plated  sliillings,  was  the  offender.  The  witness  again  went  to 
the  prisoner  on  the  day  on  which  he  Avas  apprehended,  and  said  that  she 
would  give  twenty-five  guineas  rather  than  not  have  her  lace  back ;  on 
which  he  told  her  not  to  be  in  too  great  a  hurry,  for  that  the  people  who 
•lad  stolen  the  lace  were  out  of  town,  and  that  he  should  soon  cause  a  dis- 
ao-reement  between  them,  by  which  he  should  secure  the  property  on  more 
easy  terms.  On  the  10th  of  March,  she  received  a  message,  that  if  she 
would  go  to  the  prisoner  in  Newgate,  and  take  ten  guineas  with  her,  lier 
lace  would  be  returned  to  her.  She  went  to  him  accordingly,  and  a  porter 
being  called,  he  gave  her  a  letter,  saying  it  was  addressed  to  the  person  to 
whom  he  was  directed  to  apply  for  the  lace,  and  the  i)orter  would  accom- 
pany her  to  carry  the  box  home.  She  declined  going  herself,  and  then  the 
prisoner  desired  her  to  give  the  money  to  the  porter,  who  would  go  for 
her  and  fetch  the  goods,  but  said  that  he  could  not  go  without  it,  for  tliat 
the  people  who  had  the  lace  would  not  give  it  up  without  being  paid.  She 
gave  the  money  and  the  man  went  away,  but  in  a  short  time  he  returned 


THE    XEAV   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  6S 

y<nth  a  box  sealed  up,  but  not  tlie  box  which  she  had  lost.  On  opening  it, 
she  found  that  it  contained  all  her  lace  except  one  piece.  She  asked  the 
prisoner  what  satisfaction  he  expected,  when  he  answered  "  Not  a  farthing  ; 
I  have  no  interested  views  in  matters  of  this  kind,  but  act  from  a  principle 
of  serving  people  under  misfortune.  I  hope  I  shall  soon  be  able  to  recover 
the  other  piece  of  lace,  and  to  return  you  the  ten  guineas,  and  perhaps 
cause  the  thief  to  be  apprehended.  For  the  service  I  can  render  you  I 
shall  only  expect  your  prayers.  I  have  many  enemies,  and  know  not  what 
wi!l  be  the  consequence  of  this  imprisonment." 

The  prisoner's  counsel  argued,  that  as  INIurphy  had  deposed  that  "Wild, 
Kelly,  and  she,  were  concerned  in  the  felony,  the  former  could  by  no  means 
be  considered  as  coming  within  the  description  of  the  act  on  which  the 
indictment  was  founded ;  for  the  act  in  question  was  not  meant  to  operate 
against  the  actual  perpetrators  of  felony,  but  to  subject  such  persons  to 
punishment  as  held  a  correspondence  with  felons. 

The  counsel  for  the  crown  observed,  that  from  the  evidence  adduced,  no 
doubt  could  remain  of  the  prisoner's  coming  under  the  meaning  of  the  act, 
since  it  had  been  proved  that  he  had  engaged  in  combinations  with  felons, 
and  had  not  discovered  them. 

The  judge  was  of  opinion  that  the  case  of  the  prisoner  was  clearly  within 
the  meaning  of  the  act ;  for  it  was  plain  that  he  had  maintained  a  secret 
correspondence  with  felons,  and  received  money  for  restoring  stolen  goods 
to  the  owners,  which  money  was  divided  between  him  and  the  felons,  whom 
he  did  not  prosecute.  The  jury  pronounced  him  guilty,  and  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  be  executed  at  Tyburn,  on  Monday  the  24th  of  May,  1725. 

When  he  was  under  sentence  of  death,  he  frequently  declared  that  he 
thought  tne  services  he  had  rendered  the  public  in  returning  the  stolen 
goods  to  the  owners,  and  apprehending  felons,  was  so  great,  as  justly  to 
entitle  him  to  the  royal  mercy.  He  said  that  had  he  considered  his  case 
as  being  desperate,  he  should  have  taken  timely  measures  for  inducing  some 
powerful  friends  at  Wolverhampton  to  intercede  in  his  favour ;  and  that  he 
thought  it  not  unreasonable  to  entertain  hopes  of  obtaining  a  pardon  through 
the  interest  of  some  of  the  dukes,  earls,  and  other  persons  of  high  distinc- 
tion, who  had  recovered  their  property  through  his  means. 

He  was  observed  to  be  in  an  unsettled  state  of  mind  ;  and  being  asked 
whether  he  knew  the  cause  thereof,  he  said  he  attributed  his  disorder  to 
the  many  wounds  he  had  received  in  apprehending  felons  ;  and  particu- 
larly mentioned  two  fractures  of  his  skull,  and  his  throat  being  cut  by 
Blueskin. 

He  declined  attending  divine  service  in  the  chapel,  excusing  himself  on 
account  of  his  infirmities,  and  saying  that  there  were  many  people  highly 
exasperated  against  him,  and  therefore  he  could  not  expect  but  that  his 
devotions  would  be  interrupted  by  their  insulting  behaviour.  He  said  he 
had  fasted  four  days,  which  had  greatly  increased  his  weakness.  He  asked 
the  Ordinary  the  meaning  of  the  words  "  Cvirsed  is  every  one  that  hangeth 
»n  a  tree;"  and  what  was  the  state  of  the  soul  immediately  after  its 
departure  from  the  body  ?  He  w'as  advised  to  direct  his  attention  to 
matters  of  more  importance,  and  sincerely  to  repent  of  the  crimes  he  had 
committed. 

By  his  des're  the  Ordinary  administered  the  sacrament  to  him  ;  an^^ 
during  the  ceremony  he  appeared  to  be  somewhat  attentive  and  devout 


64  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Tlie  evening  preceding  the  day  on  which  he  suffered  he  inquired  of  the 
Ordinary  whether  suicide  could  be  deemed  a  crime;  and  after  some  con- 
versation, he  pretended  to  be  convinced  that  self-murder  was  a  mo?t 
impious  offence  against  the  Almighty ;  but  about  two  in  the  morning,  he 
endeavoured  to  put  an  end  to  his  life  by  drinking  laudanum.  On  account 
of  the  largeness  of  the  dose,  and  his  having  fasted  for  a  considerable  time, 
no  other  effect  was  produced  than  drowsiness,  or  a  kind  of  stupefaction. 
The  situation  of  Wild  being  observed  by  two  of  his  fellow-prisoners,  they 
advised  him  to  rouse  his  spirits,  that  he  might  be  able  to  attend  to  the 
devotional  exercises  ;  and  taking  him  by  the  arms,  they  obliged  him  to 
walk,  which  he  could  not  have  done  alone,  being  much  afflicted  with  the 
gout.  The  exercise  revived  him  a  little  ;  but  he  presently  became  exceed- 
ingly pale ;  then  grew  very  faint  j  a  profuse  sweating  ensued  ;  and  soon 
afterwards  his  stomach  discharged  the  greatest  part  of  the  laudanum. 
Though  he  was  somewhat  recovered,  he  was  nearly  in  a  state  of  insensibi- 
lity ;  and  in  this  situation  he  was  put  into  the  cart  and  conveyed  to 
Tyburn.  In  his  way  to  the  place  of  execution  the  populace  treated  him 
with  remarkable  severity,  incessantly  pelting  him  with  stones  and  dirt. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  Tyburn  he  appeared  to  be  much  recoA^ered  from  the 
effects  of  the  poison  ;  and  the  executioner  informed  him  that  a  reason- 
able time  would  be  allowed  him  for  preparing  himself  for  the  important 
change  that  he  must  soon  experience.  He  continued  sitting  some  time  in 
the  cart  ;  but  the  populace  were  at  length  so  enraged  at  the  indulgence 
shown  him,  that  they  outrageously  called  to  the  executioner  to  perform  the 
duties  of  his  office,  violently  threatening  him  with  instant  death  if  he  pre- 
sumed any  longer  to  delay.  He  judged  it  prudent  to  comply  with  their 
demands ;  and  when  he  began  to  prepare  for  the  execution,  the  popular 
clamour  ceased. 

About  two  o'clock  on  the  following  momina:  the  remains  of  Wild  were 
interred  in  St.  Pancras  churchyard ;  but  a  few  nights  afterwards  the  body 
was  taken  up  (for  the  use  of  the  surgeons,  as  it  was  supposed).  At  mid- 
night a  hearse  and  six  was  waiting  at  the  end  of  Fig  Lane,  where  the  coffin 
was  found  the  next  day. 

Wild  had  by  the  woman  he  married  at  Wolverhampton  a  son  about 
nineteen  years  old,  who  came  to  London  a  short  time  before  the  execution 
of  his  father.  He  was  a  youth  of  so  violent  and  ungovernable  a  disposition, 
that  it  was  judged  right  to  confine  him  during  the  time  of  the  execution, 
lest  he  should  excite  the  people  to  some  tumult.  He  subsequently  went  to 
one  of  the  West  India  colonies. 

The  adventures  of  Wild  are  of  a  natiu-e  to  attract  great  attention,  from 
the  multiplicity  and  variety  of  the  offences  of  which  he  was  guilty.  It  has 
been  hinted,  that  his  career  of  crime  having  been  suffered  to  continue  so  long 
was  in  some  degree  attributable  to  the  services  which  he  performed  for  the 
government,  in  arresting  and  gaining  information  against  the  disaffected, 
during  the  troubles  which  characterised  the  early  part  of  the  reign  of 
George  I.  ;  but  whatever  may  have  been  the  cause  of  his  being  so  long 
unmolested,  whatever  supineness  on  the  part  of  the  authorities,  whether 
wilful  or  not,  may  have  procured  for  him  so  continued  a  reign  of  uninterrupted 
wickedness,  it  cannot  be  doubted  that  the  fact  of  his  long  safety  tended  so 
much  to  the  demoralisation  of  society,  as  that  many  years  passed  before  it 
tould  assumx  that  tone,  which  the  exertions  of  a  felon  like  Wild  were,  so 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  6j 

calculated  to  destroy.  The  existing  generation  cannot  but  congratulate 
it3;.'lf  upon  the  excellence  of  the  improvements  which  have  been  made  in  our 
laws,  and  the  admirable  effect  which  they  have  produced  ;  as  well  as  upon 
the  exceedingly  active  vigilance  of  the  existing  police,  by  whom  crime, 
mslead  of  its  being  supported  and  fostered,  is  checked  and  prevented. 


CATHERINE  HAYES. 

BURNT    ALIVE    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HER    HUSBAND. 

The  case  of  this  atrocious  criminal  only  finds  a  parallel  in  that  of  tlw 
monster  of  modern  crime — Greenacre. 

Catherine  Hayes  was  the  daughter  of  a  poor  man  named  Hall,  who 
lived  at  Birmingham,  and  having  remained  with  her  parents  until  she  was 
fifteen  years  of  age,  a  dispute  then  arose,  in  consequence  of  which  she  set 
off  for  London.  On  her  way  she  met  with  some  officers,  who,  remarking 
that  her  person  was  engaging,  persuaded  her  to  accompany  tliem  to  their 
quarters  at  Great  Ombersley,  in  Worcestershire.  Having  remained  with 
them  some  time,  she  strolled  on  into  Warwickshire,  and  was  there  hired 
into  the  house  of  Mr.  Hayes,  a  respectable  farmer.  An  intimacy  soon 
sprang  up  between  her  and  the  son  of  her  master,  which  ended  in  a  private 
marriage  taking  place  at  Worcester ;  and  an  attempt,  on  the  part  of  the 
officers,  to  entrap  young  Hayes  into  enlisting,  rendered  it  necessary  to 
disclose  the  whole  affair  to  the  father.  He  felt  that  it  would  be  useless 
now  to  oppose  his  son,  in  consequence  of  what  had  taken  place,  and  he  in 
consequence  set  him  up  in  business  as  a  carpenter.  Mrs.  Hayes,  however, 
was  of  a  restless  disposition,  and  persuaded  him  to  enlist,  wliich  he  did  ; 
and  his  regiment  being  ordered  to  the  Isle  of  Wight,  his  wife  followed 
him.  His  father  bought  him  off  at  an  expense  of  60/.,  and  now  gave  him 
property  to  the  amount  of  about  261.  per  annum ;  but  after  the  marriage 
had  been  solemnised  about  six  years,  Mrs.  Hayes  prevailed  on  ber  husband 
to  come  to  London.  On  their  arrival  in  the  metropolis,  Mr.  Hayes  took 
a  house,  part  of  which  he  let  in  lodgings,  and  opened  a  shop  in  the 
chandlery  and  coal  trade,  in  which  he  was  as  successful  as  he  could  have 
wished,  but  exclusive  of  his  profit  by  shop  keeping,  he  acquired  a  great  deal 
of  money  by  lending  small  sums  on  pledges,  for  at  this  time  the  trade  of 
pawnbroking  was  followed  by  any  one  at  pleasure,  and  was  subjected  to 
no  regulation. 

Mr.  Hayes  soon  found  that  the  disposition  of  his  wife  was  not  of  such 
a  nature  as  to  promise  him  much  peace.  The  chief  pleasure  of  her  life 
consisted  in  creating  and  encouraging  quarrels  among  her  neighbours. 
Sometimes  she  would  speak  of  her  husband,  to  his  acquaintance,  in  terms 
of  great  tenderness  and  respect ;  and  at  other  times  she  would  represent 
him  to  her  female  associates  as  a  compound  of  everything  tliat  was  con 
temptible  in  human  nature.  On  a  particular  occasion,  she  told  a  woman 
that  she  should  think  it  no  more  sin  to  murder  him  than  to  kill  a  dog.  At 
length  her  husband  thought  it  prudent  to  remove  to  Tottenham-court-road, 
where  be  carried  on  his  former  business,  but  lie  then  again  removed  to 
Tyburn-road  (now  Oxford -street).  He  soon  amassed  wnat  he  considerea 
a  sufficient  sum  to  enable  him  to  retire  from  business,  and  he  accordingly 

VOL.  I.  K 


66  TUE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

took  lodgings  near  the  same  spot.  A  supposed  son  of  Mrs.  Hayes,  by  her 
former  connexion,  who  weni  by  the  name  of  Billings,  lived  in  the  same 
uouse,  and  he  and  Mrs.  Hayes  were  in  the  habit  of  feasting  themselves  at 
the  expense  of  the  husband  of  the  latter.  During  his  temporary  absence 
from  town,  her  proceedings  were  so  extravagant,  that  the  neighbours 
deemed  it  riglit  to  make  her  husband  aware  of  the  fact ;  and  on  his  return 
he  remonstrated  with  her  on  the  subject,  when  a  quarrel  took  place,  which 
ended  in  a  fight.  It  is  supposed  that  at  this  time  the  design  of  murdering 
Mr.  Hayes  was  formed  by  his  wife,  and  it  was  not  long  before  she 
obtained  a  seconder  in  her  horrid  project  in  the  person  of  her  reputed  son. 
At  this  time  a  person  named  Thomas  Wood  came  to  town  from  Worcea- 
tersliire,  and  seeking  out  Hayes,  persuaded  him  to  give  him  a  lodging,  as 
he  was  afraid  of  being  impressed.  After  he  had  been  in  town  only  a  few 
days,  Mrs.  Hayes  informed  him  of  the  plot  which  existed,  and  endeavoured 
to  persuade  him  to  join  her  and  her  son.  He  was  at  first  shocked  at  the 
notion  of  murdering  his  friend  and  benefactor,  and  rejected  the  proposals ; 
but  at  length  Mrs.  Hayes,  alleging  that  her  husband  was  an  atheist,  and 
had  already  been  guilty  of  murdering  two  of  his  own  children,  one  of 
whom  he  had  buried  under  an  apple-tree,  and  the  other  under  a  pear-tree, 
and  besides  urging  that  1500/.,  which  would  fall  to  her  at  his  death, 
should  be  placed  at  the  disposal  of  her  accomplices,  he  consented.  Shortly 
after  this.  Wood  went  out  of  town  for  a  few  days,  but  on  his  retui-n  he 
found  Mrs.  Hayes,  and  her  son,  and  husband,  drinking  together,  and 
apparently  in  good  humour.  He  joined  them  at  the  desire  of  Hnvps.  and 
the  latter  boasting  that  he  was  not  drunk,  although  they  l.u,vi  ..t*v*.  a 
guinea's  worth  of  liquor  among  them,  Billings  proposed  that  he  should  try 
whether  he  could  drink  half  a  dozen  bottles  of  mountain  wine,  without 
getting  tipsy,  and  promised  that  if  he  did  so,  he  would  pay  for  the  wine. 
The  proposal  was  agreed  to,  and  the  three  murderers  went  ofi"  to  procure 
the  liquor.  On  their  way,  it  was  agreed  among  them  that  this  was  the 
proper  opportunity  to  carry  their  design  into  execution,  and  having  pro- 
cured the  wine,  for  which  i\Irs.  Hayes  paid  half  a  guinea,  Mr.  Hayes 
began  to  drink  it,  while  his  intended  assassins  regaled  themselves  with 
beer.  When  he  had  taken  a  considerable  quantity  of  the  wine,  he  danced 
about  the  room  like  a  man  distracted,  and  at  length  finished  the  whole 
quantity :  but,  not  being  yet  in  a  state  of  absolute  stupefaction,  his  wife 
sent  for  another  bottle,  which  he  also  drank,  and  then  fell  senseless  on  the 
floor.  Having  lain  some  time  in  this  condition,  he  got,  with  much  diffi- 
culty, into  another  room,  and  threw  himself  on  a  bed.  When  he  was 
asleep,  his  wife  told  her  associates  that  this  was  the  time  to  execute  their 
plan,  as  there  was  no  fear  of  any  resistance  on  his  part,  and  accordingly 
Billings  went  into  the  room  with  a  hatchet,  with  which  he  struck  Hayes 
so  violently  that  he  fractured  ^lis  skull.  At  this  time  Hayes's  feet  hung 
off  the  bed ;  and  the  torture  arising  from  the  blow  made  him  stamp 
repeatedly  on  the  floor,  which,  being  heard  by  Wood,  he  also  went  into 
the  room,  and,  taking  the  hatchet  out  of  Billings'  hand,  gave  the  poor  man 
two  more  blows,  which  effectually  despatched  him.  A  woman,  named 
Springate,  who  lodged  in  the  room  over  that  where  the  murder  was  com- 
mitted, hearing  the  noise  occasioned  by  Hayes's  stamping,  imagined  that 
the  parties  might  have  quarrelled  in  consequence  of  their  intoxication ;  and 
going  down  stairs,  she  told  Mrs.  Hayes  that  the  noise  had  awakened  Her 


TKK    XEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  G7 

husband,  her  child,  and  herself.  Catherine,  however,  had  a  ready  answer  to 
this  :  she  said  some  company  had  visited  them,  and  were  grown  merry,  but 
they  were  on  the  point  of  taking  their  leave ;  and  Mrs.  Springate  returned 
to  her  room  well  satisfied.  Tlie  murderers  now  consulted  on  the  best 
manner  of  disposing  of  the  body,  so  as  most  effectually  to  prevent  detec- 
tion. ]Mrs.  Hayes  proposed  to  cut  off  the  head,  because,  if  the  body  was 
found  whole,  it  would  be  more  likely  to  be  known,  and  the  villains  agi-eeing 
to  this  proposition,  she  fetched  a  pail,  lighted  a  candle,  and  all  of  them 
went  into  the  room.  Tiie  men  then  drew  the  body  partly  off  the  bed,  and 
Billings  supported  the  head,  while  Wood,  with  his  pocket-knife,  cut  it  off, 
and  the  infamous  woman  held  the  pail  to  receive  it,  being  as  careful  as 
possible  that  the  floor  might  not  be  stained  with  the  blood.  This  being 
done,  they  emptied  the  blood  out  of  the  pail  into  a  sink  by  the  window, 
and  poured  several  pails  of  water  after  it.  Y/hen  the  head  was  cr.t  off, 
the  woman  recommended  the  boiling  it  till  the  flesh  should  part  from  the 
bones ;  but  the  other  parties  thought  this  operation  would  take  up  too 
much  time,  and  therefore  advised  the  throwing  it  into  the  Thames,  in 
expectation  that  it  would  be  carried  off  by  the  tide,  and  would  sink.  This 
agreed  to,  the  head  was  put  into  the  pail,  and  Billings  took  it  under  his 
great-coat,  being  accompanied  by  Wood ;  but,  making  a  noise  in  going 
down  stairs,  Mrs.  Springate  called,  and  asked  what  was  the  matter  ?  To 
this  Mrs.  Hayes  answered  that  her  husband  was  going  a  journey  ;  and, 
with  incredible  dissimulation,  affected  to  take  leave  of  him,  pretending 
great  concern  that  he  was  under  a  necessity  of  going  at  so  late  an  hour, 
and  Wood  and  Billings  passed  out  of  the  house  unnoticed.  They  first 
went  to  Whitehall,  where  they  intended  to  have  thrown  in  tlie  head  ;  but 
the  gates  being  shut,  they  went  to  a  wharf  near  the  Horse  Ferry,  West- 
minster. Billings  putting  down  the  pail,  Wood  threw  the  head  into  the 
dock,  expecting  it  would  have  been  carried  away  by  the  stream  ;  but  at 
this  time  the  tide  was  ebbing,  and  a  lighterman,  who  was  then  in  his 
vessel,  heard  something  fall  into  the  dock,  but  it  was  too  dark  for  liim  to 
distinguish  any  object.  The  head  being  thus  disposed  of,  the  murderers 
returned  home,  and  were  admitted  by  Mrs.  Hayes,  without  the  knowledge 
of  the  other  lodgers.  The  body  next  became  the  object  of  their  atten- 
tion, and  Mrs.  Hayes  proposed  that  it  should  be  packed  up  in  a  box 
and  buried.  The  plan  was  determined  upon  immediately,  and  a  box  was 
purchased,  but  being  found  too  small,  the  body  was  dismembered  so  as  to 
admit  of  its  being  inclosed  in  it,  and  was  left  until  night  should  favour  its 
being  carried  off.  The  inconvenience  of  carrying  a  box  was,  however, 
immediately  discovered,  and  the  pieces  of  the  mangled  body  were  therefore 
taken  out,  and,  being  wrapped  up  in  a  blanket,  ^^'ere  carried  by  Billings 
and  Wood  to  a  field  in  Marylebone,  and  there  tlirown  into  a  pond. 

In  the  meantime  the  head  had  been  discovered,  and  the  circumstance  of 
a  murder  having  been  committed  being  undoubted,  every  means  was  taken 
to  secure  the  discovery  of  its  perpetrators.  The  magistrates,  with  this  view, 
directed  that  the  head  should  be  washed  clean,  and  the  hair  combed  ;  after 
wliich  it  was  put  on  a  pole  in  the  churchyard  of  St.  Margaret,  Westminster, 
that  an  opportunity  might  be  afforded  for  its  being  viewed  by  the  public  *. 

•  It  was  formerly  customary  to  oblige  persons  suspected  of  murder  to  touch  the  murdcrei' 
body,  for  the  discovery  of  their  guilt  or  innocence. 

This  way  of  finding  murderers  was  practised  in  Denmark  by  King  Cbristianus  II.,  and   pei- 


68  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Thousands  went  to  witness  this  extraordinary  spectacle  ;  and  there  wero 
not  wanting  tliose  among  the  crowd,  who  expressed  their  belief  among 
tlienisi'lvcs,  that  the  head  belonged  to  Hayes,  Their  suspicions  were  men 
tioned  by  some  of  them  to  Billings,  but  he  ridiculed  the  notion,  and  declarei 
that  Hayes  was  well,  and  was  gone  out  of  town  only  for  a  few  days.  When 
the  head  liad  been  exhibited  during  four  days,  it  was  deemed  expedient 
that  measures  should  be  taken  to  preserve  it ;  and  ]\Ir.  Westbrook,  a 
chemist,  in  consequence,  received  directions  to  put  it  into  spirits.  Mrs. 
Hayes  soon  afterwards  changed  her  lodgings,  and  took  the  woman  Sprin- 
gatc  with  her,  paying  the  rent  which  she  owed.  Wood  and  Billings  also 
accompanying  her  ;  and  her  chief  occupation  now  was  that  of  collecting  the 
debts  due  to  her  husband  ;  by  means  of  which  she  continued  to  supply  her 
diabolical  assistants  with  money  and  clothes.  Amongst  the  incredible 
numbers  of  people  who  resorted  to  see  the  head  was  a  poor  woman  from 
Kingsland,  whose  husband  had  been  absent  from  the  very  time  that  the 
murder  was  perpetrated.  After  a  minute  survey  of  the  head,  she  believed 
it  to  be  that  of  her  husband,  though  she  could  not  be  absolutely  positive, 
but  her  suspicions  were  so  strong,  that  strict  search  was  made  after 
the  body,  on  a  presumption  that  the  clothes  might  help  her  to  ascertain  it. 
Meanwhile,  Mr.  Hayes  not  being  visible  for  a  considerable  time,  his  friends 
could  not  help  making  inquiry  after  him  ;  and  a  Mr.  Ashby,  in  particular, 
who  had  been  on  the  most  friendly  terms  with  him,  called  on  Mrs.  Hayes, 
and  demanded  what  had  become  of  her  husband  ?  Catherine  pretended 
to  account  for  his  absence  by  communicating  the  following  intelligence, 
as  a  matter  that  must  be  kept  profoundly  secret : — "  Some  time  ago," 
said  she,  "  he  happened  to  have  a  dispute  with  a  man.  and  from  words 
they  came  to  blows,  so  that  Mr.  Hayes  killed  him.  The  wife  of  the 
deceased  made  up  the  atfaii',  on  ]\Ir.  Hayes's  promising  to  pay  her  a  certain 
annual  allowance  ;  but  he  not  being  able  to  make  it  good,  she  threatened 
to  inform  against  him,  on  which  he  has  absconded."  This  story  was, 
Iiowever,  by  no  means  satisfactory  to  Mr.  Ashby,  who  asked  her  if 
tlie  head  that  had  been  exposed  on  the  pole  was  that  of  the  man  who  had 
been  killed  by  her  husband  ?  She  readily  answered  in  the  negative,  adding 
that  the  party  had  been  buried  entire ;  and  that  the  widow  had  her  hus- 
band's bond  for  the  payment  of  fifteen  pounds  a  year.  Ashby  inquired  to 
what  part  of  tlie  world  Mr.  Hayes  was  gone  ;  and  she  said  to  Portugal,  in 
company  with  some  gentlemen  ;  but  she  had  yet  received  no  letter  from 
him.     The  whole  of  this  detail  seeming  highly  improbable  to  IMr.  Ashby, 

niitted  over  all  his  kingdom  ;  the  ocrasion  whereof  was  this  : — Certain   gentlemen  being  on  an 
evening  together  in  a  stove,  or  tavern,  fell  out  among  themselves,  and  from   words  caL:e   to 
blows,  (the  candles  being  out,)  insomuch  that  one  of  them  was  stabbed  with  a  poniard.     Now 
the  murderer  was  unknown,  by  reason  of  the  number,  although  the  person  stabbed  accused 
pursuivant  of  the  king's,  who  was  one  of  the  company. 

The  king,  to  find  out  the  homicide,  caused  them  all  to  come  together  in  the  stove,  and, 
standing  round  the  corpse,  he  commanded  that  they  sliould,  one  after  another,  lay  their  right 
liand  on  tlic  slam  gentleman's  naked  breast,  swearing  that  they  had  not  killed  him.  The  gen- 
tlemen did  so,  and  no  sign  appeared  ag.iinst  them;  the  pursuivant  only  remained,  who,  con- 
demned before  in  his  own  conscience,  went,  first  of  all,  and  kissed  the  dead  man's  feet;  but, 
as  soon  as  he  had  laid  his  hand  upon  his  breast,  the  blood  gushed  forth  in  abundance,  both  out 
of  his  wound  and  his  nostrils  ;  so  that,  urged  by  this  evident  accusation,  he  confessed  the  mur- 
der, and  was,  by  the  king's  own  sentence,  immediately  behe.aded.  Such  was  the  origin  of  this 
practice,  which  was  so  common  in  many  of  the  countries  in  Europe,  for  finding  out  imknowc 
■murderers. 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR,  69 

he  went  to  Mr.  Longmore,  a  gentleman  nearly  related  to  Hayes ;  and  it 
was  agreed  between  them  that  Mr.  Longmore  should  call  on  Catherine, 
and  have  some  conversation  with  her  upon  the  same  subject.  Iler  story 
to  this  gentleman  differed  in  its  details  from  that  which  she  had  related  to 
Mr.  Ash  by  ;  and  Mr.  Eaton,  also  a  friend  of  Mr.  Hayes,  being  consulted, 
ttiey  determined  first  to  examine  the  head,  and  then,  if  their  suspicions 
were  confirmed,  to  communicate  their  belief  to  the  magistrates.  Having 
accordingly  minutely  examined  the  head,  and  come  to  the  conclusion  that 
it  must  be  that  of  their  friend  Hayes,  they  proceeded  to  Mr.  Lambert,  a 
magistrate,  who  immediately  issued  warrants  for  the  apprehension  of  Mrs. 
Hayes  and  l\Irs.  Springate,  as  well  as  of  Wood  and  Billings,  and  proceeded 
to  execute  them  personally.  Going  accordingly  to  the  house  in  which  they 
all  lived,  they  informed  the  landlord  of  their  business,  and  went  imme- 
diately to  the  door  of  Mrs.  Hayes'  room.  On  the  magistrate's  rapping,  the 
woman  asked,  "  Who  is  there  ?"  and  he  commanded  her  to  open  the  door 
directly,  or  it  should  be  broken  open.  To  this  she  replied,  that  she 
would  open  it  as  soon  as  she  had  put  on  her  clothes  ;  and  she  did  so  in 
little  more  than  a  minute,  when  the  justice  ordered  the  parties  present  to 
take  her  into  custody.  At  this  time  Billings  was  sitting  on  the  side  of  the 
bed,  bare-legged.  Some  of  the  parties  remaining  below,  to  secure  the  pri- 
soners, Mr.  Longmore  went  up  stairs  with  the  justice,  and  took  Mrs.  Sprin- 
gate into  custody  ;  and  they  were  all  conducted  together  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  Lambert.  This  magistrate  having  examined  the  prisoners  separately 
for  a  considerable  time,  and  all  of  them  positively  persisting  in  their  igno- 
rance of  anything  respecting  the  murder,  they  were  severally  committed 
for  re- examination  on  the  following  day,  before  Mr.  Lambert  and  othi'i 
magistrates.  Mrs.  Springate  was  sent  to  the  Gate-house,  Billings  to  New 
Prison,  and  Mrs.  Hayes  to  Tothill-fields  Bridewell.  When  the  peace- 
officers,  attended  by  Longmore,  went  the  next  day  to  fetch  up  Catherine 
to  her  examination,  she  earnestly  desired  to  see  the  head  ;  and  it  being 
thought  prudent  to  grant  her  request,  she  was  carried  to  the  surgeon's  ; 
and  no  sooner  was  the  head  shown  to  her  than  she  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  it  is 
my  dear  husband's  head  !  It  is  my  dear  husband's  head  !"  She  now  took 
the  gliss  in  her  arms,  and  shed  many  tears  while  she  embraced  it.  Mr. 
W  fstbrook  told  her  that  he  would  take  the  head  out  of  the  glass,  that  she 
might  have  a  more  perfect  view  of  it,  and  be  certain  that  it  was  the  same ; 
and  the  surgeon  doing  as  he  had  said,  she  seemed  to  be  greatly  affected,  and 
having  kissed  it  several  times,  she  begged  to  be  indulged  with  a  lock  of 
the  hair  ;  and  on  Mr.  Westbrook  expressing  his  apprehension  that  she  had 
had  too  much  of  his  Hood  already,  she  fell  into  a  fit.  On  her  recovery  she 
was  conducted  to  Mr.  Lambert's,  to  take  her  examination  with  the  other 
parties. 

It  is  somewhat  remarkable  that  it  was  on  the  morning  of  this  day  that 
the  body  was  discovered.  As  a  gentleman  and  his  servant  were  crossing  the 
fields  at  jMarylebone,  they  observed  something  lying  in  a  ditch,  and,  on 
going  nearer  to  it,  they  perceived  that  it  was  some  parts  of  a  human  body. 
Assistance  being  procured,  the  whole  of  the  body  was  found  except  the 
head ;  and  information  of  the  circumstance  was  conveyed  to  Mr.  Lambert 
at  the  very  moment  at  which  he  was  examining  the  prisoners.  The 
suspicions  which  already  existed  were  strengthened  by  this  circumstance, 
and  Jlrs.  Hayes  was   committed  to  Newgate  for  trial ;  the  committal  of 


70  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Billings  and  INIrs.  Springato,  however,  being  deferred  until  the  apprehen- 
sion of  Wood. 

The  latter  soon  after  coming  into  town  and  riding  up  to  Mrs.  Hayes' 
lodorinffs,  was  directed  to  go  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Longmore,  where  he  was 
told  he  would  find  Mrs.  Hayes  ;  but  the  brother  of  Longmore  standing  at 
the  door,  he  immediately  seized  him,  and  caused  him  to  be  carried  before 
]\Ir.  Lambert.  He  underwent  an  examination ;  but,  refusing  to  make 
any  confession,  he  was  sent  to  Tothill-fields'  Bridewell.  On  his  arrival  at 
the  prison  he  was  informed  that  the  body  had  been  found  :  and,  not 
doubting  but  that  the  whole  aiFair  would  come  to  light,  he  begged  that  he 
m'lcrht  be  carried  back  to  the  justice's  house.  This  being  made  known  to 
Mr.  Lambert,  the  prisoner  w^as  brought  up,  and  he  then  acknowledged  the 
particulars  of  the  murder,  and  signed  his  confession.  This  wretched  man 
owned  that  since  the  perpetration  of  the  crime  he  had  been  terrified  at 
the  siffht  of  every  one  he  met,  that  he  had  not  experienced  a  moment's 
peace,  and  tliat  his  mind  had  been  distracted  with  the  most  violent  agitation. 
His  commitment  to  Newgate  was  immediately  made  out,  and  he  was 
conducted  to  that  prison  under  the  escort  of  eight  soldiers,  with  fixed 
bayonets,  whose  whole  efforts  were  necessary  to  protect  him  from  the 
violence  of  the  mob.  A  Mr.  IMercer  visiting  Mrs.  Hayes  in  prison,  she 
beo-ffed  him  to  go  to  Billings  and  urge  him  to  confess  the  whole  truth,  as 
no  advantage,  she  said,  could  be  expected  to  arise  from  a  denial  of  tliat 
which  was  too  clearly  proved  to  admit  of  denial ;  and  he  being  carried 
before  Justice  Lambert  again,  gave  an  account  precisely  concurring  with 
that  of  Wood.  Mrs.  Springate,  whose  innocence  was  now  distinctly 
proved,  was  set  at  liberty. 

At  the  trial  Wood  and  Billings  confessed  themselves  guilty  of  the  crime 
alleged  against  them  ;  but  3Irs.  Hayes,  flattering  herself  that  as  she  had 
said  nothing,  she  had  a  chance  of  escape,  put  herself  upon  her  trial ;  but 
the  jury  found  her  guilty.  The  prisoners  being  afterwards  brought  to  the 
bar  to  receive  sentence,  Mrs.  Hayes  entreated  that  she  might  not  be  burned, 
according  to  the  then  law  of  petty  treason,  alleging  that  she  was  not  guilty, 
as  she  did  not  strike  the  fatal  blow ;  but  she  was  informed  by  the  court 
that  the  sentence  awarded  by  the  law  could  not  be  dispensed  with. 

After  conviction  the  behaviour  of  Wood  was  uncommonly  penitent  and 
devout ;  but  while  in  the  condemned  hold  he  was  seized  with  a  violent 
fever,  and,  being  attended  by  a  clergyman  to  assist  him  in  his  devotions, 
he  said  he  was  ready  to  suffer  death,  under  every  mark  of  ignominy,  as 
pome  atonement  for  the  atrocious  crime  he  had  committed  ;  but  he  died  in 
prison,  and  thus  defeated  the  final  execution  of  the  law.  Billings  behaved 
with  apparent  sincerity,  acknowledging  the  justice  of  his  sentence,  and 
saying  that  no  punishment  could  be  commensurate  with  the  crime  of  which 
he  had  been  guilty.  The  behaviour  of  Mrs.  Hayes  was  somewhat  similar 
to  her  former  conduct.  Having  an  intention  to  destroy  herself,  she  pro- 
cured a  phial  of  strong  poison,  which  was  casually  tasted  by  a  woman  who 
was  confined  with  her,  and  her  design  thereby  discovered  and  frustrated. 
On  the  day  of  her  death  she  received  the  sacrament,  and  was  drawn  on 
a  sledge  t(j  the  place  of  execution.  Billings  was  executed  in  the  usual 
manner,  and  hung  in  chains,  not  far  from  the  pond  in  which  ]Mr.  Hayes  "j 
body  was  found,  in  IVLiryleboue  Fields ;  but  when  the  wretched  wo.nan 
had  finished  her  devotions,  in  pursuance  of  her  sentence  an  iron  chain  was 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  71 

pitt  round  her  body,  with  which  slie  was  fixed  to  a  stake  near  the  gallows. 
On  these  occasions,  when  women  were  burned  for  petty  treason,  it  was 
customary  to  strangle  them,  by  means  of  a  rope  passed  round  the  neck, 
and  pulled  by  the  executioner,  so  that  they  were  dead  before  the  flames 
reached  the  body.  But  this  woman  was  literally  burned  alive ;  for  the 
executioner  letting  go  the  rope  sooner  than  usual,  in  consequence  of  the 
flames  reaching  his  hands,  the  fire  burned  fiercely  round  her,  and  the 
spectators  beheld  her  pushing  away  the  faggots,  while  she  rent  the  air 
with  her  cries  and  lamentations.  Other  faggots  were  instantly  thrown  on 
her  ;  but  she  survived  amidst  the  flames  for  a  considerable  time,  and  her 
body  was  not  perfectly  reduced  to  ashes  in  less  than  three  hours".  These 
malefactors  suffered  at  Tyburn,  May  9,  1726. 


MARGARET    DIXON. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  criminal  is  more  remarkable  for  her  resuscitation  after 
her  execution,  than  for  the  circumstances  attending  the  offence  of  which 
she  was  convicted. 

The  culprit  was  the  daughter  of  poor  parents  living  at  Musselburgh, 
about  five  miles  from  Edinburgh,  a  place  almost  entirely  inhabited  by 
fishermen  and  persons  employed  in  the  manufacture  of  salt.  When  she 
reached  the  age  of  womanhood,  she  was  married,  but  her  husband,  who 
was  a  fisherman,  being  impressed,  he  was  carried  off  to  sea.  Deprived  of 
her  lawful  protector,  she  formed  an  illicit  connexion  with  another  man ; 
and  it  was  for  the  murder  of  the  offspring  of  this  acquaintance  that  she 
was  eventually  sentenced  to  undergo  the  severest  penalty  of  the  law.  It 
appears  that  she  was  remarked  to  be  pregnant,  and  was  accused  by  her 
neighbours  of  the  fact,  but  she  steadily  denied  her  guilt.  At  length  the 
body  of  a  newly-born  infant  was  found  near  the  place  of  her  residence,  and 
as  there  was  no  way  of  accounting  for  its  existence,  except  that  suggested 
by  the  pregnancy  of  ]\Irs.  Dixon,  she  was  taken  into  custody,  and  being 
tried  was  found  guilty  and  ordered  for  execution. 

After  her  condemnation  she  behaved  in  the  most  penitent  manner,  con- 
fessed that  she  had  been  guilty  of  many  sins,  and  even  owned  that  she  had 
departed  from  the  line  of  duty  to  her  husband  ;  but  she  constantly  and 
steadily  denied  that  she  had  murdered  her  child,  or  had  even  formed  an 
idea  of  so  horrid  a  crime.  She  owned  that  the  fear  of  being  exposed  to  the 
ridicule  of  her  neighbours  had  tempted  her  to  deny  that  she  was  pregnant ; 
and  she  said  that,  being  suddenly  seized  with  the  pains  of  child-birth,  she 
was  unable  to  procure  the  assistance  of  her  neighbours  ;  and  that  a  state 
of  insensibility  ensued,  so  that  it  was  impossible  she  should  know  what 
became  of  the  infant. 

*  Until  the  thirtieth  year  of  the  reign  of  King  George  III.  this  punishment  was  inflicted  on 
women  convicted  of  murdering  their  husbands,  wiiich  crime  was  denominated  petit-treason.  It 
has  frequently,  from  some  accident  happening  in  strangling  the  malefactor,  produced  the  horrid 
effects  above  related.  In  the  reign  of  Mary  (the  cruel)  this  death  was  commonly  practised 
dpoii  the  objects  of  her  vengeance  ;  and  many  bishops,  rather  than  deny  their  ith'gious 
opmions,  were  burnt  even  without  previous  strangulation.  It  was  high  time  this  part  of  tie 
sentence  the  type  of  barbarism,  should  be  dispensed  with.  The  punishment  now  inflicted  for 
this  Dioei  unnatural  and  abhorred  crime  is  hanging. 


72  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR 

At  the  place  of  execution  she  persisted  in  lier  protestations  of  innocenpe, 
and  Jack  Ketcli  having  performed  his  office,  the  body  Imng  the  usual  time, 
and  was  then  cut  down  and  delivered  to  the  friends  of  the  deceased.  By 
them  it  was  put  into  a  coffin,  and  sent  in  a  cart  to  be  buried  at  her 
native  place  ;  but  the  weather  being  sultry,  the  persons  who  had  it  in  their 
care  stopped  to  drink  at  a  village  called  Peppermill,  about  two  miles  from 
Edinburgh.  While  they  were  refreshing  themselves,  one  of  them  perceived 
the  lid  of  the  coffin  move,  and  uncovering  it,  the  woman  sat  upright, 
to  the  infinite  alarm  of  the  spectators.  The  mystery  being  soon  explained ; 
a  fellow,  who  was  present,  had  sufficient  sagacity  to  bleed  her ;  and  in  the 
course  of  the  ensuing  day  she  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  be  able  to  walk 
home  to  her  old  residence  at  jMusselburgh. 

By  the  Scottish  law,  not  only  was  she  released  by  the  execution  from 
the  consequences  of  tlie  crime  of  which  she  had  been  found  guilty,  but  from 
the  bonds  of  matrimony  also ;  but  her  husband  having  by  this  time 
returned  from  sea,  he  was  publicly  re-married  to  his  old  wife,  within  a  few 
days  after  she  had  been  hanged.  A  suit  was  subsequently  brought  by  the 
Lord  Advocate  against  the  sheriff  for  omitting  to  perform  his  office  ;  but 
as  it  turned  out  that  the  escape  of  the  convict  was  not  owing  to  any  neglect 
on  his  part,  but  to  some  peculiar  formation  of  the  neck  of  the  woman,  the 
prosecution  was  abandoned. 

The  date  of  this  transaction  was  the  month  of  November,  1728  ;  and  the 
subject  of  this  most  remarkable  escape  was  living  in  the  year  1753,  when 
it  is  due  to  lier  to  state  that  she  still  persisted  in  her  declarations  of 
innocence. 


JOHN  GOW  AND  OTHERS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    PIRACY. 

The  principal  in  this  list  of  offenders  was  named  Jonn  Gow,  and  was  a 
native  of  one  of  the  Orkney  Islands.  Having  chosen  a  seafaring  life,  he 
was  appointed  second  mate  of  a  vessel  going  to  Santa  Cruz.  Some  com- 
plaints having  been  made  before  the  vessel  quitted  port,  of  the  insufficiency 
of  the  provisions  given  to  the  men,  the  captain  took  little  notice  of  them  ; 
and  it  was  not  until  he  had  quitted  the  sliore  some  days,  that  he  learned, 
too  late,  the  mistake  of  which  he  had  been  guilty.  The  feelings  of  discon- 
tent which  had  been  already  exhibited  were  soon  fanned  into  a  flame, 
and  at  length  it  became  necessary  for  the  captain,  chief  mate,  and  surgeon 
to  arm  the^mselves.  Gow,  whose  duties  as  second  mate  also  inchided  those 
of  gunner,  was  ordered  to  clean  the  small-arms  necessary  for  this  purpose  ; 
but  being  a  party  to  a  conspiracy,  which  existed  among  his  shipmates  to 
seize  the  vessel,  he  communicated  the  order  to  his  fellows,  and  it  was 
determined  to  put  their  project  into  execution  forthwith.  Between  nine 
and  ten  o'clock  at  night,  the  signal  was  given,  and  the  conspirators  going 
to  the  cabins  of  the  chief  mate,  surgeon,  and  supercargo,  cut  their  throat? 
while  tiiey  were  asleep.  The  captain  ran  on  deck  to  acertain  the  cause  of 
a  noise  which  he  heard,  and  was  immediately  seized,  and,  although  he 
made  a  desperate  resistance,  was  despatched  in  as  sliort  a  time  as  his  unfor- 
tunate brother  officers  had  been.  The  bodies  of  the  murdered  men  wer^ 
then  thrown  overboard,  and  Gow  was  selected  as  the  new  captain.  Agscm 


THE    NEW    NEWOATK   CALENDAR.  7^ 

bling  liis  associates  on  deck,  their  determination  to  commence  pirates  was 
soon  formed  ;  and  some  of  the  seamen  wlio  had  hesitated  to  become  parties 
to  the  diabolical  murders  of  their  officers,  were  forced  to  join  tlio  crew  in 
their  piratical  proceedings  on  pain  of  death.  A  fellow  named  Williams, 
of  a  most  brutal  disposition,  was  chosen  as  lieutenant;  and  the  name  of  the 
vessel,  which  had  been  the  George  Galley,  was  changed  to  the  more  bloody 
one  of  Revenge.  Having  mounted  several  guns,  they  steered  towards 
Spain  and  Poi'tugal,  in  expectation  of  making  a  capture  of  wine,  in  a  supply 
of  which  they  were  greatly  deficient.  They  soon  made  prize  of  an  English 
vessel  laden  with  fish,  bound  from  Newfoundland  to  Cadiz  ;  but  having  no 
use  for  the  cargo,  they  took  out  the  captain  and  four  men,  and  sunk  the 
ship. 

One  of  the  seamen  whom  they  took  from  the  captured  vessel  was 
named  James  Belvin,  a  man  admirably  calculated  for  tlieir  purpose,  as  he 
was  by  nature  cruel,  and  by  practice  hardened  in  that  cruelty  ;  and  being 
willing  to  turn  pirate,  he  was  thought  a  valuable  acquisition  to  the  crew, 
as  several  of  the  others  appeared  to  act  from  motives  of  fear  rather  than  of 
inclination. 

The  next  vessel  taken  by  the  pirates  was  a  Scotch  ship  bound  to  Italy 
with  pickled  herrings  ;  but  this  cargo,  like  the  former,  being  of  no  use  to 
them,  they  sunk  the  vessel,  having  first  taken  out  the  men,  arms,  ammu- 
nition, and  stores. 

After  having  cruised  about  for  a  considerable  time  without  any  further 
successes,  their  supply  of  water  ran  so  short,  that  they  felt  it  absolutely 
necessary  to  procure  a  fresh  stock.  They  sailed,  therefore,  to  a  Portuguese 
settlement ;  and,  on  their  arrival,  they  sent  some  presents  to  the  governor, 
intimating  their  wants.  The  governor  treating  the  messengers  with  civility, 
proceeded  on  board  the  vessel,  and  he  was  there  received  by  the  pirates 
with  every  mark  of  respect  and  attention.  The  boat,  which  had  been  sent 
for  supplies,  however,  not  returning,  the  captain  began  to  suspect  that  his 
men  were  not  safe,  and  threatened  to  murder  his  visitors  unless  his  demands 
were  complied  with.  The  governor  was  terrified  at  this  threat ;  but  soon 
procured  his  liberty  by  assenting  to  the  wishes  of  his  entertainer.  They 
afterwards  made  several  prizes,  in  one  of  which  they  sent  away  the  Scotch 
captain  and  his  crew  ;  but  shortly  afterwards  meeting  with  a  French 
vessel  of  superior  power,  the  captain  refused  to  give  chase  to  or  to  engage 
it.  Williams,  the  lieutenant,  upbraided  him  for  what  he  termed  his 
cowardice,  and  a  violent  quarrel  taking  place,  the  lieutenant  endeavoured 
to  shoot  his  captain.  The  crew  agreeing  in  opinion  with  the  latter  as  to 
the  impropriety  of  fighting  against  a  force  so  superior  to  their  own,  Wil- 
liams was  soon  secured,  and  placed  among  the  other  prisoners.  The  French 
vessel  was  permitted  to  continue  on  her  way  ;  and  soon  afterwards  meet- 
ing with  a  ship  bound  for  Bristol,  they  robbed  her  of  her  stores  and 
ammunition,  and  putting  their  prisoners  and  Williams  on  board  of  her, 
the  latter  of  whom  they  directed  to  be  given  up  to  the  British  authorities, 
they  allowed  her  to  proceed  on  her  voyage. 

As  soon  as  she  had  left  them,  Gow  and  his  crew  began  to  reflect  on  their 
situation.  They  were  apprehensive  that  as  soon  as  intelligence  of  their 
proceedings  reached  Portugal,  some  ships  would  be  sent  in  pursuit  of  them; 
and  they  called  a  kind  of  council,  in  which  every  one  gave  his  opinion. 

Gow  proposed  to  sail  to  the  Isles  of  Orkney,  on  the  north  of  Scotland, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


where  he  said,  they  might  dispose  of  their  effects,  and  retire  and  live  on 
the  produce  ;  and  in  order  to  induce  his  people  to  comply  with  this  pro- 
posal, he  represented  that  they  were  much  in  want  of  water,  and  provi- 
sions of  every  kind  ;  that  their  danger  would  be  great  if  they  continued 
longer  on  the  high  seas  ;  and,  above  all,  that  it  was  highly  necessary  for 
them  to  repair  their  ship,  which  they  could  not  do  with  any  degree  of  safety 
in  a  southern  port. 

Convinced  by  these  arguments,  they  proceeded  northwards,  and  soon 
reached  the  Orkney  Islands  ;  and  entering  one  of  the  bays  there  they  pro- 
ceeded, as  well  as  they  were  able,  to  refit  the  ship.  This  step  was,  however, 
fatal  to  their  enterprise  ;  for  one  of  their  companions,  who  had  unwillingly 
joined  in  the  piratical  proceedings  of  the  crew,  escaped,  and  gave  informa- 
tion of  all  that  had  occurred.  Ten  others  followed  his  example,  and  seized 
the  long-boat;  but  reaching  Edinburgh,  they  were  confined  on  suspicion  of 
being  pirates. 

Xotwithstandincr  these  alarming  circumstances,  Gow  was  so  careless  of 
his  own  safety,  that  he  did  not  put  immediately  to  sea,  but  resolved  to 
plunder  the  houses  of  the  gentlemen  on  the  coast,  to  furnish  himself  with 
fresh  provisions. 

In  pursuance  of  this  resolution,  he  sent  his  boatswain  and  ten  armed  men 
to  the  house  of  Mr.  Honeyman,  high-sherift'  of  the  county ;  and  the  master 
beino-  absent,  the  servants  opened  the  door  without  suspicion.  Nine  of  the 
o-anor  went  into  the  house  to  search  for  treasure,  while  tlie  tenth  was  left  to 
onard  the  door.  Mrs.  Honeyman,  running  to  the  door,  saw  the  man  who 
stood  guard  there,  whom  she  asked  what  could  be  the  meaning  of  the 
outrage  ;  to  which  he  replied,  that  they  were  pirates,  and  had  come  thither 
only  to  ransack  the  house.  Recollecting  that  she  had  a  considerable  quan- 
tity of  gold  in  a  bag,  she  returned  and  put  it  in  her  lap,  and  ran  by  the 
man  at  the  door,  who  had  no  idea  but  that  the  wish  to  preserve  her  life 
occasioned  her  haste.  The  boatswain  missing  this  part  of  the  expected 
treasure,  declared  that  he  would  destroy  the  family  writings  ;  but  this  being 
overheard  by  Miss  Honeyman,  she  threw  the  writings  out  of  the  window, 
and,  jumping  out  after  them,  escaped  unhurt  and  carried  them  off.  In  the 
interim  the  pirates  seized  the  linen,  plate,  and  other  valuable  articles,  and 
then  walked  in  triumph  to  their  boat,  compelling  one  of  the  servants  to 
play  before  them  on  the  bagpipes.  They  afterwards  carried  off  two 
women  whom  they  met ;  and  detaining  them  on  board  during  two  days, 
so  ill-treated  them,  that  one  expired  soon  after  they  had  put  them  on 
shore. 

This  atrocious  offence  was  no  sooner  committed  than  they  sailed  to  Calf- 
Sound,  with  an  intention  of  robbing  the  house  of  Mr.  Fea,  who  had  been 
an  old  school-fellow  with  Grow.  This  house  was  the  rather  pitched  upon. 
as  Gow  supposed  that  Mr.  Fea  could  not  have  yet  heard  of  the  transactions 
at  Mr.  Honeyman's ;  but  in  this  he  was  mistaken,  although  Fea  could  not 
oppose  him,  on  account  of  the  indisposition  of  his  wife. 

Mr.  Fea's  house  was  situated  near  the  sea-shore  ;  he  had  only  six  servants 
at  liome  when  the  pirates  appeared  off  the  coast ;  and  these  were  by  no 
means  equal  to  sustain  a  contest.  It  may  not  be  improper  to  remark,  that 
the  tide  runs  so  higli  among  these  islands,  and  beats  with  such  force  against 
the  rocks,  that  the  navigation  is  frequently  attended  with  great  danger. 
Gow   who  had  not  boats  to  assist  him  in  an  emergency,  and  was  unskilled 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAK  75 

in  the  navigation  of  these  seas,  made  a  bhinder  in  turning  into  tlie  hav  of 
Calf-Sound;  for,  standing  too  near  the  point  of  a  small  island  called  the 
Calf,  the  vessel  was  in  the  utmost  danger  of  being  run  on  shore.  Havinor 
cast  his  anchor  too  near  the  shore,  so  that  the  wind  could  not  bring  him  otf", 
he  sent  a  boat  with  a  letter  to  Mr.  Fea,  requesting  that  he  would  lend  him 
another  boat,  to  assist  him  in  heaving  off  the  ship,  by  carrying  out  an 
anchor  ;  and  assuring  him  that  he  would  not  do  the  least  injury  to  any 
individual. 

As  Gow's  messenger  did  not  see  Mr.  Fea's  boat,  the  latter  gave  him  an 
evasive  answer ;  and  on  the  approach  of  night  ordered  his  servants  to  sink 
his  own  boat,  and  hide  the  sails  and  rigging.  While  they  were  obeying  this 
order  five  of  the  pirates  came  on  shore  in  the  boat,  and  proceeded,  doubly 
armed,  towards  the  house.  Mr.  Fea  advanced  towards  them  with  an 
assurance  of  friendship,  and  begged  they  would  not  enter  the  house,  for  that 
his  wife  was  exceedingly  ill ;  and  the  sight  of  them  might  probably  deprive 
her  of  life.  The  boatswain  replied  that  they  had  no  design  to  terrify  Mrs. 
Fea,  or  any  other  person  ;  but  tha,t  the  most  rigorous  treatment  must  be 
expected  if  the  use  of  the  boat  was  denied  them.  Mr.  Fea  represented  how 
dangerous  it  would  be  for  him  to  assist  them,  on  account  of  the  reports 
circulated  to  their  discredit ;  but  he  offered  to  entertain  them  at  an  adja- 
cent ale-house  ;  and  they  accepted  the  invitation,  as  they  observed  that  he 
had  no  company.  In  the  mean  while,  Mr.  Fea  ordered  his  servants  to  call 
him  hastily  out  of  the  company  ;  and  these  orders  being  exactly  complied 
with,  when  he  had  left  the  pirates,  he  directed  six  men,  well  armed,  to  sta- 
tion themselves  behind  a  hedge ;  and  that  if  they  observed  him  to  come  alone 
with  the  boatswain,  instantly  to  seize  his  companion  ;  but  if  he  came  with 
a;ll  the  five  desperadoes,  he  would  walk  forward,  so  as  to  give  them  an 
opportunity  of  firing  at  them  without  their  wounding  him 

He  then  returned  to  the  company,  whom  he  invited  to  his  house,  on  the 
promise  of  their  behaving  peaceably,  and  said  he  would  make  them  heartily 
welcome.  They  expressed  a  readiness  to  attend  him,  in  the  hope  of 
getting  the  boat ;  but  he  told  them  he  would  rather  have  the  boatswain's 
company  first,  and  would  afterwards  send  for  his  companions. 

This  being  agreed  to,  the  boatswain  set  forward  with  two  brace  of  pistols, 
and  walking  with  j\Ir.  Fea  till  they  came  to  the  hedge  where  the  men  were 
concealed,  that  gentleman  seized  him  by  the  collar,  while  the  others  took 
him  into  custody  before  he  had  time  to  make  any  defence.  The  boatswain 
called  aloud  for  his  men  ;  but  Mr.  Fea  forcing  a  handkerchief  into  his  mouth, 
bound  him  hand  and  foot,  and  then  left  one  of  his  own  people  to  guard 
him,  while  he  and  the  rest  wtnt  back  to  the  public-house. 

There  being  two  doors  to  the  house,  they  went  some  to  the  one,  and  some 
to  the  other ;  and  rushing  in  at  once  made  prisoners  of  the  other  four  men 
before  they  had  time  to  have  recourse  to  their  arms  for  defence.  The  pirates 
being  thus  in  custodj^,  were  sent  to  an  adjacent  village,  and  separately  con- 
fined ;  and  in  the  interim  IVIr.  Fea  sent  messengers  round  the  island  to 
acquaint  the  inhabitants  with  what  had  been  done ;  to  desire  them  to  haul 
their  boats  on  the  beach,  that  the  pirates  should  not  swim  to  and  steal  them ; 
and  to  request  that  no  person  would  venture  to  row  within  reach  of  the 
pirates'  guns 

The  vessel  now  got  into  a  position  of  still  greater  difficulty,  and  in  order 
to  get  it  out  to  sea  some  assistance  was  absolutely  requisite.  Gow's 
greatest  efforts  were  therefore  made  to  induce  Mr.  Fea  to  render  him  some 


76  THK    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

•aid  ;  and  the  latter,  by  holding  out  promises  of  assistance,  eventually  suc- 
ceeded in  getting  the  whole  of  the  piratical  crew  on  shore,  and  in  securing 
them.  They  were  subsequently  conveyed  to  London,  where,  on  their 
being  examined,  five  of  them  were  admitted  as  witnesses,  while  the  rest 
were  committed  for  trial,  along  with  their  old  associate  Williams,  who 
liad  been  conveyed  to  England  by  the  master  of  the  Bristol  ship.  Gow, 
"Williams,  and  six  others,  were  convicted  and  received  sentence  of  death  ; 
while  the  remainder,  wlio  appeared  to  have  been  the  victims,  rather  than 
the  companions  of  the  others,  escaped. 

The  behaviour  of  Gow  from  his  first  commitment  was  reserved  and 
morose.  He  considered  himself  as  an  assured  victim  to  the  justice  of  the 
laws,  nor  entertained  any  hope  of  being  admitted  an  evidence,  as  ]Mr.  Fea 
had  hinted  to  him  that  he  might  be.  When  brought  to  trial  he  refused  to 
plead,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  sentenced  to  be  pressed  to  death  in 
the  usual  manner.  When  the  officer,  however,  was  about  to  inflict  this 
punishment,  lie  begged  to  be  taken  back  to  the  bar,  and  having  there 
pleaded  Not  Guilty,  he  was  convicted  on  the  same  evidence  as  his  accom- 
plices. 

Gow,  Williams,  and  six  others,  were  hanged  at  Execution  Dock,  on  the 
11th  of  August,  1729. 


COLONEL  FRANCIS  CHARTERIS. 

COXVICTED    OF    RAPE. 

The  name  of  Charteris  will  long  be  remembered  with  loathing  and 
detestation,  as  having  belonged  to  a  villain,  whose  profligacy,  at  the  time 
at  which  he  lived,  rendered   him  an  oliject  of  universal  disgust  and  hatred. 

The  execrable  subject  of  this  narrative  was  born  at  Amisfield,  in  Scotland, 
where  he  was  heir  to  an  estate  which  his  ancestors  had  possessed  above 
four  hundred  years.  He  was  related  to  many  of  the  first  families  among 
the  nobility  of  the  north ;  and  having  received  a  liberal  education,  he 
selected  the  profession  of  arms,  as  that  of  which  he  desired  to  become  a 
member.  He  served  first  under  the  Duke  of  Marlborough,  when  he  suc- 
cessively held  the  ranks  of  ensign  in  a  foot  regiment,  and  cornet  of 
dragoons  ;  but  being  a  most  expert  gamester,  and  of  a  disposition  uncom- 
monly avaricious,  he  made  his  knowledge  of  gambling  subservient  to  his 
love  of  money  ;  and  while  the  army  was  in  winter-quarters,  he  stripped 
many  of  his  brother-ofiicers  of  all  their  property  by  his  skill  at  cards  and  dice. 
His  villany,  however,  did  not  end  there,  for  when  he  had  defrauded  his 
companions  of  all  they  possessed,  be  w^ould  lend  them  their  own  money 
back,  at  a  usurious  rate  of  interest,  taking  an  assignment  of  their  conmiis- 
sions  as  security  for  the  payment  of  the  debts. 

John  Duke  of  Argyle  and  the  Earl  of  Stair  were  at  this  time  young 
men  in  the  army  ;  and  being  determined  that  the  inconsiderate  ofticers 
should  not  be  thus  ruined  by  the  artifices  of  Cliarteris,  they  applied  to  the 
Earl  of  Orkney,  who  was  also  in  the  army  then  quartered  at  Brussels, 
representing  the  destruction  tliat  must  ensue  to  young  men  serving  in  the 
army,  if  Charteris  were  permitted  to  continue  the  line  of  conduct  which 
he  had  adopted  unchecked. 

The  Earl  of  Orkney,  anxious  for  the  credit  of  the  army  in  general,  and 
his  countrymen  in  particular,  represented  the  state  of  the  case  to  the  l^uko 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  77 

of  Marlborough,  who  gave  orders  tliat  Charteris  should  be  put  under 
arrest  ami  tried  by  court-martial.  The  court  was  composed  of  an  equal 
number  of  English  and  Scotch  officers,  in  order  that  the  accused  mio-ht 
have  no  reason  to  complain  of  his  trial ;  and  after  a  full  hearing  of  all  the 
circumstances  against  him,  he  was  sentenced  to  return  the  money  which  he 
liad  obtained  by  his  guilty  artifices,  to  be  deprived  of  his  commission,  an/ 
liis  sword  having  been  broken,  to  be  drummed  out  of  the  regiment. 

This  sentence  having  been  carried  out  to  its  fullest  extent,  the  degraded 
<}fficer  returned  to  Scotland  ;  but  there,  by  means  of  the  most  servile  sub- 
mission and  the  use  of  the  money  which  he  possessed,  he  procured  for  him- 
self a  new  commission  in  a  regiment  of  horse,  in  which  he  was  eventually 
advanced  to  the  rank  of  colonel. 

The  lesson  which  he  had  received,  one  would  have  thought  would  have 
been  sufficient  to  deter  him  from  a  renewal  of  those  artifices  in  the  employ- 
ment of  which  he  had  been  detected  ;  but  every  day  served  to  furnish  him 
with  new  victims  among  the  young  men  of  rank  and  fashion,  to  whom,  by 
his  standing  in  the  army,  he  contrived  to  procure  introductions.  Nor  was 
his  character  infamous  only  on  account  of  the  dishonesty  of  his  proceedings, 
but  he  soon  obtained  an  unenviable  notoriety  on  account  of  the  unprinci- 
pled boldness  with  which  he  conducted  his  libidinous  amours.  Agents 
were  employed,  whose  duty  it  was  to  procure  new  subjects  for  the  horrid 
desires  of  their  master,  and  the  most  extraordinary  and  unhallowed  devices 
were  employed  by  them  to  secure  the  object  which  they  had  in  view. 
Public  disgust  was  excited  in  the  highest  degree  by  the  open  daring  with 
which  these  proceedings  were  carried  on,  and  at  length  the  name  and  cha- 
racter of  this  abominable  libertine  became  so  notorious  as  to  render  him 
the  object  of  universal  detestation  and  disgust. 

Among  other  unfortunate  young  women  who  fell  into  the  hands  of  this 
villain,  was  one  whose  name  was  Anne  Bond.  She  was  a  girl  of  respect- 
able connexions,  and  being  in  search  of  employment  as  a  servant,  her  bad 
fortune  threw  her  into  the  way  of  the  agents  of  Charteris.  She  was  pos- 
sessed of  considerable  personal  attractions,  and  she  was  employed  under  a 
representation  that  her  master  was  a  Colonel  Harvey.  A  few  days,  how- 
ever, served  to  inform  her  of  the  name  of  the  person  into  whose  hands  she 
had  fallen.  Her  master  professed  to  behave  towards  her  with  great  kind- 
ness and  consideration ;  but  within  a  week  after  she  had  entered  his  em- 
])loyment,  he  made  to  her  a  proposition  of  a  most  disgusting  nature.  She 
repelled  the  foul  temptation,  and  her  fears  being  alarmed  by  the  circum- 
stance, she  was  confirmed  in  a  determination,  at  which  she  had  nearly 
arrived,  to  quit  the  service  in  which  she  was  employed,  by  hearing  on  the 
following  day  that  her  master  was  no  other  than  the  Colonel  Charteris  of 
whose  character  she,  in  common  with  the  world,  had  heard  so  much.  She 
therefore  immediately  acquainted  the  housekeeper  with  her  intention  to 
leave  the  house  ;  but  the  colonel  having  been  informed  of  the  circumstance, 
be  behaved  towards  her  with  great  violence,  and  threatened  that  if  she 
dared  to  run  away,  he  would  shoot  her.  He  then  ordered  the  other  ser- 
vants to  take  care  that  she  did  not  escape,  and  on  the  following  day  pro- 
ceeded to  the  accomplishment  of  the  design  by  force,  in  which  he  had  failed 
to  succeed  by  stratagem.  He  ordered  her  to  be  sent  into  the  parlour  by 
the  clerk  of  the  kitchen,  and  then  desiring  her  to  stir  the  fire,  he  threw  her 
down,  and  having  stopped  her  mouth  witii  his  nightcap,  he  completed  an 
offence  which  subjected  him  to  capital  punishment.    The  girl,  on  recovering 


78  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

her  position,  threatened  to  prosecute  him,  and  then  lie  beat  her  most  un- 
mercifully with  a  horsewhip,  and  calling  the  clerk  of  the  kitchen,  bid  liim 
turn  her  out  of  doors,  alleging  that  she  had  robbed  him  of  thirty  guineas. 
His  orders  having  been  directly  obeyed,  the  girl  proceeded  forthwith  to 
prefer  an  indictment  for  the  assault  which  had  been  committed  ;  but  the 
Grand  Jury  finding  that  the  colonel  had,  in  reality,  been  guilty  of  a  capital 
oftence,  they  at  once  returned  a  true  bill  on  that  charge. 

Colonel  Charteris  was  immediately  taken  into  custody  for  the  crime 
alleged  against  him  and  lodged  in  Newgate,  where  he  was  loaded  with 
heavy  fetters  ;  but  having,  through  the  instrumentality  of  his  friends,  pro- 
cured a  writ  of  habeas  corpus,  he  was  admitted  to  bail. 

The  trial  took  place  at  the  Old  Bailey  on  the  25th  of  February,  1730, 
when  every  effort  was  used  to  traduce  the  character  of  the  prosecutrix,  with 
a  view  to  destroy  the  force  of  her  evidence  ;  but,  happily,  her  character 
was  so  fair,  and  there  was  so  little  reason  to  think  that  she  had  any  sinister 
view  in  the  prosecution,  that  every  artifice  failed,  and,  after  a  long  trial, 
in  which  the  facts  were  proved  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  jury,  a  verdict  of 
ffuilty  was  returned,  and  the  Colonel  received  sentence  to  be  executed  in 
the  customary  form.  The  same  interest  which  had  before  been  employed 
on  behalf  of  this  villain  was  now  again  made  use  of;  and  upon  tlie  settle- 
ment of  a  handsome  annuity  upon  the  prosecutrix,  he  received  a  pardon 
from  the  King.  He  soon  found,  however,  that  London  was  no  longer  a 
place  in  which  he  could  appear,  unless  to  be  pointed  at  with  the  finger  of 
scorn ;  and  he  retired  to  Edinburgh,  where,  after  a  lapse  of  two  years,  he 
died  in  a  miserable  manner,  the  victim  of  his  own  dissolute  and  hateful 
passions. 

His  vices  were  so  notorious,  that  it  was  not  without  great  difficulty  that 
his  body  was  committed  to  the  grave.  The  place  appointed  for  the  reception 
of  his  remains  was  the  family  vault  in  the  church  of  the  Greyfriars  in 
Edinburgh  ;  but  the  mob  having  assembled,  they  made  a  violent  effort  to 
obtain  possession  of  his  coffin,  with  a  vievv  to  tear  it  and  its  contents  to 
pieces,  and  committed  a  variety  of  other  irregularities,  in  honest  contempt 
of  the  detestable  character  which  he  bore.  At  the  time  of  his  death,  he 
was  possessed  of  very  large  estates  in  England  and  Scotland,  the  produce 
of  many  usurious  transactions,  to  which  he  was  a  party  during  the  latter 
portion  of  his  life.  He  was  married  to  the  daughter  of  Sir  Alexander 
Swinton,  of  Scotland,  by  whom  he  had  one  daughter,  who  was  afterwards 
united  to  the  Earl  of  Wemyss. 

Soon  after  Charteris  was  convicted,  a  fine  mezzotinto  print  of  him  was 
published,  representing  him  standing  at  the  bar  of  the  Old  Bailey  with 
his  thumbs  tied ;  at  the  bottom  of  which  was  the  following  inscription  : 

Blood  ! must.  .i  colonel,  \^nth  a  lord's  estate. 

Be  thus  obnoxious  to  a  scoundrel's  fate  ? 

Brought  to  the  bar,  and  sentenced  from  the  bench, 

Only  for  ravishing  a  country  wench? 

Shall  men  of  honour  meet  no  more  respect  ? 

Shall  their  diversions  thus  by  laws  be  check'd  ? 

Shall  they  be  accountable  to  saucy  juries 

For  this  or  t'  other  pleasure  ? — hell  and  furies  I 

AVhat  man  througli  villany  would  run  a  course. 

And  ruin  families  without  remorse, 

To  heap  up  riches  — if,  when  all  is  done, 

An  ignominious  death  he  cannot  shun? 

A  most  severe  but  just  description    of  the  character  of  Cliarterls  was 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  79 

afterwards  written  by  Dr.  Arbiithnot,  who  published  it  in  the  form  of  an 
epitaph,  as  follows  : — 

HERE    LIETH    THE    BODY    OF 

COLONEL   DON    FRANCISCO, 

WHO,    WITH    AN 

INFLEXIBLE    CONSTANCY, 

AND    INIMITABLE    UNIFORMITY 

OF    LIFE,    PERSISTED,    IN    SPITE    OF 

AGE  AND  INFIRMITY,   IN  THE  PRACTICE  OF 

EVERY    HUMAN    VICE,    EXCEPTING    PRODIGALITY 

AND  HYPOCRISY  ;  KIS  INSATIABLE  AVARICE  EXEMPTING 

HIM  FROM  THE  FIRST,  AND  HIS  MATCHLESS  IMPUDENCE  FROM 

THE  LATTER.    NOR  WAS  HE  MORE  SINGULAR  IN  THAT  UNDEVIATING 

VICIOUSNESS  OF  LIFE  THAN    SUCCESSFUL    IN    ACCUMULATING  WEALTH, 

HAVING,    WITHOUT     TRUST    OF     PUBLIC     MONEY,    BRIBE,     WORTH,     SERVICE, 

TUADE,   OR  PROFESSION,  ACQUIRED,   OR   RATHER  CREATED,   A    MINISTERIAL    ESTATE, 

AMONG    THE    SINGULARITIES    OF  HIS    LIFE    AND    FORTUNE,    BE  IT    LIKEWISE 

COMMEMORATED,    THAT    HE    WAS    THE    ONLY    PERSON    IN    HIS    TIME 

WHO     WOULD     CHEAT    WITHOUT     THE    MASK      OF     HONESTY  ; 

WHO  WOULD   RETAIN  HIS  PRIMEVAL  MEANNESS,  AFTER 

BEING    POSSESSED    OF    10,000    POUNDS    A    YEAR; 

AND    WHO,  HAVING    DONE     EVERY    DAY    OF 

HIS    LIFE    SOMETHING    WORTHY    OF 

A  GIBBET,  WAS  ONCE  CONDEMNED 

TO    ONE    FOR    WHAT    HE 

HAD    NOT    DONE. 

THINK    NOT,     INDIGNANT    READER,    HIS    LIFE    USELESS    TO    MANKIND. 

PROVIDENCE      FAVOURED,      OR     RATHER      CONNIVED      AT,      HIS 

EXECRABLE   DESIGNS,    THAT  HE  MIGHT  REMAIN,  TO  THIS 

AND    FUTURE      AGES,    A    CONSPICUOUS    PROOF    AND 

EXAMPLE     OF     lldW    SMALL     ESTIMAIION 

EXORBITANT    WEALTH    IS    HELD    IN 

THE  SIGHT  OF  THE  ALMIGHTY, 

BY   HIS  BESTOWING  IT  ON 

THE    MOST    UNWORTHY    OF    ALL    THE    DESCENDANTS    OF    ADAM. 


SARAH  MALCOLM. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 


Tins  unhappy  young  woman,  who  at  the  period  of  her  death  was  only 
twenty-two  years  of  age,  was  born  of  respectable  parents,  in  the  county 
of  Durham,  in  the  year  1711  ;  but  her  father  having,  through  his  extra- 
vagance, spent  the  whole  of  the  projierty  which  he  possessed,  she  was  at 
length  compelled  to  resort  to  what  is  commonly  called  "  servitude,"  for 
the  means  of  sub-'  jtence.  In  this  condition  for  several  years  she  con- 
ducted herself  extremely  well ;  but  at  length  being  employed  at  the  Black 
Horse,  a  low  public -house  in  Boswell-court,  near  Temple-bar,  which  up 
to  the  present  day  has  been  constantly  the  notorious  resort  of  persons  of 
bad  character,  she  formed  ccimexions  of  no  very  creditable  class,  by  whom 
she  was  led  on  to  her  ruin.  Having  at  lengtli  quitted  the  Black  Horse, 
she  was  recommended  as  a  laundress  to  take  charge  of  chambers  in  the 
Inns  of  Court ;  and  amongst  those  for  whom  she  there  worked,  was  a  Mrs. 
Lydia  Duncomb,  a  lady  nearly  eighty  years  of  age,  who  occupied  a  set 
of  chambers  in  the  Temple ;  Elizabeth  Harrison,  aged  sixty,  and  Ann 
Price,  aged  seventeen,  living  with  her  in  the  capacity  of  servants.     Tiiis 


80^  TUE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

lady  being  reputed  to  be  very  rich,  a  scheme  was  formed  by  Sarali  Malcolm 
of  robbing  her  chambers ;  her  object  being,  it  was  supposed,  by  the 
acquisition  of  wealth,  to  make  herself  a  fitting  match  for  a  young  man 
named  Alexander,  who  she  hoped  would  marry  her. 

The  night  of  Saturday,  Sd  February,  1783,  was  fixed  upon  by  her  for 
the  commission  of  the  robbery ;  and  Martha  Tracy,  a  woman  of  light 
character,  her  paramour  Alexander,  and  his  brother,  were  to  be  her 
assistants  in  the  execution  of  the  project.  Malcolm,  by  means  of  her 
acquaintance  with  the  chambers,  obtained  possession  of  the  keys  of  tiie 
outer  door  in  the  course  of  tlie  day,  and  at  night  the  lobbery  was  eftected, 
but  with  it  the  murder  also  of  ^Nlrs.  Duncomb  and  her  servants  Harrison 
and  Price.  On  the  Sunday  morning  some  surprise  was  excited  on  its 
being  observed  that  none  of  ]Mrs.  Duncomb's  family  were  to  be  seen  ;  and 
at  length,  as  the  day  advanced,  great  alarm  was  exhibited,  and  suspicions 
were  entertained  that  all  was  not  right.  ]\irs.  Love,  31rs.  Rhymer,  and 
Mrs.  Oliphant,  friends  of  Mrs.  Duncomb,  assembled  in  tlie  afternoon  at 
the  door  of  her  chambers,  in  obedience  to  an  invitation  which  they  had 
received  to  dinner;  but  being  unable  to  gain  admittance  by  knocking,  they 
at  length  determined  to  force  an  entrance.  One  of  the  windows  was 
resorted  to  for  this  purpose,  to  which  access  was  obtained  from  a  neigh- 
bouring set  of  chambers ;  and  then,  on  Mrs.  Oliphant  gomg  into  Mrs. 
Duncomb's  bed-room,  the  old  lady  was  found  there  strangled,  while  her 
servant  Harrison  was  discovered  in  an  adjoining  apartment  also  strangled, 
and  the  girl  Price  was  seen  lying  on  her  bed  with  her  throat  cut  from  ear 
to  ear.  The  news  of  this  diabolical  crime  soon  became  published  through 
the  neighbourhood  ;  and  the  chambers  of  the  deceased  being  examined,  it 
was  found  that  they  had  been  stripped  of  all  the  valuables  which  could 
be  easily  carried  away,  consisting  of  money,  silver  plate,  and  other  articles 
of  a  similar  description.  In  the  course  of  the  day  some  circumstances 
transpired,  tending  to  fix  the  suspicions  of  the  police  upon  the  woman 
Malcolm  ;  and  upon  her  lodgings  being  searched,  a  silver  tankard,  the 
handle  of  which  was  covei'ed  with  blood,  was  found  concealed  in  a  close- 
stool.  She  was  in  consequence  taken  into  custody,  and  having  undergone 
an  examination  on  the  following  day  before  the  magistrates,  she  was 
committed  to  Newgate.  Upon  lier  entering  the  jail,  she  was  searched  by 
Johnson,  one  of  the  turnkeys,  who  took  from  her  a  considerable  sum  of 
money  in  gold  and  silver  coin,  and  she  admitted  to  him  that  it  was  Mrs. 
Duncomb's.  "  But,"  added  she,  "  I  '11  make  you  a  present  of  it  if  you 
will  say  nothing  of  the  matter."  The  jailer  took  possession  of  the  money, 
but  produced  it  to  his  superior  officers,  acquainting  them  with  the  con- 
versation which  had  passed.  In  the  course  of  the  subsequent  imprison- 
ment of  the  unhappy  woman,  she  frequently  conversed  with  Johnson  upon 
the  subject  of  the  murder,  and  admitted  that  she  had  arranged  the  robbery, 
although  she  declared  that  she  had  had  nothing  to  do  with  putting  Mrs. 
Duncomb  and  her  servants  to  death.  She  asserted  that  two  men  and  a 
woman  were  concerned  with  her,  and  that  she  watched  on  the  stairs  while 
they  entered  the  chambers. 

At  her  trial,  when  called  on  for  her  defence,  she  made  a  similar  declara- 
tion, and  stated  that  Tracy  and  the  two  Alexanders  were  her  companions ; 
but  she  still  persisted  in  her  allegation  of  her  ignorance  of  the  murder, 
until  its  being  discovered  by    Mrs.   Oliphant  on  the  day  after   it  was 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  8] 

committed.  A  verdict  of  guilty  was,  however,  returned,  and  the  wretched 
woman  was  ordered  for  execution. 

After  lier  conviction  she  evinced  the  most  sincere  penitence,  but  still 
persisted  in  her  refusal  to  confess  herself  guilty  of  the  whole  crime  with 
which,  she  was  charged.  Upon  the  bellman*  coming  to  lier  in  the 
customary  manner,  slie  attended  anxiously  to  what  he  said,  and  at  tht- 
conchision  of  his  address  threw  him  a  shilling  to  buy  wine. 

On  the  morning  of  execution,  IMarch  7,  1733,  she  appeared  more  com- 
]iosed  than  she  had  been  for  some  time  past,  and  seemed  to  join  in  prayers 
with  the  Ordinary,  and  another  gentleman  who  attended,  with  much 
sincerity.     "NVhen  in  the  cart,  she  wrung  her  hands  and  wept  most  bitterly. 

At  the  ])lace  of  execution,  near  Fetter-lane,  she  behaved  with  the  utmost 
devoutness  and  resignation  to  the  Divine  will ;  but  when  the  Ordinary,  in 
his  prayers,  recommended  her  soul  to  God,  she  fainted,  and  with  much 
difficulty  recovered  her  senses.  On  the  cart  driving  off,  she  turned 
towards  the  Temple,  crying  out,  "  Oh  !  my  mistress,  my  mistress !  I 
wish  I  could  see  her !"  and  then,  casting  her  eyes  towards  heaven,  called 
upon  Christ  to  receive  her  soul. 


CAPTAIN  JOHN  PORTEOUS. 

CONVICTED    OF    MURDER,    AND    MURDERED    BY    THE    MOB. 

The  case  of  this  offender  has  attracted  considerable  attention,  from  the 
scene  of  his  death  being  described  with  accurate  fidelity  in  Sir  "Walter 
Scott's  novel  of  "  The  Heart  of  Mid-Lothian." 

John  Porteous  was  born  of  indigent  parents  near  the  cityof  Edinburgn  ;  and 
he  served  his  time  as  an  apprentice  to  a  tailor.  Having  worked  at  his  trade 
for  some  time,  he  was  married  to  the  cast  mistress  of  the  late  Lord  Provost 

*  It  has  been  a  very  ancient  practice,  on  the  night  preceding  the  execution  of  condemned 
criminals,  for  the  bellman  of  the  parish  of  St.  Sepulchre  to  go  under  Newgate,  and,  ringing 
his  bell,  CO  repeat  the  following  verses,  as  a  piece  of  friendly  advice,  to  the  unhappy  wretches 
under  sentence  of  death  : — 

All  you  that  in  the  condcmn'd  hole  do  lie, 

Prepare  you,  for  to-morrow  you  shall  die. 

Watch  all,  and  pray,  the  hour  is  drawing  near. 

That  you  before  the  Almighty  must  appear; 

Examine  well  yourselves,  in  time  repent, 

That  3'ou  may  not  t'  eternal  flames  be  sent. 

And  when  St.  Sepulchre's  bell  to-monow  tolls. 

The  Lord  above  have  mercy  on  your  souls ! 

Past  twelve  o'clock! 
The  following  extract  from  Stow's  Survey  of  London,  page  125  of  tlie  quarto  edition,  printed 
in  1618,  will  prove  that  the  above  verses  ought  to  be  repeated  by  a  clergyman,  instead  of  a 
bellman  : — "  Robert  Doue,  citizen  and  merchant  taylor,  of  London,  gaue  to  the  parish  church 
of  St.  Sepulchres  the  somme  of  50^.  That  after  the  seueral  sessions  of  London,  when  the 
prisoners  remain  in  the  gaole,  as  condemned  men  to  death,  expecting  execution  on  the  morrow 
following;  the  clarkc  (that  is,  the  parson)  of  the  church  shoold  come  in  the  night  time,  and 
likewise  early  in  the  morning,  to  the  window  of  the  prison  where  they  lye,  and  there  rinsing 
certain  toles  with  a  hand-bell,  appointed  for  the  purpose,  he  doth  afterwards  (in  most  Christian 
manner)  put  them  in  mind  of  their  present  condition,  and  ensuing  execution,  desiring  them  to 
be  prepared  therefore  as  they  ought  to  be.  When  they  are  in  the  cart  and  brought  before  the 
wall  of  the  church,  there  he  standeth  ready  with  the  same  bell,  and  after  certain  tolo 
rehearseth  an  appointed  praier,  desiring  all  the  people  there  present  to  pray  for  them.  Tli« 
Hejxdle  also  of  Merchant  Taylors'  Hall  hath  an  honest  stipend  allowed  to  see  that  thia  is 
duely  done.'' 

h.  J  IS 


82  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR, 

of  Edinburgh,  who  settled  upon  tliem  a  sum  of  500/. ;  but  our  hero,  being 
a  man  addicted  to  the  pursuit  of  pleasure,  soon  ran  through  his  momy,  and 
his  wife  was  in  consequence  obliged  to  apply  to  her  old  friend,  the  provost, 
to  make  some  other  provision  for  them.  In  Edinburgh  there  were  three 
companies  of  men,  in  number  twenty-five  each,  who  were  employed  to  keep 
the  peace,  and  perform  the  general  duties  of  a  police  force.  An  officer  was 
appointed  to  each  of  these  companies  (whom  they  styled  captain)  with  a 
salary  of  eighty  pounds  a  year,  and  a  suit  of  scarlet  uniform  ;  and  a 
vacancy  happening  by  the  dfcath  of  one  of  these  captains,  the  provost 
immediately  appointed  Porteous  to  fill  up  the  place.  The  latter  soon  dis- 
tinguished himself  by  a  show  of  great  daring  ;  and  if  a  riot  occurred  in  the 
city,  he  was  generally  chosen  by  the  magistrates  to  suppress  it.  On 
these  occasions,  however,  he  would  frequently  behave  with  great  violence 
and  cruelty,  so  that  he  failed  in  obtaining  that  respect  and  attention  which 
were  so  peculiarly  necessary  for  a  person  in  his  situation. 

The  circumstances  attending  the  condemnation  and  death  of  Porteous 
were  as  follows  : — Two  fellows  named  Wilson  and  Robertson,  who  were 
daring  smugglers,  having  been  found  guilty  of  a  very  serious  breach  of  the 
revenue  laws,  were  sentenced  to  die  ;  and  a  strong  feeling  existing  in  their 
favour  among  the  people,  it  was  apprehended  that  it  was  very  possible  that 
an  attempt  might  be  made  to  rescue  them  from  custody,  Robertson,  how- 
ever, made  his  escape  before  the  period  arrived  for  his  execution,  by  taking 
advantage  of  an  opportunity  afforded,  by  a  custom  which  then  prevailed,  of 
taking  the  condemned  criminals  to  church  under  the  care  of  the  city 
guards ;  and  although  Porteous  was  instantly  despatched  in  search  of  him, 
liis  inquiries  were  in  vain,  and  the  criminal  afterwards  made  good  his  flight 
to  Holland,  On  the  following  Wednesday  th.e  execution  of  "\A'ilson  was 
appointed  to  take  place,  and  a  temporary  gallows  was  erected  in  the  Grass- 
market,  the  prisoner  being  ordered  to  be  conducted  there  by  fifty  men, 
imder  the  command  of  Porteous,  Upon  the  representations  of  the  latter, 
five  companies  of  theAVelch  Fusileers  were  ordered  to  be  in  readiness  in  the 
Lawn-market  to  prevent  any  sudden  outbreak  ;  but  no  disturbance  arising, 
the  prisoner  finished  his  devotions, ascended  the  ladder,  and  after  having  been 
turned  oft",  continued  hanging  the  usual  time.  The  hangman  then  went  up 
the  ladder  to  cut  him  down  ;  but  a  stone  struck  him  on  the  nose,  and  caused 
it  to  bleed.  This  stone  was  immediately  followed  by  many  others  ;  at  which 
Porteous  was  so  much  exasperated,  that  he  instantly  called  out  to  his  men, 

"  Fire,  and  be  d d!"  discharging  his  own  piece  at  the  same  time,  and 

shooting  a  young  man,  who  was  apprentice  to  a  confectioner,  dead  on  the 
spot.  JSome  of  the  soldiers  more  humanely  fired  over  the  heads  of  the 
people,  but  unfortunately  killed  two  or  three  persons  who  were  looking  out 
at  the  windows  ;  while  others  of  them  wantonly  fired  amongst  the  feet  of 
the  mob,  by  which  many  were  so  disabled  as  to  be  afterwards  obliged  to 
suffer  amputation.  Porteous  now  endeavoured  to  draw  off  his  men,  as  the 
mob  grew  exceedingly  outrageous,  throwing  stones,  and  continuing  tc 
press  on  the  soldiers  ;  but  having  gone  some  distance,  he  turned  about 
with  two  of  his  men  and  fired,  killing  three  more  of  the  people, 

Porteous,  being  assisted  by  tlie  Fusileers,  at  last  conducted  his  men  U 
the  guard ;  when  being  sent  for  by  the  provost,  he  passed  a  long  examina- 
tion, and  was  committed  lo  prison  in  order  to  take  his  trial  for  murder. 

On  the  Lth  of  July,  17 '36,  the  trial  came  on  before  the  lords  of  justiciary 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  83 

previously  to  which  Porteous  made  a  judicial  confession,  that  the  people 
were  killed  as  mentioned  in  the  indictment,  but  pleaded  self-defence. 
His  counsel  then  stated  the  following  point  of  law,  to  be  determined  by  the 
judges  previously  to  the  jury  being  charged  with  the  prisoner  :  — 

"■  Whether  a  military  officer,  with  soldiers  under  his  command,  who, 
being  assaulted  by  the  populace,  should  fire,  or  ord(T  his  men  to  fire,  was 
not  acting  consistently  with  the  nature  of  self-defence,  according  to  the  laws 
of  civilised  nations  ?  " 

The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  being  ordered  to  plead  to  the  question, 
the  court  pronounced  as  their  opinion,  ''  That  if  it  was  proved  that  Captain 
Porteous  either  fired  a  gun,  or  caused  one  or  more  to  be  fired,  by  which  any 
jierson  or  persons  was  or  were  killed,  and  if  the  said  firing  happened  with- 
out orders  from  a  magistrate  properly  authorised,  then  it  would  be  murder 
in  the  eye  of  the  law." 

Thus  the  question  being  decided  against  him  and  the  jury  empanelled, 
forty-four  witnesses  were  examined  for  and  against  the  prosecution. 

The  prisoner  being  then  called  on  for  his  defence,  his  counsel  insisted 
that  the  magistrates  had  ordered  him  to  support  the  execution  of  Wilson, 
and  repel  force  by  force;  and  that  being  apprehensive  of  a  rescue,  powder 
and  ball  had  been  given  to  his  men  for  the  said  purpose,  with  orders  to 
load  their  pieces.  They  said,  also,  that  he  only  meant  to  intimidate  the 
people  by  threats,  and  actually  knocked  down  one  of  his  own  men  for  pre- 
senting his  piece  ;  that  finding  the  men  would  not  obey  orders,  he  drew  off' 
as  many  as  he  could ;  that  he  afterwards  heard  a  firing  in  the  rear  contrary 
to  his  directions ;  that  in  order  to  know  who  had  fired,  he  would  not 
suffer  their  pieces  to  be  cleaned  till  properly  inspected  ;  and  that  he  never 
attempted  to  abscond,  though  he  had  the  greatest  opportunity,  and  might 
have  effected  his  escape  with  the  utmost  ease.  They  farther  insisted, 
that,  admitting  some  excesses  had  been  committed,  it  could  not  amount 
to  murdei',  as  he  was  in  the  lawful  discharge  of  his  duty  ;  neither  could  it 
be  supposed  to  be  done  with  premeditated  malice. 

In  answer  to  this  the  counsel  for  the  crown  argued,  that  the  trust  reposed 
in  the  prisoner  ceased  when  the  execution  was  over  ;  that  he  was  tlien  no 
longer  an  officer  employed  for  that  purpose  for  which  the  fire-arms  had 
been  loaded ;  and  that  tlie  reading  of  the  Riot  Act  only  could  justify  his 
firing  in  case  a  rescue  had  been  actually  attempted. 

The  prisoner's  counsel  replied,  that  the  magistrates,  whose  duty  it  was 
to  have  read  the  Act,  had  deserted  the  soldiery,  and  taken  refuge  in  a  house 
for  their  own  security  ;  and  that  it  was  hard  for  men  to  suffer  themselves 
to  be  knocked  on  the  head,  when  they  had  lawful  weapons  in  their  hands. 

The  jury  having  been  charged,  after  sometime  occupied  in  consideration, 
found  the  prisoner  guilty,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  death  ;  but  the  King 
being  then  at  Hanover,  the  Queen,  by  advice  of  her  council,  granted  a 
respite  to  the  prisoner.  The  subsequent  execution  of  the  sentence  was 
prevented  by  the  measures  taken  by  the  mob,  by  whom  a  scheme  of  revenge 
such  perhaps  as  is  unprecedented,  was  planned  and  carried  out. 

On  the  7th  of  September,  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock  in  the  evening,  a 
large  body  of  men  entered  the  city,  and  seized  the  arms  belonging  to  the 
guard  ;  they  then  patrolled  the  streets,  crying  out,  "  All  those  who  dare 
revenge  innocent  blood,  let  them  come  here ;"  and  they  closed  the  gates, 
and  placed  guards  at  each,  so  as  to  prevent  ingress  or  egress. 


84 


THE    ^■EW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


The  main  body  of  the  mob,  all  disguised,  marched  in  the  mean  time  to 
die  prison  ;  when  finding  some  diflficulty  in  breaking  open  the  door  with 
iammcrs,  they  immediately  set  fire  to  it,  taking  great  care  that  the  flames 
should  not  extend  beyond  their  proper  bounds.  The  outer  door  was 
hardly  consumed  before  they  rushed  in,  and  ordering  the  keeper  to  open 
the  door  of  the  captain's  apartment,  cried  out,  "  Where  is  the  villain 
Porteous  ? '  lie  replied,  "  Here  I  am  ;  what  do  you  want  with  me  ?" 
To  which  they  answered,  that  they  meant  to  hang  him  in  the  Grass- 
market,  the  i^lace  where  he  had  shed  so  much  innocent  blood.  His  expos- 
tulations w^ere  all  in  vain ;  they  seized  him  by  the  legs  and  arms,  and 
dragged  him  instantly  to  the  place  of  execution.  On  their  arrival  they 
broke  open  a  shop  to  find  a  rope  suitable  to  their  purpose,  which  they 
immediately  fixed  round  his  neck  ;  and  then,  throwing  the  other  end  over  a 
dyer's  pole,  they  hoisted  liim  up.  He  endeavoured  to  save  himself,  and  fixed 
his  hands  between  the  halter  and  his  neck  ;  but  this  being  observed  by 
some  of  the  mob,  one  of  them  struck  him  with  an  axe,  and  this  obliging 
him  to  quit  his  hold,  tliey  soon  put  an  end  to  his  life. 

When  they  were  satisfied  that  he  was  dead,  they  immediately  dispersed 
to  their  several  habitations,  unmolested  themselves,  and  without  molesting 
any  one  else. 

Upon  this  circumstance  being  made  known,  a  royal  proclamation  was 
issued,  oft't  ring  a  large  reward  for  the  apprehension  of  the  offenders ;  and 
the  magistrates  of  Edinburgh  were  summoned  to  answer  for  their  neglect 
in  not  quelling  the  riot,  were  fined,  and  rendered  incapable  of  acting  again 
in  any  judicial  capacity.  The  circumstance  of  the  death  of  Porteous,  how- 
ever, appeared  to  have  aflbrded  the  people  so  much  satisfaction,  that 
no  further  attempt  was  made  to  discover  the  leaders  of  the  fray. 


JOHN  RICHARDSON  AND  RICHARD  COYLE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    PIRACY    AND    MURDER. 

The  adventures  of  the  first-named  of  these  criminals  exhibit  him  to  be 
a  man  possessing  the  most  consummate  hypocrisy,  and  a  disposition  of  tne 
very  worst  description. 

John  Richardson  was  a  native  of  New  York  in  America,  where,  at  the 
age  of  fourteen  years,  he  entered  on  board  a  vessel  commanded  by  his  uncle. 
After  a  single  voyage,  he  took  a  dislike  to  the  sea,  and,  loath  again  to  trust 
himself  upon  salt  water,  he  procured  an  engagement  in  the  service  of  a 
carpenter,  by  whom  he  was  employed  for  five  years,  when  an  intimacy 
having  commenced  with  his  master's  daughter  which  was  likely  to  produce 
unpleasant  consequences,  he  ran  off,  and  once  again  selected  the  sea  a3 
the  scene  of  his  future  exploits.  The  vessel  on  board  which  he  entered  was 
bound  for  Jamaica,  and  tliere  our  hero  was  pressed  and  put  on  board  a  man- 
of-war,  by  which  he  was  carried  to  England.  He  subsequently  attained  the 
rank  of  boatswain  on  board  a  vessel  trading  to  the  Baltic  ;  but  having,  by 
means  of  a  forged  letter,  obtained  the  sum  of  one  hundred  rix-dollars  from 
a,  merchant  of  Riga,  he  decamped  to  Amsterdam.  At  that  place  he 
formed  an  acquaintance  with  a  woman  whce  husband  was  a  mate  on 
board  an  East   India  vessel,  with  whom  he  cohabited  during  a  period  of 


THE    XEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  83 

eJjjIit  numths.  His  innamorata  then  informed  him  that  he  must  retire  in 
favour  of  her  husband,  whose  return  she  daily  expected ;  but  he  could  not 
make  up  his  mind  to  give  up  his  connexion  without  procuring  some  sub- 
stantial proof  of  his  good  fortune,  and  he  did  not  venture  to  depart  until 
he  had  secured  to  himself  booty  of  the  value  of  about  250/.  in  goods  and 
money.  Rotterda.m  was  the  next  point  to  which  he  proceeded  ;  but  from 
thence  he  almost  immediately  departed  for  New  England.  On  his  arrival 
there,  he  deposited  the  wares  of  which  he  had  possessed  himself  in  a  com- 
modious storer.ouse,  and  assuming  the  character  of  a  merchant,  he  began 
to  look  out  for  a  wife,  with  whom  he  hoped  to  procure  a  fortuie  sufficient 
to  enable  hini  to  live  with  respectability.  As  Christmas  approached,  he 
became  intimate  with  his  neighbours,  and  he  was  induced  to  keep  the 
festival  with  a  ,AIr.  Brown,  who  had  a  family  of  three  daughters  and  four 
maid-servants.  A  prolonged  visit  at  the  house  of  his  host  enabled  him  to 
ingratiate  himself  so  far  with  the  young  women  as  to  procure  from  them 
more  than  ordinary  favours  ;  and  he  did  not  quit  the  agreeable  society  with 
wliicli  he  met,  until  more  than  one  or  two  of  his  fair  friends  had  reason  to 
regret  the  intimacy  which  had  subsisted  between  them.  Not  long  after  this, 
he  addressed  himself  to  a  yovrag  lady,  the  daughter  of  a  magistrate,  whose 
hand  he  solicited  in  marriage ;  and  her  father  making  no  objection  to  the 
celebration  of  the  nuptials,  the  banns  were  published  in  the  parish  church, 
in  accordance  witli  the  usual  custom.  On  the  first  day  no  objection  was 
made ;  but  upon  the  publication  taking  place  the  second  time,  there 
appeared  no  less  than  seven  injured  women,  who  forbade  the  ceremony 
proceeding  any  further.  The  time  which  had  elapsed  since  the  intended 
bridegroom  had  obtained  the  consent  of  the  young  lady  and  her  father  to 
the  proposed  match,  had  been  quite  sufficient  to  enable  him  to  work  him- 
self into  the  good  graces  of  the  former ;  and  thinking  it  now  quite  time  to 
depart,  he  packed  up  what  few  moveables  he  still  possessed,  and  proceeded  to 
New  York.  His  residence  tliere,  however,  was  soon  discovered  by  his 
proposed  father-in-law  ;  and  overtures  having  been  made  by  the  old  gen- 
tleman, he  consented  to  return  and  marry  the  girl,  whom  he  had  debauched, 
upon  the  receipt  of  300/.  The  ceremony  had  no  sooner  been  performed, 
than  his  re-appearance  at  Boston  having  been  discovered  by  the  friends  of 
the  other  girls,  his  apprehension  was  secured  at  their  instance,  in  order  that 
he  might  be  compelled  to  give  security  for  the  maintenance  of  the  progeny  to 
which  they  were  about  to  give  birth.  His  father-in-law  at  once  undertook 
tliat  he  should  be  forthcoming  when  wanted,  and  upon  this  assvu'ance  he 
regained  his  liberty ;  but  he  had  hardly  obtained  the  possession  of  the 
promised  dower,  when  he  once  again  bade  adieu  to  his  Boston  friends,  and 
returned  to  New  York. 

His  improvidence  speedily  reduced  him  in  that  city  to  a  condition  of  the 
most  abject  misery  and  want,  and  he  was  at  length  compelled  to  accept 
employment  in  the  yard  of  a  quaker  shipbuilder.  He  was  treated  with 
the  greatest  kindness  by  his  master,  but  the  attention  which  he  received 
appeared  to  excite  only  ingratitude  in  his  mind :  for  he  not  only  found 
means  to  become  intimate  with  his  mistress,  but  he  at  length  absconded, 
carrying  with  him  about  70/.,  which  he  procured  by  breaking  open  a  chest 
in  his  master's  house.  He  now  proceeded  to  Philadelphia,  which  place  he 
conceived  would  be  well  calculated  for  the  concealment  of  his  past  iniquities, 
and  a  renewal  of  his  schemes  upon  the  unwary.     A  widow  and  licr  two 


86  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

daughters  were  the  next  new  victims  to  his  diabolical  lusts.  Having 
become  intimate  with  the  mother,  he  ^subsequently,  in  turn,  found  means  to 
seduce  the  daughters.  The  widow  was  outrag<?ous  at  the  discovery  of  this 
treble  act  of  duplicity,  and  insisted  that  he  should  afJbrd  the  only  reparation 
which  remained  in  his  power.  A  diiiiculty,  however,  arose,  for  it  became 
obvious  tliat  he  could  not  marry  them  all  tliree  ;  but  at  length  a  satis- 
factory adjustment  took  place,  an  arrangement  being  made,  by  which  one 
of  the  daughters  was  married  to  a  former  lov<r,  the  other  being  committed 
to  the  tender  mercies  of  our  hero,  with  a  dower  of  600/.  and  some  plate. 
Affairs  were  no  sooner  settled  in  this  way,  however,  than  Ricliardson, 
already  weary  of  his  wife,  absconded  to  South  Carolina,  and  there  he 
obtained  employment  on  board  a  vessel  trading  between  that  place  and 
Jamaica.  He  was  soon  engaged  in  another  intrigue  with  the  daughter  of 
his  commander,  and  having  added  a  tliird  wife  to  his  list,  he  started  upon 
a  new  expedition  to  Barbadoes.  But  this  voyage  proved  unfortunate, 
for  the  vessel  being  wrecked,  he  lost  all  tliat  he  possessed.  Being  picked 
up,  he  was  carried  to  St.  Kitt's  ;  and  from  thence  he  proceeded  to  Jamaica, 
to  Cai'thagena,  Vera  Cruz,  and  finally  to  England.  The  port  at  which 
he  arrived  was  Chatham,  and  chance  threw  him  once  again  into  a  situation, 
in  which  he  was  enabled  to  impose  upon  the  good-nature  of  strangers. 
Putting  up  at  tlie  house  of  a  publican  named  Ballard,  his  liost  became 
possessed  of  an  idea  that  he  was  no  other  than  a  brother  of  his,  who  had 
gone  to  sea  several  years  before,  but  had  never  returned  ;  and  Richardson, 
taking  advantage  of  the  good-natured  credulity  which  tlie  other  exhibited, 
declared  himself  to  be  his  long-lost  relation.  Great  rejoicings  took  place 
upon  the  supposed  discovery  being  made,  and  our  hero  went  the  round  of 
his  newly- found  friends,  permitting  his  good -nature  to  be  imposed  upon 
by  the  payment  to  him  of  a  legacy  alleged  to  have  been  left  by  his 
deceased  parents.  But  his  villanies  did  not  rest  there ;  for,  being  intro- 
duced to  two  sisters  named  Knowlding,  he  so  far  ingratiated  himself  with 
one  of  them,  as  to  obtain  possession  of  the  title-deeds  of  the  small  estate 
which  she  possessed,  which  he  mortgaged  at  Gravesend  for  800/.,  and 
then  immediately  sailed  for  Venice  with  the  proceeds. 

It  was  not  long  before,  in  tJiat  city  of  splendour,  he  succeeded  in  disposing 
of  his  ill-gotten  spoil,  and  then  he  went  to  Ancona,  where  he  became 
acquainted  with  Captain  Benjamin  Hartley,  for  whose  murder  he  was 
eventually  executed.  Capt.  Hartley,  it  appears,  had  sailed  to  that  place 
with  a  cargo  of  pilchards,  and  having  discharged  his  lading,  he  was  about 
to  proceed  to  Turkey  upon  a  new  trip.  Being  in  want  of  a  carpenter,  he 
prevailed  upon  Richardson  to  accompany  him  in  that  capacity.  On  board 
the  vessel,  Covle,  the  fellow  sufferer  with  Richardson,  was  employed  as 
mate.  The  vessel  proceeded  in  one  course  to  Turkey,  where  having  taken 
in  a  cargo  of  corn,  she  sailed  to  Leghorn.  She  had  not  advanced  many 
leagues  upon  her  voyage,  however,  liefore  a  plot  for  the  murder  of  the 
captain  and  the  seizure  of  the  vessel  was  put  into  execution.  Coyle,  it 
appears,  was  the  instigator  of  this  foul  conspiracy,  and  having  obtained  the 
assistance  of  Richardson  and  a  man  named  Larson,  they  all  three  pro- 
ceeded to  .the  performance  of  their  horrid  project.  On  the  first  night  of 
the  voyacre,  they  went  to  the  captain's  cabin  at  about  midnight,  determined 
to  despatch  him  as  he  lay  in  his  hammock ;  but  Hartley  being  alarmed  at 
their  presence,  sprang  upon  deck  and  ran  up  the  shrouds.      His  pursuers 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  87 

•were  not  far  behind  him,  and  he  was  rapidly  followed  by  Richardson  and 
Larson;  but,  driven  to  desperation  by  the  dreadful  situation  in  which  he 
was  placed,  he  flung  liimself  from  a  fearful  lieight  upon  the  deck.  Here 
Coyle  was  in  waiting  to  receive  him,  and  raising  a  ])lunderl)uss  to  his 
shoulder,  he  attemi)ted  to  shoot  him.  Tlie  captain,  however,  avoided  tlie 
discharge,  and,  rushing  to  his  antagonist,  he  wrested  the  blunderbuss  from 
him,  and  threw  it  overboard.  By  this  time  the  crew  had  gained  intelli- 
gence of  what  was  passing  on  deck,  and,  rushing  through  the  hatchway, 
Capt.  Hartley  perceived  fi-om  their  looks  that  they  were  too  little  disposed 
to  assist  him  in  opposition  to  the  attack  which  had  been  made  upon  him. 
He  at  once  gave  himself  up  for  lost ;  and,  being  stunned  by  a  blow  which 
he  received  from  Coyle,  he  was  directly  hove  overboard. 

Coyle  and  Richardson  now  assumed  the  respective  offices  of  master  and 
mate  of  the  vessel ;  and,  after  a  long  consultation,  it  was  determined  that 
they  should  bear  up  for  the  island  of  Foviniano,  where  it  was  hoped  they 
would  be  able  to  procure  supplies.  Here,  however,  their  piratical  pro- 
ceedings were  communicated  to  the  authorities  of  the  place  by  two  boys, 
who  escaped  from  the  vessel  during  the  night ;  and  the  crew,  discovering 
the  dangerous  position  in  which  they  were  placed,  immediately  set  sail  in 
the  long-boat  for  Tunis.  On  their  arrival  at  that  place,  they  were  carried 
before  the  English  consul,  to  whom  they  represented  themselves  to  be  the 
crew  of  a  vessel  which  had  been  lost  oft"  Sardinia,  but  having  been  supplied 
with  money,  Coyle,  while  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  spoke  so  freely  of  their 
adventures,  that  he  was  immediately  placed  under  arrest.  Richardson, 
however,  escaped  to  Tripoli,  and  from  thence  to  ]\Ialta  and  Sicily ;  but  on 
his  going  to  Messina,  he  was  taken  into  custody  on  the  representations  of 
a  friend  of  the  deceased  Capt.  Hartley.  Having  remained  in  prison  durinfr 
a  period  of  nine  months,  he  procured  his  liberation  by  representing  to  the 
king  of  Naples  that  he  had  been  a  servant  to  his  father ;  and  he  then 
travelled  to  Rome  and  Civita  Yecchia,  where  he  was  finally  apprehended 
and  sent  to  England.  Coyle  had  only  just  before  reached  London,  and 
they  were  immediately  both  indicted  for  the  murder  of  their  commander. 
The  evidence  against  them  consisted  of  the  declarations  made  by  the  two 
boys,  to  whom  we  have  already  alluded ;  and  having  been  found  guilty, 
they  received  sentence  of  death.  The  wretched  man  Coyle,  who  was 
respectably  connected  in  Devonshire,  appeared  sensible  of  the  enormity  of 
the  crime  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  and  professed  the  greatest  penitence; 
while  Richardson,  on  the  other  hand,  exhibited  an  extraordinary  degree  of 
recklessness.  They  were  hanged  at  Execution  Dock  on  the  25th  of 
January,  1738. 


GEORGE    PRICE. 

CONVICTED    OF    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  malefactor  gives  us  an  opportunity  of  bringing  under 
the  notice  of  the  reader  the  occurrence  of  a  calamity  which  has  always 
attracted  considerable  atteniion, — namely,  the  breaking  out  of  the  jail  fever. 

The  offence  of  the  prisoner  was  that  of  the  murder  of  his  wife,  a  crime 
which  he  perpetrated  on  Hounslow  Heath,  in  a  gig,  within  view  of  the 
gibbets  which  formerly  stood  there,  by  strangling  her  with  the  thong  of 


88  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAK. 

his  whip.  lie  was  apprehended  upon  suspicion  of  the  crime,  and  was 
found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  death,  but  before  the  law  could  be  executed 
upon  him  he  died  in  Newgate,  of  the  jail  fever,  on  the  22d  October, 
1738.  The  following  account  of  this  malignant  fever,  shows  the  peculiar 
circumstances  imder  which  it  first  exhibited  itself.  It  appears  that  it  was 
always  attended  with  a  degree  of  malignity,  in  proportion  to  the  closeness 
and  stench  of  the  place. 

The  assize  held  at  Oxford  in  the  year  1577,  called  the  "  Black  Assize," 
was  a  dreadful  instance  of  the  deadly  effects  of  the  jail  fever.  The  judges, 
jury,  witnesses,  and  in  fact  nearly  every  person  except  the  prisoners,  women, 
and  children,  in  court,  were  killed  by  a  foul  air,  which  at  first  was  thought 
to  have  arisen  out  of  the  bowels  of  the  earth  ;  but  that  great  philosopher, 
Lord  Bacon,  proved  it  to  have  come  from  the  prisoners,  taken  out  of  a 
noisome  jail,  and  brought  into  co\irt  to  take  their  trials;  and  they  alone, 
being  subject  to  the  inhaling  foul  air,  were  not  injured  by  it. 

"  Baker's  Chronicle,"  a  work  of  the  highest  authenticity,  thus  speaks 
of  the  Black  Assize  : — "  The  Court  were  surprised  with  a  pestilent  savour, 
whether  arising  from  the  noisome  smell  of  the  prisoners,  or  from  the  damp 
of  the  ground,  is  uncertain ;  but  all  that  were  present  within  forty  hours 
died,  except  the  prisoners,  and  the  women  and  children ;  and  the  contagion 
went  no  farther.  There  died  Robert  Bell,  Lord  Chief  Baron,  Robert  de 
Olie,  Sir  William  Babington,  the  high  sheriff'  of  Oxfordshire,  some  of  the 
most  eminent  lawyers,  the  jurors,  and  three  hundred  others,  more 
or  less." 

Some  attributed  the  cause  of  the  sudden  mortality  at  Oxford  to  witch- 
craft, the  people  in  those  times  being  very  superstitious.  In  "  Webster's 
Display  of  Witchcraft,"  a  work  of  some  authenticity  as  to  the  relation  of 
circumstances  as  they  occurred,  we  find  the  following  account  of  the  Black 
Assize,  which  we  insert  as  a  matter  of  curiosity  : — 

"  The  4th  and  5th  days  of  July,  1559,  were  holden  the  assizes  at 
Oxford,  where  was  arraigned  and  condemned  one  Rowland  Jenkes,  for  his 
seditious  tongue,  at  which  time  there  arose  such  a  damp,  that  almost  all 
were  smothered.  Very  few  escaped  that  were  not  taken  at  that  instant. 
The  jurors  died  presently  ;  shortly  after  died  Sir  Robert  Bell,  Lord  Chief 
Baron,  Sir  Robert  De  Olie,  Sir  Wm.  Babington,  Mr,  Weneman,  Mr.  De 
Olie,  high  sheriff",  Mr.  Davers,  Mr.  Harcourt,  Mr.  Kirle,  Mr.  Pheteplace, 
Mr.  Greenwood,  ]\Ir.  Foster,  Sergeant  Baram,  ]\Ir.  Stevens,  &c.  There 
died  in  Oxford  three  hundred  persons  ;  and  sickened  there,  but  died  in 
other  places,  two  hundred  and  odd,  from  the  6th  of  July  to  the  12th  of 
August,  after  which  day  died  not  one  of  that  sickness,  for  one  of  them 
infected  not  another,  nor  any  one  woman  or  child  died  thereof.  This  is 
the  punctual  relation  according  to  our  English  annals,  which  relate  nothing 
of  what  should  be  the  cause  of  the  arising  of  such  a  damp  just  at  the 
conjuncture  of  time  when  Jenkes  was  condemned,  there  being  none  before, 
and  so  it  could  not  be  a  prison  infection  ;  for  that  would  have  manifested 
itself  by  smell,  or  operating  sooner.  But  to  take  away  all  scruple,  and  to 
assign  the  true  cause,  it  was  thus  :  It  fortuned  that  a  manuscript  fell  into 
my  hands,  collected  by  an  ancient  gentleman  of  York,  who  was  a  great 
observer  and  gatherer  of  strange  things  and  facts,  who  lived  about  the 
time  of  this  accident  happening  at  Oxford,  wherein  it  is  related  thus  : — 
That  Rowland  Jenkes,  being  imprisoned  for  treasonable  words  spoken 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR  89 

aoainst  the  queen,  and  lieing  a  popish  recusant,  liad,  notwithstanding, 
during  tlie  time  of  his  restraint,  liberty  some  time  to  walk  abroad  with  the 
keeper ;  and  that  one  day  he  came  to  an  apothecary,  and  showed  him  a 
receipt  which  lie  desired  him  to  make  up ;  but  the  apothecary,  upon 
viewing  of  it,  told  him  that  it  was  a  strong  and  dangerous  receipt,  and 
required  some  time  to  prepare  it ;  also  asking  to  what  use  he  would  apply 
it.  He  answered,  "  To  kill  the  rats,  that  since  his  imprisonment  spoiler, 
his  books;"  so  being  satisfied,  he  promised  to  make  it  ready.  After  a 
certain  time  he  cometh  to  know  if  it  were  ready,  but  the  apothecary  said 
the  ingredients  were  so  hard  to  procure  that  he  had  not  done  it,  and  so 
gave  him  the  receipt  again,  of  which  he  had  taken  a  copy,  which  mine 
author  had  there  precisely  written  down,  but  did  seem  so  horriblypoisonous, 
that  I  cut  it  forth,  lest  it  might  fall  into  the  hands  of  wicked  persons. 
But  after,  it  seems,  he  had  it  prepared,  and  against  the  day  of  his  trial 
had  made  a  wick  of  it,  (for  so  is  the  word, — that  is,  so  fitted  it  that  like  a 
candle,  it  might  be  fired,)  which  as  soon  as  ever  he  was  condemned  he 
lighted,  having  provided  himself  with  a  tinder-box  and  steel  to  strike  fire. 
And  whosoever  should  know  the  ingredients  of  that  wick  or  candle,  and 
the  manner  of  the  composition,  will  easily  be  persuaded  of  the  virulency 
and  venomous  effect  of  it.'" 

In  the  year  1730,  the  Lord  Chief  Baron  Pengelly,  with  several  of  his 
officers  and  servants  ;  Sir  James  Sheppard,  sergeant-at-law  ;  and  John 
Pigot,  Esq.  high  sheriff  for  Somersetshire,  died  at  Blandford,  on  the 
Western  Circuit  of  the  Lent  assize,  from  the  infected  stench  brought  with 
the  prisoners  from  Ilchester  jail  to  their  trials  at  Taunton,  in  wliich  town 
the  infection  afterwards  spread,  and  carried  off  some  hundred  persons. 

In  17o4  and  1753  this  distemper  prevailed  in  Newgate  to  a  degree 
which  carried  off  more  than  one-fifth  of  the  prisoners. 


RICHARD  TURPIN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    HORSE-STEALING. 

The  character  v/hich  this  notorious  offender  is  generally  supposed  to 
have  possessed  for  remarkable  gallantry  and  courage,  and  which  in  one 
instance  has  been  deemed  of  sufficient  importance  to  fit  him  for  one  of  the 
heroes  of  a  romance*,  upon  being  examined,  appears  to  sink  him  to  the 
low  degree  of  a  petty  pilferer,  of  a  heartless  plunderer,  and  even  of  a 
brutal  murderer. 

Turpin  was  the  son  of  a  farmer  named  John  Turpin,  at  Thackstead,  in 
Essex  ;  and  having  received  a  common  school  education,  was  apprenticed 
to  a  butcher  in  Whitechapel,  in  whose  service  he  at  an  early  age  distin 
guished  himself  for  the  brutality  of  his  disposition.  On  the  expiration  of 
his  ap])renticeship,  he  was  married  to  a  young  woman  named  Palmer,  who 
resided  at  East  Ham  in  Essex,  and  set  up  in  business  for  himself ;  but  ho 
had  not  been  thus  occupied  long,  before  he  sought  to  decrease  his  expen- 
diture in  trade  by  stealing  his  neighbours'  cattle,  and  cutting  them  up  an8 
selling  them  in   his  shop.     His  proceedings,  however,  received  an  unes 

*  In  Mr.  Ainsworth's  Romance  of  "  RookwooJ,"  Turpin  is  one  of  the  most  striking 
cliaiji'-tcrs. 


00  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

pected  check;  for  having  stolen  two  oxen  from  a  Mr.  Giles  at  Plaistow,  hfi 
drove  them  straight  home  ;  but  two  of  Giles'  servants  having  obtained 
sufficient  evidence  of  the  robbery,  a  warrant  was  obtained  for  his  appre- 
hension, and  he  only  evaded  the  officers  who  were  in  search  of  him,  by 
makinc  his  escape  from  the  back  window  of  his  house  at  the  very  moment 
when  they  were  entering  at  the  door. 

Having  retreated  to  a  place  of  security,  he  found  means  to  inform  his 
wife  where  he  was  concealed,  and  she  furnished  him  with  money,  with 
which  he  travelled  into  the  hundreds  of  Essex,  where  he  joined  a  gang  of 
smugglers,  with  whom  he  was  for  some  time  successful.  A  body  of  the 
Custom-house  officers,  however,  by  one  fortunate  stroke,  deprived  him  of 
all  his  ill-acquired  gains.  Thrown  out  of  this  kind  of  business,  he  con- 
nected himself  with  a  gang  of  deer-stealers,  the  principal  part  of  whose 
depredations  v/ere  committed  on  Epping  Forest,  and  tlie  parks  in  its 
neighbourhood  :  but  their  eftbrts  not  succeeding  to  the  expectation  of  the 
robbers,  they  determined  to  commence  housebreakers.  Their  plan  was  to 
fix  on  those  houses  which  they  presumed  contained  any  valuable  property ; 
and  Avhile  one  of  them  knocked  at  the  door,  the  others  rushed  in,  and 
seized  whatever  they  might  deem  worthy  of  their  notice. 

The  first  attack  of  this  kind  was  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Strype,  an  old  man 
who  kept  a  chandler's  shop  at  Watford,  whom  they  robbed  of  all  the 
money  in  his  possession,  but  did  not  offer  him  any  personal  violence. 

The  well-known  story  of  placing  the  old  woman  on  the  fire  at  Loughton 
is  thus  related  by  the  original  historian  of  the  life  of  our  hero  : — 

*"  Turpin  now  acquainted  his  associates  that  there  was  an  old  woman  at 
Loughton  who  was  in  possession  of  seven  or  eight  hundred  pounds,  where- 
upon they  agreed  to  rob  her  ;  and  when  they  came  to  the  door,  one  of  them 
knocked,  and  the  rest  forcing  their  way  into  the  house,  tied  handkerchiefs 
over  the  eyes  of  the  old  woman  and  her  maid. 

"  This  being  done,  Turpin  demanded  what  money  was  in  the  house  ;  and 
the  owner  hesitating  to  tell  him.  lie  threatened  to  set  her  on  the  fire  if  she 
did  not  make  an  immediate  discovery.  Still,  however,  she  refused  to  give 
the  desired  information :  on  which  the  villains  actually  placed  her  on  the 
fire,  where  she  sat  till  tlie  tormenting  pains  compelled  her  to  discover  her 
hidden  treasure ;  so  that  the  robbers  possessed  themselves  of  above  four 
hundred  pounds,  and  decamped  with  the  booty." 

The  gang  appear  to  have  proceeded  with  some  success,  for  soon  after- 
wards tliey  robbed  the  house  of  a  farmer  at  Barking  of  above  700/.  in  a 
most  daring  manner,  and  then  they  determined  to  attack  the  house  of  Mr. 
Mason,  the  keeper  of  Epping  Forest.  Turpin,  it  appears,  was  absent  from 
this  expedition,  for  he  was  unable  to  remain  with  so  much  money  in  his 
pocket  as  he  possessed,  and  he  therefore  started  to  London  to  spend  it  in 
riot  and  intoxication.  His  companions,  however,  were  true  to  their  faith, 
and  having  obtained  a  considerable  booty,  they  sought  him  in  town  and 
shared  the  produce  of  the  rolibery  with  him. 

On  the  11th  of  January,  1735,  Turpin  and  five  of  his  companions  went 
to  the  house  of  Mr.  Saunders,  a  rich  farmer  at  Charlton,  in  Kent,  between 
seven  and  eio-ht  in  the  eveninof,  and,  having:  knocked  at  the  door,  asked  if 
]\lr.  Saunders  was  at  home.  Being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  they 
rushed  into  the  house,  and  found  INIr.  Saunders,  with  his  wife  and  friends, 
playing  at  cards  in  the  parlour.     They  told  the  company  that  they  should 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  51 

remain  xminjured  if  thoy  made  no  disturbance,  and  having  made  prize  of  u 
silver  snuft'-box  which  lay  on  the  table,  part  of  the  gang  stood  guard  over 
the  company,  while  the  others  attended  Mr.  Saunders  througli  the  house, 
and,  breaking  open  his  escrutoires  and  closets,  stole  above  a  hundred 
pounds,  exclusive  of  plate.  During  these  transactions  the  servant-maid 
ran  up  stairs,  barred  the  door  of  her  room,  and  called  out  "  Tliieves  !''  with 
a  view  of  alarming  the  neighbourhood ;  but  the  robbers  broke  open  the 
door,  secured  her,  and  then  robbed  the  house  of  all  the  valuable  property 
tliey  had  not  before  taken.  Finding  some  mince-pies  and  some  bottles  of 
wine,  they  sat  down  to  regale  themselves ;  and  meeting  with  a  bottle  of 
bi-andy,  they  compelled  each  of  the  company  to  drink  a  glass  of  it.  Mrs. 
Saunders  fainted  through  terror,  but  the  gallantry  of  the  thieves  would  not 
permit  her  to  remain  in  this  condition,  and  they  therefore  administered 
some  drops  in  water  to  her,  and  recovered  her  to  the  use  of  her  senses. 
Having  staid  in  the  house  a  considerable  time,  they  packed  up  their  booty 
and  departed,  declaring  that  if  any  of  the  family  gave  the  least  alarm 
within  two  hours,  or  advertised  the  marks  of  the  stolen  plate,  they  would 
return  and  murder  them  at  a  future  time.  Retiring  to  a  public-house  at 
AVoolwich,  where  they  had  concerted  the  robbery,  they  crossed  the  Thames 
to  an  empty  house  in  Ratcliffe  Highway,  and  there  deposited  the  stolen 
effects  till  they  found  a  purchaser  for  them. 

Their  next  attack  was  upon  the  house  of  Mr.  Shelden,  near  Croydon,  in 
Surrey,  where  they  obtained  a  considerable  booty  in  money  and  jewels. 
They  then  concerted  the  robbery  of  Mr.  Lawrence,  of  Edgeware,  in 
]\Iiddlesex,  to  the  commission  of  which  they  proceeded  on  the  4th  February. 
They  arrived  at  Edgeware  at  about  five  in  the  evening,  and,  after  obtaining 
some  refreshment,  they  went  to  the  scene  of  their  intended  outrage  at  about 
seven  o'clock,  when  IMr.  Lawrence  had  just  discharged  his  workmen. 
Quitting  their  horses  at  the  outer  gate,  they  seized  a  sheep -boy,  whom 
they  compelled  to  conduct  them  to  the  house-door,  under  fear  of  death  ; 
and  they  there  obliged  liim  to  procure  the  opening  of  the  door  by  knocking 
and  calling  to  his  fellow-servants.  As  soon  as  the  door  was  open,  they  all 
rushed  in,  and  presenting  pistols,  they  seized  Mr.  Lawrence  and  his 
servant,  threw  a  cloth  over  their  faces,  and,  taking  the  boy  into  another 
room,  demanded  what  fire-arms  were  in  the  house  ?  He  replied  that  there 
was  only  an  old  gun,  which  they  broke  in  pieces.  They  then  bound  IMr. 
Lawrence  and  his  man,  and  made  them  sit  by  the  boy ;  and  Turpin, 
seai'ching  the  gentleman,  took  from  him  a  guinea,  a  Portugal  piece,  and 
some  silver  ;  but,  not  being  satisfied  with  this  booty,  they  forced  him  to 
conduct  them  up  stairs,  where  they  broke  open  a  closet,  and  stole  some 
money  and  plate.  Being  dissatisfied,  they  swore  that  they  would  murder 
Mr.  Lawrence  if  some  further  booty  was  not  produced,  and  one  of  them  took 
a  kettle  of  water  from  the  fire,  and  threw  it  over  him  ;  but  it  providentially 
happened  not  to  be  hot  enough  to  scald  him.  In  the  interim,  the  maid 
servant,  who  was  churning  butter  in  the  dairy,  hearing  a  noise  in  tlie 
house,  apprehended  some  mischief,  on  which  she  blew  out  her  candle  tc 
screen  herself ;  but,  being  found  in  the  course  of  their  search,  one  of  the 
miscreants  compelled  her  to  go  up  stairs,  where  he  gratified  his  brutal 
passion  by  force.  They  then  robbed  the  house  of  all  the  valuable  efiects 
they  could  find,  locked  the  family  into  the  parlour,  threw  the  key  into  the 
garden,  and  took  their  ill-gotten  plunder  to  London. 


P9  THE    NEAV    NE-\VGATE    CALENDAR. 

The  particulars  of  this  atrocious  robbery  being-  represented  to  the  king 
a  proclarnation  was  issued,  offering  a  reward  of  fifty  guineas  for  the  appre- 
hension of  the  offenders,  and  a  pardon  to  any  one  of  the  parties  who  should 
impeach  his  associates.  Tliis,  however,  was  unsuccessful,  and  the  robbers 
continued  their  depredations  as  before.  On  the  7th  February,  six  of  them 
assembled  at  the  "White  Bear,  in  Drury  Lane,  and  they  agreed  to  rob  ^Ir. 
Francis,  a  farmer,  at  ]\Iarylebone.  They  accordingly  proceeded  to  his 
house  forthwith,  and  having  bound  all  the  servants  and  Mr.  Francis  in  the 
stable,  they  rushed  into  the  house,  tied  ]Mrs.  Francis,  her  daughter,  and 
the  maid-servant,  and  beat  them  in  a  most  cruel  manner.  One  of  tlie 
thieves  then  stood  sentry  while  the  rest  rifled  the  house,  in  which  they 
found  a  silver  tankard,  a  medal  of  Charles  I.,  a  gold  watch,  several  gold 
rings,  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  and  a  variety  of  valuable  linen  and 
otlier  effects,  which  they  conveyed  to  London. 

Hereupon  a  reward  of  one  hundred  pounds  was  offered  for  the  appre- 
hension of  the  offenders  ;  in  consequence  of  which  two  of  them  were  taken 
into  custody,  tried,  convicted  on  the  evidence  of  an  accomplice,  and  hanged 
in  cliains :  and  the  whole  gang  being  dispersed,  Turpin  went  into  the 
country  to  renew  liis  depredations  on  the  public,  in  any  new  line  of 
business  whicli  might  strike  his  fancy.  On  his  way  towards  Cambridge 
he  fell  in  with  a  young  man  of  gentlemanly  appearance,  who  was  well 
mounted,  and  expecting  a  tolerable  booty,  he  presented  a  pistol  to  his 
breast  and  demanded  his  money.  The  only  answer  wliich  he  received, 
however,  was  a  hearty  peal  of  laughter;  and  when  the  highwayman, 
enraged  at  the  supposed  insult  cast  upon  him,  threatened  instant  destruction 
to  the  stranwer  in  case  of  any  further  refusal,  the  latter  exclaimed — "  AVhat ! 
door  eat  doo-  ? — Come,  come,  brother  Turpin,  if  you  don't  know  me,  I  know 
vou,  and  shall  be  glad  of  your  company."  The  mystery  was  soon  solved;  the 
stranorer  was  no  other  than  King,  the  gentleman  highwayman,  and  a  bargain 
of  partnership  was  struck  between  them,  which  terminated  only  with  the 
death  of  our  hero's  new  associate,  by  the  hand  of  his  companion  in  iniquity. 
Joined  now  in  a  common  cause  against  the  public,  they  committed  a  great 
number  of  robberies,  imtil  at  length  they  were  so  well  known  that  no 
public-house  would  receive  them  as  guests.  Thus  situated,  they  fixed  on 
a  spot  between  the  King's  Oak  and  the  Loughton  road,  on  Epping  Forest, 
where  they  made  a  cave  which  was  large  enough  to  receive  them  and  their 
horses.  The  cave  was  enclosed  within  a  sort  of  tliicket  of  bushes  and 
brambles,  through  which  they  could  look  and  see  passengers  on  the  road, 
while  they  remained  unobserved  ;  and  from  this  station  they  used  to  issue, 
and  robbed  such  a  number  of  persons,  that  at  length  the  very  pedlars  wlio 
travelled  the  road  carried  fire-arms  for  their  defence.  While  thus  situated, 
tliev  were  frequently  visited  by  Turpin's  wife,  who  used  to  supply  tliem 
with  necessaries,  and  who  often  remained  with  her  husband  in  tlie  cave, 
during  King's  absence,  for  the  night. 

Having  taken  a  ride  as  far  as  Bungay,  in  Suffolk,  the  robbers  observed 
two  young  countrywomen  receive  fourteen  poimds  for  corn,  on  which 
Turpin  resolved  to  rob  them  of  the  money.  King  objected,  saying  it  was 
a  pity  to  rob  such  pretty  girls:  but  Turpin  was  obstinate,  and  obtained 
the  booty.  Upon  their  return  home  on  the  following  day,  they  stopped 
a  Mr.  Bra  die,  of  London,  who  was  riding  in  his  chariot  with  his  children. 
The  gentleman,  seeing  only  one  robber,  was  preparing  to  make  resistance, 


yUi/lA^^ 


ItCC^^U 


Wl'.it '  Dr.,^  r.it  71, 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  93 

when  King  called  to  Turpin  to  hold  tlie  horses,  and  they  took  from  hjm 
his  watch,  money,  and  an  old  monrniug-ring ;  but  returned  tlie  latter,  as 
he  declared  that  its  intrinsic  value  was  trifling,  and  that  he  was  very 
unwillino-  to  part  with  it.  Finding  that  they  readily  parted  with  the 
rinc,  he  asked  them  what  he  must  give  for  the  watch  :  on  which  King 
said  to  Turpin,  "  What  say  you.  Jack  (by  which  name  he  always  called 
him),  he  seems  to  be  a  good  honest  fellow ;  shall  we  let  him  have  the 
watch  V  Turpin  answered,  "  Do  as  you  please."  Whereupon  King  said, 
"  You  must  pay  six  guineas  for  it.  We  never  sell  for  more,  though  the 
watch  sliould  be  worth  six-and-thirty."  The  gentleman  therefore  received 
tlie  watch,  and  said  that  the  money  should  be  left  at  the  Dial,  in  Birchin- 
lane,  where  they  might  receive  it. 

The  greatest  crime  of  which  Turpin  appears  to  have  been  guilty  was 
committed  soon  after  this — it  was  tliat  of  murder.  The  active  inquiries 
which  the  police  of  the  day  were  making  after  him  and  his  companion, 
obliged  them  to  separate;  but  Turpin,  being  less  wary  than  King,  con- 
tinued to  inhabit  their  old  dwelling  in  the  forest.  The  tempting  offer  of 
100/.  reward  induced  the  servant  of  a  gentleman,  named  Thompson,  and  a 
higiifler,  to  go  out  in  the  hope  of  capturing  the  highwayman ;  and  Turpin, 
being  unaware  of  their  object,  and  seeing  them  approach  his  cave  with  a 
gun,  mistook  them  for  poacliers.  He  called  to  them,  telling  them  that 
there  were  no  hares  in  tliat  thicket,  upon  which  the  servant  exclaimed, 
"  No,  but  I  have  found  a  Turpin,'  and  instantly  presenting  his  gun,  he 
called  upon  him  to  surrender.  Turpin  spoke  to  him  in  a  friendly  way, 
but  retreating  from  him  at  the  same  time,  lie  seized  his  own  gun,  and  shot 
him  dead  on  the  spot,  the  higgler  running  off  with  the  greatest  precipitation. 
The  consequence  of  tliis  most  detestable  act  was,  that  a  great  outcry  was 
raised  against  the  highwayman,  and  he  was  compelled  to  quit  the  place  on 
wliich  he  had  hitherto  relied  for  his  concealment.  It  was  afterwards 
examined,  and  there  were  found  in  it  two  shirts,  two  pairs  of  stockings,  a 
piece  of  ham,  and  part  of  a  bottle  of  wine.  His  place  of  refuge  was  in 
Hertfordshire ;  and  he  sent  a  letter  to  his  wife  to  meet  him  at  a  public- 
house  in  the  town  of  Hertford,  but  going  to  keep  his  appointment  he  met 
a  butcher,  to  whom  he  owed  a  sum  of  money.  The  latter  demanded 
payment,  and  Dick  promised  to  get  the  money  of  his  wife,  who  was  in  the 
next  room  ;  but  while  the  butcher  was  hinting  to  some  of  his  acquaintance 
that  the  person  present  was  Turpin,  and  that  they  might  take  him  into 
custody  after  he  had  rsceived  his  debt,  the  highwayman  made  his  escape 
through  a  window,  and  rode  off  with  great  expedition. 

He  soon  found  King  ;  but  their  meeting  was  unfortunate  for  the  latter, 
for  it  ended  in  his  death.  Proceeding  togetlier  towards  London  in  the 
dusk  of  the  evening,  when  they  came  near  the  Green  Man  on  Epping 
Forest,  they  overtook  a  Mr.  JNIajor,  who  bi  ing  mounted  on  a  very  fine 
horse,  while  Turpin's  beast  was  jaded,  the  latter  obliged  him  to  dismount, 
and  exchange.  The  robbers  now  pursued  their  journey  towards  London  ; 
and  jNIr.  Major,  going  to  the  Green  Man,  gave  an  account  of  the  affair  ;  on 
wliich  it  was  conjectured  that  Turpin  had  been  the  robber.  It  was  on  a 
Saturday  evening  that  this  robbery  was  committed ;  but  Mr.  Major  being 
advised  to  print  hand-bills  immediately,  notice  was  given  to  the  landlord  of 
the  Green  Man,  that  such  a  horse  as  had  been  lost  had  been  left  at  the  Red 
Lion   in  Whitechapel.     The  landlord  going  thither,  determined  to   wait 


94  THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

till  s^me  Derson  came  for  it ;  and  at  about  eleven  at  night,  King's  brother 
came  to  pay  for  the  horse,  and  take  him  away,  on  which  he  was  imme- 
diately seized,  and  conducted  into  tlie  house.  Being  asked  what  right  he 
had  to  the  horse,  he  said  he  had  bouglit  it ;  but  the  landlord,  examining  a 
whip  which  he  had  in  his  hand,  found  a  button  at  the  end  of  the  handle 
iialf  broken  ofi",  and  the  name  of  3Iajor  on  the  remaining  half.  Upon  this 
he  was  given  into  the  custody  of  a  constable ;  but  as  it  was  not  supposed 
that  he  was  the  actual  robber,  he  was  told  that  he  should  have  his  liberty 
if  he  would  discover  his  employer.  Hereupon  he  said  that  a  stout  man,  in 
a  white  duffil  coat,  was  waiting  for  the  horse  in  Red  Lion-street ;  on  which 
the  company  going  thither,  saw  King,  who  drew  a  pistol,  and  attempted 
to  fire  it,  but  it  flashed  in  the  pan  :  he  then  endeavoured  to  pull  out  another 
pistol,  but  he  could  not,  as  it  got  entangled  in  his  pocket.  Turpin  was  at 
this  time  watching  at  a  short  distance  off",  and  riding  towards  the  spot, 
he  saw  his  companion  seized  by  some  officers  who  had  arrived.  King 
immediately  cried  out  "  Shoot  him,  or  we  are  taken  ;"  on  which  Turpin 
fired,  but  his  shot  penetrated  the  breast  of  his  companion.  King  called  out, 
"  Dick,  you  have  killed  me  !"  and  Turpin  then  rode  off  at  full  speed. 

King  lived  a  week  after  this  affair,  and  gave  information  that  Turpin 
might  be  found  at  a  house  near  Hackney  Marsh  ;  and,  on  inquiry,  it  was 
discovered  that  Turpin  had  been  there  on  the  night  that  he  rode  off',  lament- 
ing that  he  had  killed  Kingr,  who  was  his  most  faithful  associate. 

For  a  considerable  time  our  hero  skulked  about  the  forest,  having  been 
deprived  of  his  retreat  in  the  cave  since  he  shot  the  servant  of  3Ir.  Tiiomp- 
son;  and  a  more  active  search  for  him  having  commenced,  he  determined 
to  make  good  his  retreat  into  Yorkshire,  where  he  thought  that  he  would 
be  unknown,  and  might  the  more  readily  evade  justice.  The  circumstance 
which  induced  him  to  take  this  step,  appears  to  have  been  an  attempt  made 
by  a  gentleman's  huntsman,  to  secure  him  by  hunting  him  down  with 
blood-hounds,  whose  mouths  he  escaped  only  b)'  mounting  an  oak,  when 
he  had  the  satisfaction  to  see  them  pass  by  without  noticing  him. 

Going  first,  therefore,  to  Long  Sutton,  in  Lincolnshire,  he  stole  some 
horses,  for  which  he  was  taken  into  custody ;  but  he  escaped  from  the 
constable  as  he  was  conducting  him  before  a  magistrate,  and  hastened  to 
Welton,  in  Yorkshire,  where  he  went  by  the  name  of  John  Palmer,  and 
assumed  the  character  of  a  gentleman. 

He  now  frequently  went  into  Lincolnshire,  where  he  stole  horses,  which 
he  brought  into  Yorkshire,  and  there  he  sold  or  exchanged  them.  From 
his  being  apparently  a  dealer  in  horses,  he  became  acquainted  with  many 
of  the  surrounding  gentry  and  farmers ;  and  he  frequently  accompanied 
them  on  hunting  and  shooting  expeditions.  On  one  of  these  occasions  he 
was  returning  home,  when  he  wantonly  shot  a  cock  belonging  to  his  land- 
lord. Mr.  Hall,  a  neighbour  who  witnessed  the  act,  said,  "  You  have 
done  wrong  in  shooting  your  landlord's  cock,"  on  which  Turpin  answered, 
that  if  he  would  stay  while  he  loaded  his  gun  he  would  shoot  him  too. 
Irritated  by  the  insult,  Mr.  Hall  communicated  what  had  occurred  to  the 
owner  of  the  cock,  whereupon  complaint  being  made  to  the  magistrates,  a 
warrant  was  granted  for  the  apprehension  of  the  offender;  and  on  his  being 
taken  into  custody,  he  was  examined  before  the  magistrates  at  Beverley 
and  committed  for  want  of  sureties.  Inquiries  being  made,  the  good 
opinions  which  had  been  formed  of  his  mode  of  life  were  soon  dissipated  ; 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAK.  95 

and  it  was  conjectured,  that  instead  of  being  a  horse-dealer,  he  was  a  hor.sL- 
stealer.  The  magistrates,  therefore,  proceeded  to  him,  and  demanded  lo 
know  what  his  business  was  ;  and  he  answered,  that  about  two  years 
before,  he  had  carried  on  business  at  Long  Sutton  as  a  butcher,  but  that 
havinor  contracted  some  debts  for  sheep  that  proved  rotten,  lie  had  been  com- 
pelled to  abscond,  and  to  go  into  Yorkshire  to  live.  The  clerk  of  the  peace 
being  conunissioned  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  tliis  story,  learned  that  he  had 
never  been  in  business,  and  that  he  was  suspected  to  be  a  horse -stealer, 
and  had  been  in  custody  but  had  escaped,  and  that  there  were  many  in- 
formations against  him  for  various  offences.  He  was  then  committed  to 
York  Castle  ;  and  soon  afterwards  some  persons  coming  from  Lincolnshire, 
claimed  a  mare  and  a  foal,  which  were  in  his  possession,  and  stated  that  they 
had  been  stolen  recently  before. 

The  real  name  and  character  of  the  prisoner  were  soon  afterwards  disco- 
vered by  means  of  a  letter,  which  he  wrote  to  his  brother  in  Essex.  The 
letter  was  as  follows  : — 

"  York,  Februaiy  6,  \7h9. 

'•  Dear  Brother, — I  am  sorry  to  inform  you  that  I  am  now  under 
confinement  in  York  Castle  for  horse-stealing.  If  I  could  prty;Tire  an 
evidence  from  London  to  give  me  a  character,  that  would  go  a  great  way 
towards  my  being  acquitted.  I  had  not  been  lor.g  in  this  county  before  my 
apprehension,  so  it  would  pass  off  the  readier.  For  Heaven's  sake,  dear 
brother,  do  not  neglect  me  ;  you  well  know  what  I  mean  when  I  say  I  am 
yours,  "  John  Palmer." 

The  letter  was  returned  to  the  Post  Office  unopened,  because  the  postage 
was  not  paid  ;  and  Mr.  Smith,  tlie  schoolmaster,  by  whom  Turpin  had 
been  taught  to  write,  knowing  the  hand,  carried  the  letter  to  a  magistrate, 
by  whom  it  was  broken  open,  and  it  was  thus  discovered  that  the  supposed 
John  Palmer  was  Dick  Turpin.  Mr.  Smith  was  in  consequence  despatched 
to  Yorkshire,  an<l  he  immediately  selected  his  former  pupil  from  the  other 
prisoners,  and  subsequently  gave  evidence  at  the  trial  as  to  his  identity. 

On  the  rumour  that  the  noted  Turpin  was  a  prisoner  in  York  Castle, 
persons  flocked  from  all  parts  of  the  country  to  take  a  view  of  him,  and 
debates  ran  high  whether  he  was  the  real  person  or  not.  Among  others 
who  visited  him  was  a  young  fellow  who  pretended  to  know  the  famous 
Turpin ;  and  having  regarded  him  a  considerable  time  with  looks  of  great 
attention,  he  told  the  keeper  he  would  bet  him  half  a  guinea  that  he  was 
not  Turpin ;  on  which  the  prisoner,  whispering  the  keeper,  said  •■'  Lay  him 
the  wager,  and  I'll  go  your  halves." 

When  this  notorious  malefactor  was  brought  to  trial,  he  was  convicted  on 
two  indictments,  and  received  sentence  of  death.  After  conviction  he  wrote  to 
Ills  father,  imploring  him  to  intercede  with  a  gentleman  and  lady  of  rank, 
to  make  interest  that  his  sentence  miffht  be  remitted,  and  that  he  might  be 
transported  ;  but  although  the  father  did  what  was  in  his  power,  the 
notoriety  of  his  son's  character  was  such,  that  no  persons  would  exert  them- 
selves in  his  favour. 

The  pi'isoner  meanwhile  lived  in  the  most  gay  and  thoughtless  manner, 
regardless  of  all  considerations  of  futurity,  and  affecting  to  make  a  jest  of 
tiie  dreadful  fate  that  awaited  him. 

Not  many  days  before  his  execution,  he  bought  a  new  fustian  frock  and 
&  I'air  of  pumps,  in  order  to  wear  them  at  the  time  of  Jiis  deatli  ;  and  on 


96  THE    NEW    XEWGATE    CALliXDAR. 

the  day  before  that  appointed  for  the  termination  of  his  life,  he  hired  f;v? 
poor  men,  at  five  shillings  each,  to  follow  the  cart  as  mourners.  He  gave 
hatbands  and  gloves  to  several  persons,  and  left  a  ring  and  other  articles 
of  property  to  a  married  woman,  with  whom  he  had  been  acquainted  in 
Lincohishii'e. 

On  the  morning  of  his  doatli  he  was  put  into  a  cart,  and  being  followed 
by  his  mourners,  he  was  drawn  to  the  place  of  execution ;  in  his  way  to 
which  he  bowed  to  tlie  spectators  with  an  air  of  the  most  astonishinor 
indifference  and  intrepidity. 

When  he  came  to  the  fatal  tree  he  ascended  the  ladder ;  and,  on  his 
right  leg  trembling,  he  stamped  it  down  with  an  air  of  assumed  courage, 
as  if  he  was  ashamed  to  be  observed  to  discover  any  signs  of  fear.  Having 
conversed  with  the  executioner  about  half  an  hour,  he  threw  himself  off  the 
ladder,  and  expired  in  a  few  minutes.  Turpia  suffered  at  York,  April  10, 
1739. 

The  spectators  of  the  execution  seemed  to  be  much  affected  at  the  fate  of 
this  man,  who  was  distinguished  by  the  comeliness  of  his  appearance.  The 
corpse  was  brought  to  the  Blue  Boar,  in  Castle-gate,  York,  where  it 
remained  till  the  next  morning,  when  it  was  interred  in  the  church  -yard  of 
St.  George's  parish,  with  an  inscription  on  the  coffin  bearing  the  initials  of 
his  name,  and  his  age.  The  grave  was  made  remarkably  deep,  and  the 
people  who  acted  as  mourners  took  such  measures  as  they  thought  would 
secure  the  body ;  but  about  three  o'clock  on  the  following  morning  some 
persons  were  observed  in  the  cliurch-yard,  who  carried  it  off;  and  the 
populace,  having  an  intimation  whither  it  was  conveyed,  found  it  in  a 
garden  belonging  to  one  of  the  surgeons  of  the  city. 

Hereupon  they  took  the  body,  laid  it  on  a  board,  and,  having  carried  it 
through  tlie  streets  in  a  kind  of  triumphal  manner,  and  then  filled  the  coffin 
with  unslacked  lime,  buried  it  in  the  grave  where  it  had  been  before  depo- 
sited.— It  is  difficult  to  conceive  the  reason  of  all  this  concern  and  sympathy 
among  the  people ;  for  a  more  depraved,  heartless  villain  never  suffered  the 
penalty  of  the  law.  The  fashion,  however,  which  was  then  set  appears  to 
have  continued  in  existence  up  to  the  present  day ;  and  fancy  has  done 
more  to  secure  the  reputation  of  Turpin  as  a  hero,  and  a  man  of  courage 
and  generosity,  than  any  pains  he  ever  took  to  obtain  for  himself  a  good 
name  as  an  honest  man.  It  is  needless  to  add,  that  the  story  of  the  ride  to 
York,  and  of  the  wondrous  deeds  of  the  highwayman's  steed,  "  Black 
Bess,"  are,  like  many  other  tales  of  this  fellow,  the  fabrications  of  some 
poetical  brain. 


MARY  YOUNG,  alias  JENNY  DIVER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    A    STREET    ROBBERY. 

The  name  of  this  woman  will  long  be  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  crime, 
as  beino-  that  of  a  person  Avho  w^as  the  most  ingenious  of  her  class. 

^[ary  Young  was  the  daughter  of  poor  parents  in  the  nortii  of  Ireland  • 
and  at  the  age  of  ten  years  entered  the  service  of  a  gentlewoman,  by  whosf 
directions  she  was  instructed  in  reading,  writing,  and  needle- work,  in  the 
latter  of  which  she  attained  a  proficiency  unusual  in  girls  of  her  age.  S(X^ 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  97 

after  she  arrived  at  her  fifteenth  year,  a  young  man,  who  lived  in  the 
vicinity,  made  strong  pretensions  of  love  to  her,  and  liaving  formed  a  desire 
to  visit  London,  she  determined  to  quit  her  benefactress,  and  make  the 
passion  of  her  lover,  for  whom  she  cared  little,  subservient  to  her  pur- 
pose. Slie  therefore  promised  to  marry  him  on  condition  of  his  taking  her 
to  London,  and  he  joyfully  accepted  her  proposal,  and  immediately  took  a 
]iassaoe  to  Liverpool.  In  order,  however,  to  enable  him  to  undertake  the 
journey,  he  robbed  his  master  of  a  gold  watch  and  80  guineas,  and  then  lie 
joined  his  intended  wife  on  board  the  ship.  Arrived  at  Liverpool,  they 
determined  to  remain  a  short  time  to  get  over  the  effects  of  the  voyage,  and 
they  lived  together  as  man  and  wife  ;  but  when  they  were  on  the  point  of 
starting  to  London  by  the  waggon,  the  bridegroom  was  seized  by  a  messen- 
ger despatched  in  search  of  him  from  Ireland  and  conveyed  before  the  mayor, 
whitlier  his  companion  accompanied  him.  He  thei'e  confessed  the  crime  of 
wliich  he  had  been  guilty,  but  did  not  implicate  Young,  and  she,  in  conse 
quence,  was  permitted  to  take  her  departure  for  London,  having  10  guineas^ 
in  licr  pocket,  wliicli  she  had  recently  received  from  her  paramour.  In  a 
short  time  tlie  latter  was  sent  to  Ireland,  where  he  was  tried,  and  condenmed 
to  suffer  death ;  but  his  sentence  was  eventually  changed  to  that  of 
transportation. 

Upon  her  arrival  in  London,  our  heroine  contracted  an  acquaintance  with 
one  of  her  countrywomen,  named  Ann  Murphy,  by  whom  she  was  invited 
to  partake  of  a  lodging  in  Long  Acre.  She  endeavoured  for  a  while  to 
obtain  a  livelihood  by  her  needle;  but,  not  being  able  to  procure  sufficient 
employment,  her  situation  became  truly  deplorable.  Murphy  then  inti- 
mated to  her  that  she  could  introduce  her  to  a  mode  of  life  that  would  prove 
exceedingly  lucrative,  adding,  that  tlie  most  profound  secrecy  was  required  ; 
and  the  other,  expressing  an  anxious  desire  to  learn  the  means  of  extricating 
herself  from  the  difficulties  under  which  s!ie  laboured,  made  a  solemn  decla- 
ration that  she  would  never  divulge  what  Murphy  should  communicate.  In 
the  evening,  Murphy  introduced  her  to  a  number  of  men  and  women, 
assembled  in  a  kind  of  club,  near  St.  Giles's,  who  gained  their  living  by 
cutting  off  women's  pockets,  and  stealing  watches,  &c.  from  men,  in  the 
avenues  of  the  theatres,  and  at  other  ])laccs  of  public  resort ;  and,  on  the 
recommendation  of  Murphy,  they  admitted  Mary  a  member  of  the  society. 
After  her  installation  they  dispersed,  in  order  to  pursue  their  il't^gal  occupa- 
tion ;  and  the  booty  obtained  that  night  consisted  of  eighty  pounds  in  cash 
and  a  valuable  gold  watch.  As  ]\Iary  was  not  yet  acquainted  with  the  art 
of  tliieving,  she  was  not  admitted  to  an  equal  share  of  the  night's  produce  ; 
but  it  was  agreed  that  she  should  have  two  guineas.  She  now  regularly 
applied  two  hours  every  day  in  qualifying  herself  for  an  expert  thief,  by 
attending  to  the  instructions  of  experienced  practitioners  ;  and,  in  a  short 
time,  she  was  distinguished  as  the  most  ingenious  and  successful  adventurer 
of  the  whole  gang.  A  young  fellow  of  genteel  appearance,  who  was  a 
member  of  the  club,  was  singled  out  by  her  as  the  partner  of  her  bed ;  and 
they  cohabited  for  a  considerable  time  as  husband  and  wife. 

In  a  few  months  our  heroine  became  so  expert  in  her  profession  as  t© 
acquire  great  consequence  among  her  associates,  who  distinguished  her  by 
the  appellation  of  Jenny  Diver,  on  account  of  her  remarkable  dexterity  ; 
and  as  that  is  the  name  by  wliich  she  is  more  generally  recognised  in  the 
anecdotes  of  her  life  which  follow,  we  shall  so  designate  her. 

VOL.    I.  O 


98  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Accompanied  by  one  of  her  female  accomplices,  Jenny  joined  the  crowd 
at  the  entrance  of  a  place  of  worship  in  the  Old  Jewry,  where  a  popular 
divine  was  to  preach,  and  observing  a  young  gentleman  with  a  diamond 
ring  on  his  finger  she  held  out  her  hand,  which  he  kindly  received  in  ordtr 
to  assist  her.  At  this  juncture  she  contrived  to  get  possession  of  the  ring 
without  the  knowledge  of  the  owner,  after  which  she  slipped  beliind  her 
companion,  and  heard  the  gentleman  say,  that,  as  there  was  no  probability 
of  gaining  admittance,  he  would  return.  Upon  his  leaving  the  meeting  he 
missed  his  ring,  and  mentioned  his  loss  to  the  persons  who  were  near  him, 
adding  that  he  suspected  it  to  be  stolen  by  a  woman  whom  he  Ijad  endea- 
voured to  assist  in  the  crowd  ;  but  as  the  thief  was  unknown  she  escaped. 
This  proof  of  her  dexterity  was  considered  so  remarkable  that  her  associates 
determined  to  allow  her  an  equal  share  of  all  their  booties,  even  though  she 
should  not  be  present  when  tliey  were  obtained.  In  a  short  time  after  this 
exploit  she  procured  a  pair  of  false  hands  and  arms  to  be  made,  and  conceal- 
ing her  real  ones  under  her  clothes,  she  put  something  beneath  her  stays  so 
as  to  make  herself  appear  as  if  in  a  state  of  pregnancy,  and  repaired  on  a 
Sunday  evening  to  the  place  of  worship  above-mentioned  in  a  sedan  chair, 
one  of  the  gang  going  before  to  procure  a  seat  for  her  among  the  genteeler 
part  of  the  congregation,  and  another  attending  in  the  character  of  a  foot 
man.  Jenny  being  seated  between  two  elderly  ladies,  each  of  whom  had  a 
gold  watch  by  her  side,  she  conducted  herself  with  great  seeming  devotion  ; 
but,  the  service  being  nearly  concluded,  she  seized  the  opportunity,  when 
tiie  ladies  were  standing  up,  of  stealing  their  watches,  which  she  delivered 
to  an  accomplice  in  an  adjoining  pew.  The  devotions  being  ended,  the  con- 
gregation were  preparing  to  depart,  when  the  ladies  discovered  their  loss, 
and  a  violent  clamour  ensued.  One  of  the  parties  exclaimed  "  That  her 
watch  must  have  been  taken  either  by  the  devil  or  the  pregnant  woman !" 
on  which  the  other  said,  "  bhe  could  vindicate  the  pregnant  lady,  whose 
hands  she  was  sure  had  not  been  removed  from  her  lap  during  the  whole 
time  of  her  being  in  the  pew." 

Flushed  with  the  success  of  the  adventure,  our  heroine  determined  to 
pursue  her  good  fortune ;  and  as  another  sermon  was  to  be  preached  the 
same  evening,  she  adjourned  to  an  adjacent  public-house,  where,  without 
either  pain  or  difficulty,  she  soon  reduced  the  protuberance  of  her  waist, 
and  having  entirely  changed  her  dress,  she  returned  to  the  meeting,  where 
she  had  not  remained  long  before  she  picked  a  gentleman's  pocket  of  a  gold 
watch,  with  which  she  escaped  unsuspected.  Her  accomplices  also  were 
industrious  and  successful ;  for,  on  a  division  of  the  booty  obtained  this 
evening,  they  each  received  thirty  guineas.  These  acts  procured  for  her 
universal  respect  among  her  fellows,  and  in  all  their  future  transactions 
they  yielded  an  exact  obedience  to  her  wishes. 

The  game  which  she  had  played  having  been  found  so  successful,  Jenny 
again  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  pregnant  woman,  and,  attended  by  an 
accomplice  as  a  footman,  went  towards  St.  James's  Park  on  a  day  when 
the  king  was  going  to  the  House  of  Lords ;  and,  there  being  a  great 
number  of  persons  between  tlie  Park  and  Spring  Gardens,  she  purposely 
slipped  down,  and  was  instantly  surrounded  by  many  of  both  sexes,  who 
were  emulous  to  aflbrd  her  assistance ;  but,  affecting  to  be  in  violent  pain, 
she  intimated  to  them  that  she  was  desirous  of  remaining  t)n  the  ground 
till   she  should  be   somewhat  recovered.     As  she   expected,    the    crowd 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  99 

increased,  and  her  pretended  footman,  and  a  female  accomplice,  were  so 
industrious  as  to  obtain  two  diamond  girdle-Liickles,  a  gold  watch,  a  gold 
siuift-box,  and  two  purs3S,  containing  together  upwards  of  forty  guineas. 
Tlie  girdle-buckles,  watch,  and  snuii'-box,  were  the  following  day  adver- 
tised, a  considerable  reward  was  oifered,  and  a  promise  given  that  no 
questions  should  be  asked  of  the  party  who  should  return  them  ;  but  our 
heroine  declaring  that  their  restoration  would  entirely  break  down  the 
])rinciples  upon  which  their  association  was  conducted,  they  were  sold  to 
the  Jews  in  Duke's-place. 

Ever  fertile  in  inventions,  she  proceeded  with  her  supposed  servant  to 
the  east-end  of  the  town,  and  observnig  a  genteel  house,  the  latter  knocked 
and  begged  that  his  mistress,  who  had  been  taken  suddenly  ill,  might  be 
permitted  to  enter  to  rest  herself  a  few  minutes.  The  request  was  com- 
plied with ;  and  while  the  mistress  of  the  house  and  the  servant  were  up 
stairs  seeking  such  things  as  might  be  supposed  to  aiibrd  relief  to  their 
visitor,  she  opened  a  drawer  and  stole  sixty  guineas ;  and  afterwards,  while 
the  lady  was  holding  a  smelling-bottle  to  her  nose,  she  picked  her  pocket 
of  a  purse,  containing,  however,  only  a  small  sum.  Her  supposed  servant, 
in  the  mean  while,  was  not  idle,  and  having  been  ordered  into  the  kitchen, 
he  pocketed  six  silver  table-spoons,  a  pepper-box,  and  a  salt-cellar.  All 
the  available  booty  having  now  been  secured,  the  servant  was  sent  for  a 
coach,  and  Jenny,  pretending  to  be  somewhat  recovered,  went  away, 
saying  that  she  was  the  wife  of  a  respectable  merchant  in  Thames-street, 
and  pressing  her  entertainer  to  dine  with  her  on  a  certain  day,  wluch  she 
appointed.  The  impudence  of  these  frauds,  however,  soon  attracted  public 
attention,  and  it  was  found  that  some  new  plan  must  be  determined  upon, 
by  which  the  public  might  be  gulled. 

Until  some  novel  method  of  robbing  should  be  devised,  however,  it  was 
determined  that  the  gang  should  go  to  Bristol,  to  seek  adventures  and 
profit  during  the  fair ;  and  in  order  to  render  their  proceedings  the  more 
likely  to  be  successful,  they  admitted  into  their  society  a  man  who  had 
long  subsisted  there  as  a  thief.  Jenny  and  Murphy  now  assumed  the 
character  of  merchants'  wives,  while  the  new  member  and  another  of  the 
gang  appeared  as  country  farmers,  and  the  footman  was  continued  in  the 
same  character.  They  took  lodgings  in  different  parts  of  the  city ;  and 
they  agreed,  that  in  case  of  any  of  them  being  apprehended,  the  rest  should 
appear  to  speak  to  tlie  character  of  the  prisoners,  and  representing  them  to 
be  persons  of  reputation  in  London,  endeavour  to  procure  their  release. 

Being  one  day  in  the  fair,  they  observed  a  west-country  clothier  giving 
a  sum  of  money  to  his  servant,  and  heard  him  direct  the  man  to  deposit  it 
in  a  T)ureau.  They  followed  the  servant,  and  one  of  them  fell  down  before 
him,  expecting  that  he  would  also  fall,  and  that,  as  tliere  was  a  gi'eat 
crowd,  the  money  might  be  easily  secured  ;  but  though  the  man  fell  into 
the  snare,  they  were  not  able  to  obtain  their  expected  booty,  and  therefore 
had  recourse  to  the  followino-  strataofem  : — One  of  the  sang;  asked  the  man 
whether  his  master  had  not  lately  ordered  him  to  carry  home  a  sum  of 
money  ;  to  which  the  other  rej)lied  in  the  affirmative  ;  and  the  sharper 
then  told  him  that  he  must  return  to  his  master,  who  had  purchased  some 
goods,  and  waited  to  pay  for  them.  The  countryman  followed  him  to 
Jenny's  lodgings,  and,  being  introduced  to  her,  she  desired  him  to  be 
eeated,  saying  his  master  was  gone  on  some  business  in  the  neighbourhood, 


100  THK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Dut  had  left  orders  for  him  to  wait  till  his  return.  She  urged  him  to 
drink  a  glass  of  wine,  but  the  poor  fellow  declined  her  offers  with  awkward 
simplicity,  the  pretended  footman  having  taught  him  to  believe  her  a 
woman  of  great  wealth  and  consequence.  Her  encouraging  solicitations, 
however,  conquered  his  bashfulness,  and  he  drank  till  he  became  intoxi- 
cated. Being  conducted  into  another  apartment,  he  soon  fell  fast  asleep,  and, 
while  in  that  situation,  he  was  robbed  of  the  money  he  had  received  from 
his  master,  which  proved  to  be  a  hundred  pounds.  They  were  no  sooner 
in  possession  of  the  cash,  than  they  discharged  the  demand  of  the  inn- 
keeper, and  set  out  in  the  first  stage  for  London. 

Soon  after  their  return  to  town  Jenny  and  her  associates  went  to  London 
Bridge  in  the  dusk  of  the  evening  and,  observing  a  lady  standing  at  a 
door  to  avoid  the  carriages,  a  number  of  which  were  passing,  one  of  the 
men  went  up  to  her,  and,  under  pretence  of  giving  her  assistance,  seized 
both  her  hands,  which  he  held  till  his  accomplices  had  rifled  her  pockets 
of  a  gold  snuff-box,  a  silver  case  containing  a  set  of  instruments,  and 
thirty  guineas  in  cash. 

On  the  following  day,  as  Jenny,  and  an  accomplice,  in  the  character  of 
a  footman,  were  walking  through  Change  Alley,  she  picked  a  gentleman's 
pocket  of  a  bank-note  for  two  hundred  pounds,  for  which  she  received  one 
hundred  and  thirty  from  a  Jew,  with  whom  the  gang  had  very  extensive 
connexions. 

Our  heroine  now  hired  a  real  footman ;  and  her  favourite,  who  had  long 
acted  in  that  character,  assumed  the  appearance  of  a  gentleman;  and  they 
hired  lodgings  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Covent  Garden,  that  they  might 
more  conveniently  attend  the  theatres.  She  dressed  herself  in  an  elegant 
manner,  and  went  to  the  theatre  one  evening  when  the  king  was  to  be 
present ;  and,  during  the  performance,  she  attracted  the  particular  atten- 
tion of  a  young  gentleman  of  fortune  from  Yorkshire,  who  declared,  in  the 
most  passionate  tem>s,  that  she  had  made  an  absolute  conquest,  and 
earnestly  solicited  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  attend  her  home.  She  at 
first  refused  to  comply  with  his  request,  saying  that  she  was  newly 
married,  but  she  at  length  yielded  to  his  entreaties,  and  he  accompanied 
her  to  her  door  in  a  hackney-coach,  and  quitted  her  only  on  her  promising 
to  admit  him  on  a  future  evening,  when,  she  said,  her  husband  would  be 
out  of  town.  The  day  of  appointment  being  arrived,  two  of  the  gang 
were  equipped  in  elegant  liveries  ;  and  Anne  Murphy  appeared  as  waiting- 
maid.  The  gentleman  soon  made  his  appearance,  having  a  gold -headed 
cane  in  his  hand,  a  sword  by  his  side  with  a  gold  hilt,  and  wearing  a  gold 
watch  and  a  diamond  ring.  Being  introduced  to  the  bed-chamber,  he  was 
soon  deprived  of  his  ring ;  and  he  had  not  undressed  many  minutes  before 
the  lady's-maid  knocked  violently  at  the  door,  exclaiming  that  her  master 
was  suddenly  returned.  Jenny  affected  to  be  labouring  imder  the  most 
violent  agitation,  and  begged  that  the  gentleman  would  cover  himself  with 
the  bed-clothes,  saying  that  she  would  convey  his  apparel  into  the  other 
room,  so  that,  if  her  husband  came  there,  nothing  would  appear  to  awaken 
his  suspicion  ;  and  adding  that,  under  pretence  of  indisposition,  she  would 
prevail  upon  her  husband  to  sleep  in  another  bed,  and  then  return  to  the 
arms  of  her  lover.  The  gull  acquiesced,  and  the  clothes  being  removed,  a 
short  consultation  was  held  among  the  thieves,  the  result  of  wi.ich  was 
that  they  immediately  decamped,  carrying  their  booty  with  them,  which. 
exclusive  of  the  cane  &c.,  was  worth  -s.  hundred  guineas. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  101 

The  amorous  youth  meanwhile  waited  witli  anxious  impatience  for  the 
coming  of  his  Dulcinea  ;  but  morning  liaving  arrived,  he  rang  the  bell,  and 
the  people  of  the  house  coming  to  him,  found  that  he  was  locked  in,  the 
fair  fugitive  having  carried  oflF  the  key  with  her.  The  door  was,  however, 
burst  open,  and  an  eclaircissement  ensued,  when  the  gentleman  explained 
the  manner  in  which  he  had  been  treated  ;  l)ut  the  people  of  the  house, 
deaf  to  his  expostulations,  threatened  to  publish  the  adventure  through  the 
town,  unless  he  would  make  up  the  loss  which  they  had  sustained.  Rather 
than  risk  the  safety  of  his  reputation,  he  sent  for  money  and  some  clothes 
and  discharged  the  debt  which  Jenny  had  contracted,  quitting  the  house, 
bitterly  repenting  that  his  amorous  qualities  should  have  led  him  into  such 
a  scrape. 

The  continuance  of  the  system  under  which  this  gang  pursued  its  labours 
became  now  impossible,  and  they  found  it  necessary  to  leave  the  metro- 
polis ;  but  having  committed  numerous  depredations- in  the  country,  they 
returned,  and  Jenny  was  unfortunately  apprehended  on  a  charge  of  picking 
a  gentleman's  pocket,  for  which  she  was  sentenced  to  be  transported. 

She  remained  nearly  four  months  in  Newgate,  during  which  time  she 
employed  a  considerable  sum  in  the  purchase  of  stolen  effects  ;  and  when 
she  went  on  board  the  transport  vessel,  she  shipped  a  quantity  of  goods 
nearly  sufficient  to  load  a  waggon.  The  property  she  possessed  ensured 
her  great  respect,  and  every  possible  convenience  and  accommodation  during 
the  voyage  ;  and  on  her  arrival  in  Virginia,  she  disposed  of  her  goods, 
and  for  some  time  lived  in  great  splendour  and  elegance.  She  soon  found, 
however,  that  America  was  a  country  where  she  could  expect  but  little 
emolument  from  the  practices  she  had  so  successfully  followed  in  England, 
and  she  therefore  employed  every  art  she  was  mistress  of  to  ingratiate  her- 
self with  a  young  gentleman,  who  was  preparing  to  embark  on  board  a 
vessel  bound  for  the  port  of  London.  He  became  much  enamoured  of  her, 
and  brought  her  to  England  ;  but  while  the  ship  lay  at  Gravesend,  she 
robbed  him  of  all  the  property  she  could  get  into  her  possession,  and  pre- 
tending indisposition,  intimated  a  desire  of  going  on  shore,  in  which  her 
admirer  acquiesced  ;  but  she  was  no  sooner  on  land  than  she  made  a  preci- 
pitate retreat. 

She  now  travelled  through  various  parts  of  the  country ;  and  having  by 
her  usual  wicked  practices  obtained  many  considerable  sums,  she  at  length 
returned  to  London,  but  was  not  able  to  find  her  former  accomplices.  She 
frequented  the  Royal  Exchange,  the  theatres,  London-bridge,  and  other 
places  of  public  resort,  and  committed  innumerable  depredations  on  the 
public  ;  but  being  again  detected  in  picking  a  gentleman's  pocket  on 
London-bridge,  she  was  taken  before  a  magistrate,  to  whom  she  declared 
that  her  name  was  Jane  Webb,  and  by  that  appellation  she  was  committed 
to  Newgate. 

On  her  trial,  a  gentleman  who  had  detected  her  in  the  very  act  of  pick- 
ing the  prosecutor's  pocket,  deposed  that  a  person  had  applied  to  him, 
offering  fifty  pounds,  on  condition  that  he  should  not  appear  in  support  of 
the  prosecution  :  and  a  lady  swore  that  on  the  day  the  prisoner  committed 
tlie  offence  for  which  she  stood  indicted,  she  saw  her  pick  the  pockets  of 
more  than  twenty  different  people.  The  record  of  her  former  conviction 
was  not  produced  in  court,  and  therefore  she  was  arraigned  for  privately 
stealing  only,  and-,  on  the  clearest  evidence,  the  jury  pronounced  her  guilty. 


102  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

Tlie  property  being  valued  at  less  than  one  shilling,  she  was  sentenced  to 
transportation. 

Twelve  months  had  not  elapsed  before  she  returned  from  exile  a  second 
time ;  and  on  her  arrival  in  London,  she  renewed  her  former  practices.  A 
lady  going  from  Sherborne-lane  to  Walbrook  was  accosted  by  a  man,  who 
took  her  hand,  seemingly  as  if  to  assist  her  in  crossing  some  planks  which 
were  placed  over  the  gutter  for  the  convenience  of  passengers ;  but  he 
squeezed  her  fingers  with  so  much  force  as  to  give  her  great  pain,  and  in 
the  mean  time  Jenny  picked  her  pocket  of  thirteen  shillings  and  a  penny. 
The  gentlewoman,  conscious  of  being  robbed,  seized  the  thief  by  the  gown, 
and  she  was  immediately  conducted  to  the  Comptor.  She  was  examined 
the  next  day  by  the  lord  mayor,  who  committed  her  to  Newgate  for  trial. 

At  the  ensuing  sessions  at  the  Old  Bailey,  she  was  tried  on  an  indict- 
ment charging  her  with  privately  stealing  ;  and  a  verdict  of  guilty  having 
been  brought  in,  she  was  sentenced  to  death. 

After  conviction  she  appeared  to  have  a  due  sense  of  the  awful  situation 
in  which  she  was  placed  ;  and  employing  a  great  part  of  her  time  in  devo- 
tion, slie  repented  sincerely  of  the  course  of  iniquity  in  which  she  had  so 
long  persisted.  On  the  day  preceding  that  of  her  execution,  she  sent  for 
the  woman  who  nursed  her  child,  which  was  then  about  three  years  old, 
and  saying  that  there  was  a  person  who  would  pay  for  its  maintenance, 
she  earnestly  entreated  that  it  might  be  carefully  instructed  in  the  duties  of 
religion.  CJn  the  following  morning  she  appeared  to  be  in  a  serene  state  of 
mind.  The  preparations  in  the  press-yard  for  a  moment  shook  her  forti- 
tude, but  her  spirits  were  soon  again  tolerably  composed.  She  was  con- 
veyed to  Tyburn  in  a  mourning-coach,  being  attended  by  a  clergyman,  to 
whom  she  declared  her  firm  belief  in  the  principles  of  the  Protestant 
Church.  Her  remains  were,  at  her  own  desire,  biiried  in  St.  Pancras 
churchyard. 

Her  execution  took  place  on  the  18th  i\Iarch.  1740. 


J 


CHARLES  DREW. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    FATHER. 

The  only  circumstance  of  peculiarity  attending  this  case,  and  it  is  one 
indeed,  we  are  happy  to  say,  not  a  little  singular,  is  that  the  malefactor 
was  the  son  of  the  man  whom  he  murdered.  The  father  being  possessed 
of  good  property  at  Long  Melford  in  Suffolk,  discarded  his  son,  who 
appears  to  have  iDeen  brought  up  without  any  education  being  imparted  to 
him,  on  account  of  his  connexion  with  a  woman  named  Elizabeth  Boyer. 
The  latter,  angered  at  the  contempt  exhibited  for  her,  urged  lier  paramour, 
as  well  for  revenge  as  for  the  accession  to  their  means,  which  would  be 
produced  by  the  old  man's  death,  to  commit  the  foul  deed  whicli  cost  him 
his  life.  He  was  appreliended  at  the  instance  of  a  relation,  a  ]Mr.  Timothy 
Drew,  and  being  convicted,  Avas  executed  on  the  9th  April,  1740,  at  St. 
Edmund's  Bury,  being  in  the  twenty -fifth  year  of  his  age. 

This  case  so  nearly  resembles  the  celebrated  story  of  George  Barnwell, 
that  the  following  anecdote  in  reference  to  the  tragedy  of  that  name  will 
not  be  misplaced  here.  It  is  related  in  reference  to  Mr.  Ross,  formerly  a 
tragedian  of  considerable  celebrity. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAK.  103 

"  A  gentleman,  much  dejected  In  liis  looks,  called  one  day  on  Ross,  when 
Btricken  with  years,  and  told  him  that  his  father,  a  wealthy  citizen  in 
London,  lay  at  the  point  of  death,  and  begged  that  he  might  see  him,  or 
he  could  not  die  in  peace  of  mind.  Curious  as  this  I'equest  appeared  from 
a  stranger,  and  in  such  extremity,  the  actor  hesitated ;  but  being  much 
pressed  by  his  visitor,  he  agreed  to  accompany  him.  Arrived  at  the  house  of 
the  sick  man,  JVIr.  Ross  was  announced,  and  soon  admitted  into  his  chamber  ; 
but  observing  the  family  to  retire,  and  being  left  alone  with  tlie  patient,  his 
wonder  was  again  aroused.  The  dying  penitent,  now  three  score  years  and 
ten,  casting  his  languid  eyes  upon  Ross,  said,  '  Can  it  be  you  who  raised 
my  fortune — who  saved  my  life?  Then  were  you  young  like  myself;  ay, 
and  amiable  amid  the  direst  misfortunes,  I  determined  to  amend  my  life, 
and  avoid  your  fate.'  Here  nature  in  a  struggle  with  death  became  over- 
powered, and  as  the  sick  man's  head  fell  upon  his  pillow,  he  faintly  ejacu- 
lated, '  O  Barnwell  !  Barnwell!'  We  may  conceive  the  astonishment  of 
the  player,  whom  age  had  long  incapacitated  from  representing  the  unfor- 
tunate '  London  Apprentice.'  The  feeble  man,  renewing  his  efforts  to 
gratify  a  dying  desire,  again  opened  his  eyes  and  continued  :  '  Mr.  Ross, 
some  forty  years  ago,  like  George  Barnwell,  I  wronged  my  master  to 
supply  the  unbounded  extravagance  of  a  Millwood.  I  took  her  to  see  your 
performance,  which  so  shocked  me  that  I  silently  vowed  to  break  the 
connexion  then  by  my  side,  and  return  to  the  path  of  virtue.  I  kept  my 
resolution,  and  replaced  the  money  I  had  stolen  before  my  villany  was 
detected.  I  bore  up  against  the  upbraidings  of  my  deluder,  and  found  a 
Maria  in  my  master's  daughter.  We  married.  I  soon  succeeded  to  her 
father's  business,  and  the  young  man  who  brought  you  here  was  the  first 
pledge  of  our  love.  I  have  more  children,  or  I  would  have  shown  my 
gratitude  to  you  by  a  larger  sum  than  I  have  bequeathed  you  ;  but  take  a 
thousand  pounds  affixed  to  your  name.'  At  the  dying  man's  signal,  old 
Ross  left  tlie  room  overwhelmed  by  his  feelings." 


CAPTAIN  SAMUEL  GOODERE,  MATTHEW  MAHONY,  AND 
CHARLES  WHITE. 

EXECUTED    FOR   THE    MURDER    OF    SIR    JOHN    D.    GOODERE,    BART. 

This  atrocious  murder  was  committed  through  the  instrumentality  of 
Captain  Sanmel  Goodere,  upon  his  brother  Sir  .John  Dineley  Goodere,  on 
board  a  man  of  war,  of  which  the  former  was  Captain. 

Sir  John,  it  appears,  was  possessed  of  an  estate  of  3000^.  per  annum, 
situated  at  Evesham,  in  Worcestershire,  which  he  derived  from  his  father. 
Sir  Edward :  and  his  brother,  who  is  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  having 
been  bred  to  the  sea,  was  advanced  to  the  rank  of  Captain  of  one  of  his 
Majesty's  vessels  of  war.  Sir  John  having  no  children,  ver\'  sanguine 
expectations  were  entertained  by  his  brother  that  he  should  inherit  his 
property,  but  upon  his  discovering  that  he  had  made  a  will  in  favour  of 
their  sister's  children,  his  rage  knew  no  bounds,  and  he  determined  upon  a 
most  diabolical  revenge  for  the  supposed  injury  which  he  had  received. 
The  vessel  of  which  Captain  Goodere  had  the  command,  it  appears,  was 
employed  as  one  of  the  Channel  cruisers,  and  in  the  month  of  January, 


104  THE    >;E"W    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

1741,  it  was  lying  at  Bristol.  At  this  period  it  happened  that  Sir  John 
Goodere  was  in  that  city,  transacting  some  business  with  ]\Ir.  Smith,  an 
attorney ;  and  his  brother  having  been  made  acquainted  with  the  circiim- 
stance,  fixed  upon  this  as  a  proper  time  to  put  his  pLan  into  execution. 
Throwing  himself  into  Mr.  Smith's  way,  he  assured  him  that  a  perfect 
reconciliation  had  taken  place  between  them,  notwithstanding  a  misunder- 
standing which  was  known  to  have  existed  ;  and  after  some  conversation, 
learning  that  his  brother  was  going  to  dine  with  that  gentleman  on  a 
certain  day,  he  procured  himself  to  be  invited  to  meet  him.  Having 
determined  upon  this  as  a  favourable  opportunity  to  carry  his  design  into 
execution,  on  his  going  ashore  he  carried  with  him  some  of  his  seamen, 
to  whom  he  gave  instructions  that  Sir  John  being  insane,  he  desired  to 
procure  him  to  be  carried  on  board  his  ship,  in  order  that  he  might  be 
conveyed  to  a  place  of  safety.  The  men  therefore,  having  been  regaled 
during  the  evening  at  a  neighbouring  public-house,  as  night  approached 
placed  themselves  in  readiness  to  obey  the  orders  which  they  had  received  ; 
and  Sir  John  making  his  appearance,  they  seized  him  and  forcibly  pxit 
him  into  a  boat,  in  which  they  directly  rowed  him  to  the  vessel.  The 
protestations  made  by  the  captain,  that  it  was  only  a  deserter  whom  they 
were  apprehending,  silenced  all  inquiry  from  the  crowd  which  had 
assembled  on  their  perceiving  this  outrage,  and  the  imfortunate  baronet 
was  secured  without  an  effort  being  made  to  procure  his  release,  or  to  save 
him  from  the  bloody  fate  ^^'hich  awaited  him. 

As  soon  as  the  devoted  victim  was  in  tlie  boat,  he  said  to  his  brother, 
"  I  know  you  have  an  intention  to  murder  me  ;  and  if  you  are  ready  to  do 
it,  let  me  beg  that  it  may  be  done  here,  without  giving  yourself  the  trouble 
to  take  me  on  board ;"  to  which  the  captain  said,  "•  No,  brother,  I  am 
going  to  prevent  your  rotting  on  land  ;  but,  however,  I  would  have  you 
make  your  peace  with  God  this  night." 

Sir  John  having  reached  the  vessel,  he  called  to  the  seamen  for  help,  but 
they  having  learned  their  captain's  commands  from  their  fellows,  did  not 
offer  to  render  the  slightest  aid,  and  the  wretched  gentleman  was  imme- 
diately conveyed  to  the  purser's  cabin. 

White  and  ]\[ahony  were  selected  by  their  captain  as  the  performers  in 
the  dreadful  scene  Avhich  was  now  to  be  enacted.  While  Goodere  stood 
at  the  entrance  of  the  cabin  guarding  it  with  a  drawn  sword,  his  two 
assistants  entered  it,  and  approached  their  victim.  He  cried  aloud  for 
mercy,  offering  all  he  possessed  as  a  return,  if  they  would  spare  his  life  ; 
but,  regardless  of  his  prayers,  they  deliberately  proceeded  to  the  completion 
of  their  sanguinary  intentions.  Seizing  him  by  the  shoulders,  they  threv/ 
him  on  the  deck,  and  there,  with  a  handkerchief  which  they  took  from 
his  pocket,  they  attempted  to  strangle  him.  Finding  that  their  efforts 
were  unavailing,  they  procured  a  cord  from  their  giiilty  commander,  with 
which  they  sjieedily  despatched  him ;  White  kneeling  on  his  breast  and 
holding  his  hands,  while  jMahony  fixed  the  cord  round  his  throat,  and 
tightened  it  until  strangulation  had  taken  place.  They  then  accompanied 
their  captain  to  his  cabin,  who  gave  them  the  sum  agreed  upon  for  their 
services,  and  bid  them  seek  their  safety  in  flight.  The  murder  was  soon 
made  known  on  shore,  through  the  instrumentality  of  the  crew  of  the 
vessel ;  and  the  circumstance  having  come  to  the  knowledge  of  !Mr.  Smith, 
the  attorney,  he  procured  a  warrant  to  be  issued,  upon  which  the  officers 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  105 

of  the  city  proceeded  on  boai'd  the  ship.  They  found  that  the  captain 
liad  there  been  ah-eady  put  under  arrest  by  the  lieutenant  and  sailing- 
master,  and  he  was  immediately  conveyed  in  custody  to  the  prison  of  the 
town.  It  was  not  long  before  Mahony  and  White  were  also  secured ;  and 
the  prisoners  being  brought  to  trial  at  Bristol,  on  the  26th  March,  1741, 
they  were  convicted  on  the  clearest  evidence,  and  sentenced  to  death. 

Captain  Goodere's  time,  after  conviction,  was  spent  chiefly  in  writing 
letters  to  persons  of  rank,  to  make  interest  to  save  his  life  ;  and  his  wife 
and  daughter  presented  a  petition  to  the  king  :  but  all  endeavours  of  this 
kind  proving  ineffectual,  he  employed  a  man  to  hire  some  colliers  to  rescue 
him  on  his  way  to  the  fatal  tree. 

His  efforts  in  this  respect,  however,  were  as  unavailing  as  those  which 
he  had  made  to  procure  a  mitigation  of  his  pimishment ;  for  the  circum- 
stance having  been  made  known  to  the  sheriff,  he  took  such  steps  as  were 
deemed  expedient  and  necessary  to  prevent  the  success  of  the  project.  The 
wretched  companions  in  guilt  of  the  captain  exhibited  the  greatest  hardi- 
hood ;  and  when  the  jailers  were  employed  in  putting  on  tlieir  irons,  they 
declared  that  they  had  no  fear  of  death. 

Captain  Goodere's  wife  and  daughter,  dressed  in  deep  mourning,  took  a 
solemn  leave  of  hin  on  the  day  before  his  death  ;  and  he  went  in  a 
mourning-coach  to  the  place  of  execution,  to  which  his  accomplices  were 
conveyed  in  a  cart. 

They  were  hanged  near  the  Hot  Wells,  Bristol,  on  the  20th  of  April, 
1741,  within  view  of  the  place  where  tlie  ship  lay  when  the  murder  was 
committed. 


JOHN  BODKIN,  DOMINICK  BODKIN,  AND  OTHERS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    Ml'RDER. 

Oliver  Bodkin,  Esq.  was  a  gentleman  who  possessed  a  good  estate 
near  Tuam,  in  Ireland.  He  had  two  sons  by  two  wives.  The  elder  son, 
named  John,  to  whom  this  narrative  chiefly  relates,  was  sent  to  Dublin 
to  study  the  law  ;  and  the  younger,  who  was  about  seven  years  of  age, 
remained  at  home  with  his  parents.  The  young  student  lived  in  a  very 
dissipated  manner  at  Dublin,  and  soon  quitting  his  studies,  came  and 
resided  near  his  father's  place  of  abode.  The  father  allowed  him  a  certain 
annual  sum  for  his  support ;  but,  as  he  lived  beyond  his  allowance,  he 
demanded  farther  assistance.  The  father,  however,  refusing  to  accede  to 
his  wishes,  he  determined  upon  a  horrible  revenge,  and  included  his 
mother-in-law  in  his  proposed  scheme  of  vengeance,  as  he  imagined  that 
she  had  induced  his  father  to  refuse  him  any  further  aid. 

Having  engaged  his  cousin,  Dominick  Bodkin,  his  father's  shepherd, 
John  Hogan,  and  another  ruffian  of  the  name  of  Burke,  to  assist  him  in 
the  intended  murders,  they  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Bodkin,  senior;  whose 
household  consisted  of  four  men  and  three  women  servants,  exclusive  of 
Mrs.  Bodkin  and  the  younger  son,  and  a  gentleman  named  Lynch,  who  was 
at  that  time  on  a  visit  there.  They  found  all  the  members  of  the  family  at 
supper  on  their  arrival,  and  having  murdered  them,  they  went  into  the 
kitchen,  where  they  killed  three  servant-maids ;  and,  finding  the  men  iu 

VOL.  I.  p 


106  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CA1.ENDAR. 

different  parts  of  the  house,  they  also  sacrificed  thern  to  their  brutal 
and  unprovoked  raoe.  The  murder  of  eleven  persons  being  tims  perpe- 
trated, they  quitted  the  fatal  spot ;  and,  when  some  persons  from  Tuam 
came  the  next  morning  to  speak  with  Mr.  Bodkin  on  business,  they  found 
the  house  open,  and  beheld  tlie  dead  body  of  Mr.  Lynch,  near  which  lay 
tliat  of  ]\Irs.  Bodkin,  hacked  and  mangled  in  a  shocking  manner ;  and,  at 
a  small  distance,  lier  husband,  with  his  throat  cut,  and  the  child  lying 
dead  across  his  breast.  The  throats  of  the  maid-servants  in  tiie  kitchen 
were  all  cut ;  and  the  men-servants  in  another  room  were  also  found 
murdered.  The  assassins  had  even  been  so  wanton  in  their  cruelties  as  to 
kill  all  the  dogs  and  cats  in  the  house.  The  neighbours  being  alarmed  by 
such  a  singular  instance  of  barbarity,  a  suspicion  fell  on  John  Bodkin  ; 
who,  being  taken  into  custody,  confessed  all  the  tragical  circumstances 
above-mentioned,  and  impeached  his  accomplices:  on  which  the  other 
offenders  were  taken  into  custody,  and  all  of  them  were  committed  to  the 
jail  of  Tuam. 

The  shepherd  then  confessed  that  he  had  murdered  two  ;  but  that  think- 
in  o-  to  preserve  the  boy,  to  whom  he  had  been  foster-father,  he  besmeared 
him  with  blood,  and  laid  him  near  his  father.  Dominick,  perceiving  him 
alive,  killed  him  ;  and  he  afterwards  murdered  five  more.  John  Bodkin 
owned  that  he  and  Burke  killed  the  remainder  ;  that  he  had  formerly 
attempted  to  poison  his  mother-in-law;  and  that  he  was  concerned  with 
his  first-cousins,  John  Bodkin,  then  living,  and  Frank  Bodkin,  then  lately 
dead,  in  strangling  Dominick  Bodkin,  their  brother,  heir  of  the  late  Coun- 
sellor John  Bodkin,  of  Carobegg,  to  an  estate  of  nine  hundred  pounds  a 
year. 

When  thev  were  brought  to  trial,  John  Bodkin,  (the  parricide),  Domi- 
nick Bodkin,  and  John  Hogan,  pleaded  guilty ;  and  they  were  all 
condemned,  and  executed  at  Tuam  on  the  26th  of  JMarch,  1742.  The  head 
of  the  shepherd  vvas  fixed  on  Tuam  market-house,  and  the  bodies  of  the 
others  oibbeted  within  sight  of  the  house  where  the  murders  had  been 
committed. 

Upon  the  confession  of  John,  the  cousin  of  the  same  name  was  appre- 
hended for  the  murder  of  his  elder  brother,  Dominick  Bodkin,  and  accused  of 
sittincr  on  his  mouth  and  breast  ixntil  he  was  suffocated.  He  was  taken  in  a 
moss,  or  tiu*f  boo-,  near  Tuam,  covered  over  with  straw,  and  disguised  in  an 
old  hat  and  peasant's  clothes,  for  which  he  had  given  his  own  laced  coat  and 
hat.  Being  examined  before  Lord  Athenry,  he  said  that  he  had  fled  for 
fear  of  beino-  loaded  with  irons  in  a  jail,  and  denied  having  any  hand  in  his 
brother  Dominick's  death,  affirming  that  he  had  died  of  a  surfeit,  as  had 
been  reported.  He  was  present  at  the  execution  of  his  relations,  but  con- 
fessed nothing  ;  and  thus  (there  being  no  positive  proof  against  him)  he 
escaped  justice. 

A  case  in  which  more  cold-blooded  cruelty  has  been  displayed  than  in 
this,  has  seldom  fallen  under  our  notice.  The  murder  of  an  indulgent 
parent  must  be  insufferably  shocking  to  every  humane  mind  :  but  when  we 
consider,  as  in  the  present  instance,  what  a  variety  of  unprovoked  murders 
were  added  to  the  first,  the  mind  is  lost  in  astonishment  at  the  baseness, 
the  barbarity,  the  worse  than  savage  degeneracy  of  those  beings  v/ho 
could  perpetrate  such  horrid  deeds. 


'?z.a/^/i.^&^iu^(yu(!!'a!^^MXi^  ^„^.'>^?^ 


^ 

^ 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  107 

JONATHAN  BRADFORD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  details  of  this  case  reach  us  In  a  very  abridged  form  ;  and  we  have 
been  unable  to  collect  any  information  on  which  any  reliance  can  be  placed 
beyond  that  which  is  afforded  us  by  the  ordinary  channels.  It  would 
appear  that  Jonathan  Bradford  kept  an  inn  in  the  city  of  Oxford.  A  gen- 
tleman, (Mr.  Hayes),  attended  by  a  man  servant,  put  up  one  evening  at 
Bradford's  house  ;  and  in  the  night,  the  former  being  found  murdered  in 
his  bed,  the  landlord  was  apprehended  on  suspicion  of  having  committed 
the  barbarous  and  inhospitable  crime.  The  evidence  given  against  him  was 
to  the  following  effect : — Two  gentlemen  who  had  supped  with  Mr.  Hayes, 
and  who  retired  at  the  same  time  to  their  respective  chambers,  being 
alarmed  in  the  night  with  a  noise  in  his  room,  and  soon  hearing  groans  as 
of  a  wounded  man,  got  up  in  order  to  discover  the  cause,  and  found  their 
landlord,  with  a  dark  lantern  and  a  knife  in  his  hand,  standing  in  a  state  of 
astonishment  and  horror  over  his  dying  guest,  who  almost  instantly 
expired. 

On  this  evidence,  apparently  conclusive,  the  jury  convicted  Bradford, 
and  he  was  executed.  But  the  fate  of  this  man  may  serve  as  a  lesson  to 
jurymen  to  be  extremely  guarded  in  receiving  circumstantial  evidence. 

The  facts  attending  the  above  dreadful  tragedy  were  not  fully  brought 
to  light  until  the  death-bed  confession  of  the  real  murderer  ;  a  time  when 
we  must  all  endeavour  to  make  our  peace  with  God, 

Mr.  Hayes  was  a  man  of  considerable  property,  and  greatly  respected. 
He  had  about  him,  when  his  sad  destiny  led  him  under  the  roof  of  Brad- 
ford, a  considerable  sum  of  money  ;  and  the  landlord  knowing  this,  deter- 
mined to  murder  and  rob  him.  For  this  horrid  purpose  he  proceeded 
with  a  dark  lantern  and  a  carving-knife,  intending  to  cut  the  throat  of  his 
guest  while  yet  sleeping ;  but  what  must  have  been  his  astonishment  and 
confusion  to  find  his  intended  victim  already  murdered,  and  weltering  in 
his  blood  ! 

The  wicked  and  unworthy  servant  had  also  determined  on  the  murder 
of  his  master  ;  and  had  committed  the  bloody  deed,  and  secured  his  treasure, 
a  moment  before  the  landlord  entered  for  the  same  purpose. 


THE  EARL  OF  KILMARNOCK,  AND  LORD  BALMERINO. 

BEHEADED    FOR    HIGH    TREASON. 

A  SHORT  account  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  rebellion  of  1715 
having  been  given  in  this  work,  some  notice  will,  doubtless,  be  expected  of 
the  second  transaction  of  the  same  character,  and  v»'ith  the  same  object, 
which  occurred  in  the  year  1745. 

It  appears  that  the  Pretender  having  gained  the  protection  of  France, 
and  the  French  also  having  their  own  interests  to  serve,  it  was  determined 
that  a  second  attempt  to  restore  the  Stuarts  to  the  throne  of  England 
should  be  made  by  the  descent  of  a  body  of  men  upon  Scotland,  where  it 


108  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

was  conjectured  numbers  would  render  assistance,  which  was  eventually  to 
march  forward  towards  London,  and  expel  the  reigning  monarch.  The 
design  was  evidently  known  to  the  government,  from  an  allusion  made  to 
the  circumstance  by  tlie  king  in  his  speech  from  the  throne  on  the  2nd 
May,  1 745 ;  but  the  first  notice  whicli  the  British  public  had  of  the  pro- 
ceedings of  the  Pretender,  was  from  a  paragraph  in  tlie  General  Evening 
Post,  which  said,  "The  Pretender's  eldest  son  put  to  sea  July  14th,  from 
France,  in  an  armed  ship  of  sixty  guns,  provided  with  a  large  quantity  of 
warlike  stores,  together  with  a  frigate  of  thirty  guns  and  a  number  of 
smaller  armed  vessels,  in  order  to  land  in  Scotland,  where  he  expected  to 
find  twenty  thousand  men  in  arms,  to  make  good  his  father's  pretensions  to 
the  crown  of  Great  Britain.  He  was  to  be  joined  by  five  ships  of  the  line 
from  Bi-est ;  and  four  thousand  five  hundred  Spaniards  were  embarking  at 
Ferrol." 

The  government,  it  appears,  was  not  inactive  on  this  occasion,  and 
proper  instructions  were  given  to  such  of  the  king's  vessels  as  were  cruising 
in  the  Channel,  to  prevent  the  approach  of  any  ships  which  might  be  sup- 
posed to  carry  the  leader  of  this  rebellious  attempt. 

The  young  Pretender,  followed  by  about  fifty  Scotch  and  Irish  adven- 
turers, meanwhile,  came  incog,  through  Normandy,  and  embarked  on 
board  a  ship  of  war  of  eighteen  guns,  which  was  joined  off  Belloisle  by  the 
Elizabeth,  and  other  ships.  They  intended  to  liave  sailed  northwards,  and 
to  have  landed  in  Scotland ;  but  on  the  20th  they  came  up  with  an 
English  fleet  of  merchant- vessels,  under  convoy  of  the  Lion  man-of-war,  of 
fifty-eight  guns,  commanded  by  Captain  Brett,  who  immediately  bore  down 
upon  the  French  line-of-battle  ship,  which  he  engaged  within  pistol-shot 
five  hours,  being  constantly  annoyed  by  the  smaller  ships  of  the  enemy. 
The  riffginof  of  the  Lion  was  cut  to  pieces  ;  her  mizen-mast,  mizentop- 
mast,  main-yard  and  fore-topsail,  were  shot  away  ;  all  her  lower  masts  and 
topmasts  shot  through  in  many  places,  so  that'  she  lay  mu^ed  on  the 
sea,  and  could  do  nothing  with  her  sails.  Thus  situated,  the  French  ships 
sheered  off,  and  the  Lion  could  make  no  effort  to  follow  them.  Captain 
Brett  had  forty-five  men  killed:  himself,  all  his  lieutenants^  the  master, 
several  midshipmen,  and  one  hundred  and  seven  foremast-men,  wounded. 
His  principal  antagonist,  the  Elizabeth,  with  difficulty  got  back  to  Brest, 
quite  disabled,  and  had  sixty-four  men  killed,  one  hundred  and  thirty-nine 
dangerously  wounded,  and  a  number  more  slightly  injured.  She  had  on 
board  four  hundred  thousand  pounds  sterling,  and  arms  and  ammunition 
for  several  thousand  men. 

The  friends  of  the  Stuart  cause  in  Scotland  were  in  the  mean  time  as 
active  as  their  opponents,  and  committed  many  irregularities  for  the  pur- 
pose of  supplying  their  ranks  with  a  sufficient  number  of  soldiers  ;  and 
being  thus  prepared,  anxiously  expected  the  arrival  of  their  prince.  The 
latter  found  means  to  join  his  supporters  by  a  small  vessel,  in  which  he 
quitted  the  French  coast ;  and  eluding  the  vigilance  of  the  English  cruisers, 
he  landed  on  the  Isle  of  Skye,  opposite  to  Lochaber,  in  the  county  of  Inver- 
ness. After  a  lapse  of  about  three  weeks,  he  appeared  at  the  head  of  a 
body  of  two  thousand  men,  under  a  standard  bearing  the  motto  "  Tandem 
trinwphans" — "  At  length  triumphant,"  and  marching  his  army  to  Fort 
William,  he  there  published  a  manifesto,  signed  by  his  father  at  Rome, 
containing  many  promises  to  those  who  would  adhere  to  his  cause,  amongst 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  ]''9 

which  were  undertakmi^s  that  lie  would  procure  the  dissohition  of  tlie 
union  of  the  two  kingdoms,  and  the  payment  of  the  national  deht.  Tlie 
country  people  flocked  in  great  numhurs  to  his  standard ;  and  tlie  moh,  by 
which  he  was  followed,  soon  assumed  the  appearance,  in  numbers  at  least, 
of  an  army.  Tlieir  first  attempt  in  arms,  in  opposition  to  two  companies 
of  foot,  of  the  St.  Clair  and  INlurray's  regiments,  was  successful,  the  soldiers 
being  far  inferior  in  numbers  ;  and  the  rebels  immediately  marched  upon 
Perth,  and  having  taken  possession  of  that  place,  the  Pretender  issued  his 
orders  for  all  persons  who  held  public  money  to  pay  it  into  the  hands  of  his 
secretary.  Dundee  and  Dumblain  were  successively  seized  by  his  soldiers; 
and  at  length,  on  the  14th  September,  the  Pretender  proceeded  through 
the  Royal  Park  and  took  possession  of  Holyrood  House. 

The  money  in  the  bank  of  Edinburgh,  and  the  records  in  the  public 
offices,  were  now  removed  to  the  castle  for  security,  and  the  gates  of  the 
city  were  kept  fast  during  the  whole  day ;  but  five  hundred  of  the  rebels, 
having  concealed  themselves  in  the  suburbs,  took  an  opportunity,  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  follow  a  coach  which  was  going  in,  and  seizing 
the  gate  called  the  Netherbow,  they  maintained  their  ground,  while  the 
main  body  reached  the  centre  of  the  city,  and  formed  themselves  in  the 
Parliament  Close. 

Thus  possessed  of  the  Scottish  capital,  they  seized  two  thousand  stand 
of  arms,  and  on  the  following  day  marched  to  oppose  the  royal  army  under 
the  command  of  General  Cope.  The  two  armies  coming  in  sight  of  each 
other,  near  Preston  Pans,  on  the  evening  of  the  20th,  Colonel  Gardiner 
earnestly  recommended  it  to  the  general  to  attack  his  opponents  during  the 
night ;  but,  deaf  to  this  advice,  he  kept  the  men  under  arms  till  morning, 
though  they  were  already  greatly  harassed.  At  five  in  the  morning,  the 
rebels  made  a  furious  attack  on  the  royal  army,  which  was  thrown  into  un- 
speakable confusion  by  two  regiments  of  dragoons  falling  back  on  the  foot. 
Colonel  Gardiner,  with  five  hundred  foot,  behaved  with  uncommon  valour, 
and  covered  the  retreat  of  those  v*lio  fled ;  but  the  colonel  receiving  a 
mortal  wound,  the  rebels  made  prisoners  of  nearly  all  the  rest  of  the 
king's  troops. 

The  loss  thus  sustained  by  the  royal  army,  was  three  hundred  killed, 
four  hundred  and  fifty  wounded,  five  hundred  and  twenty  taken  prisoners, 
— total  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  seventy,  while  the  rebels  only  lost  fifty 
men  in  all.  Flushed  witli  this  partial  victory,  the  rebels  returned  to  Edin- 
burgh to  make  an  attack  upon  the  castle,  and  attempted  to  throw  up  an 
entrenchment  upon  the  hill ;  but  notice  having  been  given  to  the  inhabit- 
ants to  retire,  the  battery  was  attacked  by  the  guns  from  above,  the 
works  destroyed,  and  thirty  of  the  assailants  killed,  besides  three  of  the 
inhabitants  who  rashly  ventured  near  the  spot.  The  rebel  army  remained 
during  seven  weeks  in  this  city ;  and  many  noblemen  and  gentlemen  with 
their  followers  having  joined  it,  a  force  of  more  than  ten  thoiisand  men 
was  at  length  mustered.  In  November  they  marched  upon  Carlisle,  and 
after  some  resistance  had  been  shown,  it  was  surrendered,  and  the  insur- 
gents then  forced  their  way  to  Manchester,  where  a  regiment,  chiefly 
formed  of  Roman  Catholics,  was  raised. 

But  now  such  decisive  measures  were  taken  as  put  an  end  very  shortly  to 
the  insurrection.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland  was  at  this  time  in  Flanders, 
with  the  army,  but  being  sent  for  thence,  he  soon  arrived  to  take  the 


110  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

command  of  the  royal  forces.  About  the  time  he  reached  London,  the 
rebels  had  advanced  as  far  as  Derby ;  but  his  royal  highness  lost  no  time 
in  travelling  into  Staffordshire,  wliere  he  collected  all  the  force  he  could, 
to  stop  their  farther  inroads  into  the  kingdom. 

Liverpool  had  not  been  behind  London  in  spirit  and  loyalty.  The 
inliabitants  contributed  largely  in  assisting  the  royal  army,  at  this  incle- 
ment season,  with  warm  clothing,  and  raised  several  companies  "of  armed 
men,  which  were  called  the  Royal  Liverpool  Blues.  Some  of  the  advanced 
parties  of  rebels  having  appeared  in  sight  of  the  town,  every  preparation 
was  made  to  resist  them  ;  but,  finding  at  length  that  the  Pretender  bent 
his  march  by  another  route  for  Manchester,  the  Liverpool  Blues  marched 
in  order  to  destroy  the  bridges,  and  thereby  impede  their  progress. 

Notwithstanding  these  impediments,  the  rebels  crossed  the  Mersey  at 
different  fords,  through  which  the  Pretender  waded  breast-high  in  water. 
Their  numbers  could  not  be  accurately  ascertained,  their  march  being 
straggling  and  unequal,  but  about  ninethousand  appeared  to  be  the  aggregate. 
Their  train  of  artillery  consisted  of  sixteen  field-pieces  of  three  and  four 
pound  shot,  two  carriages  of  gunpowder,  a  number  of  covered  waggons, 
and  about  one  hundred  horses,  laden  with  ammunition.  Their  van-guard 
consisted  of  about  two  hundred  cavalry,  badly  mounted,  the  horses  appearing 
poor  and  jaded.  The  Pretender  himself  constantly  marched  on  foot,  at 
the  head  of  two  regiments,  one  of  which  was  appropriated  as  his  body- 
guard. His  dress  was  a  light  plaid,  belted  about  with  a  sash  of  blue  silk : 
he  wore  a  grey  wig,  with  a  blue  bonnet,  and  a  white  rose  in  it,  and 
appeared  very  dejected  at  this  time.  His  followers  were  ordinary,  except 
the  two  regiments  mentioned,  which  appeared  to  have  been  picked  out  of 
the  whole.  The  arms  of  the  others  were  very  indifferent.  Some  had 
gims,  others  only  pistols,  the  remainder  broad-swords  and  targets.  In 
order  to  deceive  the  Duke  of  Cumberland,  all  sorts  of  reports  as  to  the 
future  route  of  the  rebels  were  sent  abroad,  but  the  King's  troops  were 
concentrated  at  Northampton,  a  spot  well  suited  for  the  purpose,  as  it  was 
the  road  which  it  was  most  probable  would  be  taken,  in  the  event  of  the 
Pretender  advancing  upon  London,  which  was  known  to  be  his  real 
intention.  Meanwhile  the  rebels  appeared  unconscious  of  the  danger  tliey 
were  bringing  upon  themselves  by  delay,  and  they  remained  during  a 
considerable  time  endeavouring  to  raise  recruits.  They  at  lengtli,  however, 
set  forward  on  their  march  southwards,  but  they  had  not  advanced  more 
than  a  mile  before  they  halted,  held  a  consultation,  wheeled  round,  and 
retraced  their  steps  to  Derby.  Having  there  seized  all  the  plunder  they 
could  lay  their  hands  upon,  they  passed  en,  seeking  to  regain  Scotland, 
fthere  they  had  learned  that  their  friends  had  been  joined  by  some  French 
troops.  The  Duke  of  Cumberland,  in  the  mean  time,  being  aware  of  their 
fiight,  followed  them  with  all  speed,  and  learning  that  they  had  been  com- 
pelled to  halt  at  Preston,  from  excessive  weariness,  he  redoubled  his  efforts  to 
come  up  Avitli  them.  By  forced  marches,  travelling  through  ice  and  snow, 
he  succeeded  in  reaching  Preston  in  three  days,  but  he  found  that  his 
game  had  retired  about  four  hours  before  him.  The  Pretender  soon  learned 
that  the  excesses,  of  which  his  men  had  been  guilty  in  tlieir  southward 
march,  were  not  to  go  unpunished,  and  wherever  he  went  he  found  liimself 
opposed  and  harassed  by  the  enraged  country  people,  wlio  lost  no  oppor- 
tunity of  annoying  him  in  his  retreat,  and  of  seizing  the  stragglers  from  hia 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  Ill 

army.  At  length,  however,  after  repeated  forced  marches  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland  came  up  with  his  antagonists  at  Lowther  Hall  ;  and  the  latter 
dreading  his  approach,  immediately  threw  themselves  into  the  village  of 
Clifton,  three  miles  from  Penryth.  They  were  there  attacked  most 
vigorously  and  successfully  by  the  dragoons,  who  had  dismounted,  and  in 
about  an  hour's  time  they  were  driven  away  from  tlie  post  which  they 
occupied.  They  retreated  forthwith  to  Carlisle,  which  was  still  in  their 
possession  ;  but  the  continued  advance  of  the  royal  troops  induced  them 
again  to  retire,  leaving  only  a  garrison  to  oppose  the  entry  of  the  Duke 
into  that  city.  The  besieged  fired  upon  their  assailants  with  great  fury, 
but  did  little  execution ;  and  at  length  a  battery  having  been  raised  against 
them,  they  sent  out  a  flag  of  truce,  and  surrendered  upon  terms  that  they 
should  not  be  put  to  the  sword,  but  reserved  for  the  king's  pleasure,  and 
thus  Carlisle  was  once  more  taken  possession  of  by  the  troops  of  his 
majesty. 

The  army  of  rebels  made  the  best  of  their  way  now  to  Glasgow,  where 
they  levied  contributions,  and  thence  to  Stirling,  which  was  in  possession 
of  the  English,  and  was  commanded  by  the  gallant  General  Blakeney. 
The  gates  could  not  be  defended,  and  they  therefore  marched  in,  and 
summoned  the  garrison  to  surrender ;  but  the  veteran  commander  answered 
that  "  he  would  perish  in  its  ruins  rather  than  make  terms  with  rebels." 
In  the  river  of  the  town  were  two  English  men-of-war  ;  and  the  rebels,  in 
order  to  pi-event  their  going  farther  up,  erected  a  battery,  but  the  ships 
soon  destroyed  it,  and  caused  them  to  retreat  a  mile,  where  they  erected 
another,  but  did  little  execution.  They  now  prepared  for  a  vigorous 
attack  upon  the  castle,  got  some  heavy  pieces  of  ordnance  across  the 
Forth,  erected  a  battery  against  it,  and  called  in  all  their  forces.  General 
Blakeney  fired  upon  them,  and  repeatedly  drove  them  from  their  works. 
General  Hawley,  in  aid  of  his  brother  general,  at  the  head  of  such  troops 
as  he  could  form  in  order  of  battle,  marched  to  attempt  to  raise  the  siege  ; 
but  the  rebels  made  a  desperate  attack,  and,  aided  by  accident,  obtained 
the  advantage.  Repeated  skirmishes  subsequently  took  place,  but  at 
length  this  system  of  warfare,  so  destructive  to  the  general  state  of  the 
country,  was  terminated  by  the  decisive  victory  gained  by  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  at  tlie  head  of  the  Royal  forces,  at  the  battle  of  Culloden. 
The  Pretender,  at  the  head  of  his  army,  opposed  the  Duke,  and  the 
following,  taken  from  the  London  Gazette,  is  the  conqueror's  account  of 
the  battle : — 

"  On  Tuesday  the  15th  of  April  the  rebels  burnt  Fort  Augustus,  which 
convinced  us  of  their  resolution  to  stand  an  engagement  with  the  King's 
troops.  We  gave  our  men  a  day's  halt  at  Nairn,  and  on  the  IGth  marched 
from  thence,  between  four  and  five,  in  four  columns.  The  three  lines  of 
foot  (reckoning  the  reserve  for  one)  were  broken  into  three  from  the  right, 
which  made  the  three  columns  equal,  and  each  of  five  battalions.  The 
artillery  and  baggage  followed  the  first  column  upon  the  right,  and  the 
cavalry  made  the  fourth  column  on  the  left.  After  we  had  marched  about 
eight  miles,  our  advanced  guard,  composed  of  about  forty  of  Kingston's, 
and  the  Highlanders,  led  by  the  quarter-master-general,  perceived  the 
rebels  at  some  distance,  making  a  motion  towards  us  on  the  left,  upon 
which  we  immediately  formed ;  but  finding  the  rebels  were  still  a  good 
way  from  us,   we  put  ourselves  again  upon    our  march  in   our  former 


112  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

posture,  and  continued  it  to  within  a  mile  of  them,  where  we  formed  in  tne 
same  order  as  before.  After  reconnoitring  their  situation,  we  found  them 
posted  behind  some  old  walls  and  Iiuts,  in  a  line  with  Culloden  House. 
As  we  thought  our  right  entirely  secure,  General  Hawley  and  General 
Bland  went  to  the  left  with  two  regiments  of  dragoons,  to  endeavour  to 
fall  upon  the  right  flank  of  the  rebels ;  and  Kingston's  horse  was  ordered 
to  the  reserve.  The  ten  pieces  of  cannon  were  disposed,  two  in  each  of 
the  intervals  of  the  first  line ;  and  all  our  highlanders  (except  140,  which 
were  upon  the  left  with  General  Hawley,  and  who  behaved  extremely 
well)  were  left  to  guard  the  baggage.  When  we  were  advanced  within 
oOO  yards  of  the  rebels,  we  found  the  morass  upon  our  right  was  ended, 
which  left  our  right  flank  quite  uncovered  to  them ;  his  Royal  Highness 
thereupon  immediately  ordered  Kingston's  horse  from  the  reserve,  and  a 
little  squadron  of  about  sixty  of  Cobham's,  which  had  been  patroUinor,  to 
cover  our  ilank.  We  spent  about  half  an  hour  after  that,  trying  which 
should  gain  the  flank  of  the  other ;  and  his  Royal  Highness  having  sent 
Lord  Bury  forward  within  a  hundred  yards  of  the  rebels,  to  reconnoitre 
something  that  appeared  like  a  battery  to  us,  they  thereupon  began  firinor 
their  cannon,  which  was  extremely  ill-pointed  and  ill-served;  ours  answered 
them,  which  began  their  confusion.  They  then  came  running  on,  in  their 
wild  manner,  and  upon  the  right,  where  his  Royal  Highness  had  placed 
himself,  imagining  the  greatest  push  would  be  there,  they  came  down 
three  several  times  within  a  yard  of  our  men,  firing  their  pistols,  and 
brandishing  their  swords  ;  but  the  Royals  and  Pulteney's  hardly  took 
their  firelocks  from  their  shoulders,  so  that  after  those  first  attempts  they 
made  off,  and  the  little  squadrons  on  our  right  were  sent  to  pursue  them 
General  Hawley  had,  by  the  help  of  our  Highlanders,  beat  down  two  littl 
stone  walls,  and  came  in  upon  the  right  flank  of  their  second  line.  As  their 
whole  body  came  down  to  attack  at  once,  their  right  somewhat  outflanked 
Burrel's  regiment,  which  was  our  left ;  and  the  greatest  part  of  the  little 
loss  we  sustained  was  there ;  but  Bligh's  and  Sempil's  giving  a  fire  upon 
those  who  had  outflanked  Burrel's,  soon  repulsed  them  ;  and  Burrel's 
regiment,  and  the  left  of  Monro's,  fairly  beat  them  with  their  bayonets. 
There  was  scarce  a  soldier  or  ofiicer  of  Burrel's,  and  of  that  part  of  ^Monro's 
which  engaged,  who  did  not  kill  one  or  two  men  each  with  their  bayonets 
and  spontoons.  *  The  cavalry,  which  had  charged  from  the  right  and 
left,  met  in  the  centre,  except  two  squadrons  of  dragoons,  which  we  missed, 
and  they  were  gone  in  pursuit  of  tlie  runaways.  Lord  Ancram  was 
ordered  to  pursue  with  the  horse  as  far  as  he  could  ;  and  did  it  with  so 
good  effect  that  a  very  considerable  number  was  killed  in  the  pursuit.  As 
we  were  on  our  march  to  Inverness,  and  were  nearly  arrived  there,  Major- 
General  Bland  sent  the  annexed  papers,  which  he  received  from  the  French 
officers  and  soldiers,  surrendering  themselves  prisoners  to  his  Royal  High- 
ness. Major-General  Bland  had  also  made  great  slaughter,  and  took 
about  fifty  French  oflicers  and  soldiers  prisoners  in  his  pursuit.  By  the 
best  calculation  that  can  be  made,  it  is  thought  the  rebels  lost  two  thousand 
men  upon  the  field  of  battle  and  in  the  pursuit.  We  have  here  one  hundred 
and  twenty-two  French  and  three  hundred  and  twenty-six  rebel  prisoners. 
Lieutenant-Colonel  Howard  killed  an  officer,  who  appeared  to  be  Lord 
Strathallan,   by  the  seal   and   different  commissions  from  the  Pretender 

*  The  officers'  half-pikes. 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  113 

found  in  his  pocket.  It  is  said  Lord  Perth,  Lords  Nairn,  Lochiel,  Kep]»ock, 
and  Appin  Stuart,  are  also  killed.  All  their  artillery  and  ammunition 
were  taken,  as  well  as  the  Pretender's,  and  all  their  baggage.  There  were 
also  twelve  colours  taken.  All  the  generals,  officers,  and  soldiers,  did  their 
utmost  duty  in  his  Majesty's  service,  and  showed  the  greatest  zeal  and 
bravery  on  this  occasion.  The  Pretender's  son,  it  is  said,  lay  at  Lord 
Lovat's  house  at  Aird  the  niolit  after  the  action.  Brigadier  Mordaunt  is 
detached  with  nine  hundred  volunteers  this  morning  into  the  Frasers' 
country,  to  attack  all  the  rebels  he  may  find  there.  Lord  Sutherland's 
and  Lord  Reay's  people  continue  to  exert  themselves,  and  have  taken 
upwards  of  one  hundred  rebels,  who  are  sent  for ;  and  there  is  great  reason 
to  believe  Lord  Cromartie  and  his  son  are  also  taken.  The  Monroes  have 
killed  fifty  of  the  rebels  in  their  flight.  As  it  is  not  known  where  the 
greatest  bodies  of  them  are.  or  which  way  they  have  taken  in  their  flight, 
his  Royal  Highness  has  not  yet  determined  which  way  to  march.  On 
the  17th,  as  his  Royal  Highness  Avas  at  dinner,  three  officers,  and  about 
sixteen  of  Fitz- James's  regiment,  who  were  mounted,  came  and  surrendered 
themselves  prisoners.  The  killed,  wounded,  and  missing,  of  the  King's 
troops,  amoimt  to  above  three  hundred.  The  French  officers  will  be  all 
sent  to  Carlisle,  till  his  Majesty's  pleasure  shall  be  known.  The  rebels, 
by  their  own  accounts,  make  their  loss  greater  by  two  thousand  men  than 
we  have  stated  it.  Four  of  their  principal  ladies  are  in  custody,  viz.  Lady 
Ogilvie,  Lady  Kinloch,  Lady  Gordon,  and  the  Laird  of  M'Intosh's  wife. 
Major  Grant,  the  governor  of  Inverness,  is  retaken,  and  the  Generals 
Hawley,  Lord  Albemarle,  Huske,  and  Bland,  have  orders  to  inquire  into 
the  reasons  for  his  surrendering  of  Fort  George.  Lord  Cromartie,  Lord 
M'Leod  his  son,  with  other  prisoners,  are  just  brought  in  from  Suther- 
land, by  the  Hound  sloop,  which  his  Royal  Highness  has  sent  for  them  ; 
and  they  are  just  now  landing." 

Soon  after  this  affair,  several  other  rebel  chiefs  were  taken  into 
custody;  and  on  the  28th  July  1746,  at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  the  rebel  lords  were  taken  from  the  Tower  to  Westminster  Hall, 
to  be  tried  by  their  peers.  The  Eai'l  of  Kilmarnock  and  the  Earl  of 
Cromartie  pleaded  guilty  ;  but  Lord  Balmerino  having  denied  the  oft'ence 
imputed  to  him,  six  witnesses  were  called,  by  whom  his  guilt  was  clearly 
established,  and  a  verdict  was  returned  accordingly.  On  the  1st  August 
the  peers  were  brought  up  for  judgment,  when  the  Lord  High  Steward 
pronounced  sentence  of  death,  in  terms  very  like  those  used  in  the  case  of 
Earl  Cowper,  after  the  former  rebellion. 

Great  interest  being  exerted  to  save  the  earls,  it  was  hinted  to  Balme- 
rino that  his  friends  ought  to  exert  themselves  in  his  behalf ;  to  which, 
with  great  magnanimity,  he  only  replied  :  "  I  am  very  indiff^erent  about  my 
own  fate ;  but  had  the  two  noble  earls  been  my  friends,  they  woiild  have 
squeezed  my  name  in  among  theirs." 

The  Countess  of  Cromartie,  who  had  a  very  large  family  of  young  chil- 
dren, was  incessant  in  her  applications  for  the  pardon  of  her  husband  ;  to 
obtain  which  she  took  a  very  plausible  method  :  she  procured  herself  to  be 
introduced  to  the  late  Princess  of  Wales,  attended  by  her  children  in 
mourning,  and  urged  her  suit  in  the  most  suppliant  terms.  The  princess 
had  at  that  time  several  children.  Such  an  argument  couM  scarcely  fail  to 
move ;  and  a  pardon  was  granted  to  Lord  Cromartie  on  the  condition  tliat 

VOL.   I.  Q 


114  THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

he  should  never  reside  north  of  the  river  Trent.  This  condition  wis 
literally  complied  with ;  and  his  lordship  died  in  Soho-square  in  the  year 
1766. 

On  the  18th  of  August  1746,  at  six  o'clock  in  the  morning,  a  troop  of 
life-guards,  one  of  horse-grenadiers,  and  one  thousand  of  the  foot-guards, 
marched  from  the  parade  in  St.  .James's  Park,  through  the  city  to  Towei*- 
hill,  to  attend  the  execution  of  the  Earl  of  Kilmarnock  and  Lord  Balmerino; 
and  being  arrived  there,  were  posted  in  lines  from  the  Tower  to  the  scaffold, 
and  all  round  it.  About  eight  o'clock  the  sheriffs  of  London,  with  their 
under-sheriffs  and  officers,  met  at  the  J\litre  tavern,  in  Fenchurch-street, 
where  they  breakfasted  ;  and  went  from  thence  to  the  house  lately  the 
Transport  Office,  Tower-hill,  where  they  remained  until  the  necessary  pre- 
parations for  the  execution  were  made.  At  eleven  o'clock  they  demanded 
the  bodies  of  the  peers  of  the  constable  of  the  Tower,  and  they  were  directly 
brought  forth  in  procession,  followed  by  mourning-coaches  and  two  hearses. 

The  lords  were  conducted  into  separate  apartments  in  the  house,  facing 
the  steps  of  the  scaffold,  their  friends  being  admitted  to  see  them.  The 
Earl  of  Kilmarnock  was  attended  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Foster,  a  dissenting 
minister,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Hume,  a  near  relation  of  the  Earl  of  Hume. 
The  chaplain  of  the  Tower  and  another  clergyman  of  the  church  of  England 
accompanied  the  Lord  Balmerino.  The  latter,  on  entering  the  door  of  the 
house,  hearing  several  of  the  spectators  ask  eagerly,  "  Which  is  Lord 
Balmerino?"  answered,  smiling,  "I  am  Lord  Balmerino,  gentlemen,  at 
your  service."  The  parlour  and  passage  of  the  house,  the  rails  enclosing 
the  way  from  thence  to  the  scaffold,  and  the  rails  about  it,  were  all  hung 
with  black  at  the  sheriffs'  expense.  Lord  Kilmarnock,  in  the  apartment 
allotted  to  him,  spent  about  an  hour  in  his  devotions  with  Mr.  Foster,  who 
assisted  him  with  prayer  and  exhortation.  After  which.  Lord  Balmerino, 
pursuant  to  his  request,  was  admitted  to  confer  with  the  earl. 

After  a  short  conversation  relating  to  some  report  as  to  the  Pretender's 
orders  at  the  battle  of  Culloden,  they  separated,  the  Lord  Balmerino 
saluting  the  noble  earl  with  the  same  high-minded  courtesy  which  had 
been  before  remarked  in  him.  The  Earl  of  Kilmarnock  then  joined  in 
prayer  with  those  around  him,  and  afterwards  he  took  some  refreshment. 
He  expressed  a  wish  tliat  Lord  Balmerino  should  go  to  the  scaffold  first  ; 
but  being  informed  that  this  was  impossible,  as  he  was  named  first  in  the 
warrant,  he  immediately  acquiesced  in  the  arrangement  which  had  been 
made,  and  with  his  friends  proceeded  to  the  place  of  execution.  There  was 
an  immense  crowd  collected,  and  on  their  seeing  him  they  exhibited  the 
greatest  commiseration  and  pity.  The  earl  being  struck  with  the  variety 
of  dreadful  objects  which  presented  themselves  to  him  at  once,  exclaimed  to 
Mr.  Hume,  "  This  is  terrible  !  but  he  exhibited  no  sign  of  fear,  nor  did  he 
^ven  change  countenance  or  tremble  in  his  voice.  After  putting  up  a  short 
prayer,  concluding  with  a  petition  for  his  majesty  King  George  and  the 
royal  family,  his  lordship  embraced  and  took  leave  of  his  friends.  The 
executioner  was  so  affected  by  the  awfulness  of  the  scene,  that  on  his 
asking  pardon  of  the  prisoner,  he  burst  into  tears.  The  noble  earl,  how- 
ever, bid  him  take  courage,  and  presenting  him  with  five  guineas,  told  him 
that  he  would  drop  his  handkerchief  as  a  signal  to  him  to  strike.  He  then 
proceeded,  with  the  help  of  his  gentlemen,  to  make  ready  for  the  block,  by 
takiag  off  his  coat,  and  the  bag  from  his  hair,  which  was  then  tucked  up 


k 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  115 

under  a  napkin  cap.  His  neck  being  laid  bare,  tucking  down  the  collar  of 
his  shirt  and  waistcoat,  he  kneeled  down  on  a  black  cushion  at  the  block, 
and  drew  his  cap  over  his  eyes  ;  and  in  doing  this,  as  well  as  in  putting  up 
his  hair,  his  hands  were  observed  to  shake.  Either  to  support  himself,  or 
for  a  more  convenient  posture  of  devotion,  he  happened  to  lay  both  his 
hands  upon  the  block,  which  the  executioner  observing,  prayed  his  lord- 
ship to  let  them  fall,  lest  they  should  be  mangled  or  break  the  blow.  He 
was  then  told  that  the  neck  af  his  waistcoat  was  in  the  way,  upon  which 
lie  rose,  and  with  the  help  of  a  friend,  took  it  off;  and  the  neck  being  made 
bare  to  the  shoulders,  he  kneeled  down  as  before.  In  the  mean  time,  when 
all  things  were  ready  for  the  execution,  and  the  black  baize  which  hung 
over  the  rails  of  the  scaffold  had,  by  direction  of  the  colonel  of  the  guard, 
or  the  sheriffs,  been  turned  up,  that  the  people  might  see  all  the  circum- 
stances of  the  execution,  in  about  two  minutes  after  he  kneeled  down,  his 
lordship  dropped  his  handkerchief,  and  the  executioner  at  once  severed  his 
head  from  his  body,  except  only  a  small  part  of  the  skin,  which  was  imme- 
diately divided  by  a  gentle  stroke.  The  head  was  received  in  a  piece  of  red 
baize,  and,  with  the  body,  immediately  put  into  the  coffin.  The  scaffold 
was  then  cleared  from  the  blood,  fresh  sawdust  strewed,  and  that  no 
appearance  of  a  former  execution  might  remain,  the  executioner  changed 
such  of  his  clothes  as  appeared  bloody. 

While  tliis  was  doing,  the  Lord  Balmerino,  after  having  solemnly  recom- 
mended himself  to  the  mercy  of  the  Almiglity,  conversed  cheerfully  with 
his  friends,  refreshed  himself  twice  with  a  bit  of  bread  and  a  glass  of  wine, 
and  desired  the  company  to  drink  to  him,  acquainting  them  that  "  he  had 
prepared  a  speech,  which  he  should  read  on  the  scaffold,  and  therefore 
should  now  say  nothing  of  its  contents."  The  under-sheriff"  coming  into 
his  lordship's  apartment  to  let  him  know  the  stage  was  ready,  he  prevented 
him  by  immediately  asking  if  the  affair  was  over  with  the  Lord  Kilmar- 
nock ;  and  being  answered,  "  It  is,"  he  inquired  how  the  executioner  had 
performed  his  office.  Upon  receiving  the  account,  he  said  it  was  well 
done  ;  and  then,  addressing  himself  to  the  company,  said,  "  Gentlemen,  I 
shall  detain  you  no  longer;"  and  with  an  easy  unaffected  cheerfulness, 
saluted  his  friends,  and  hastened  to  the  scaffold,  which  he  mounted  with  so 
unconstrained  an  aii"  as  astonished  the  spectators.  His  lordship  was  dressed 
in  his  regimentals,  (a  blue  coat  turned  up  with  red,  trimmed  with  brass 
buttons,)  the  same  which  he  wore  at  the  battle  of  Culloden.  No  circum- 
stance in  his  whole  deportment  showed  the  least  sign  of  fear  or  regret ;  and 
he  frequently  reproved  his  friends  for  discovering  either  upon  his  account. 
He  walked  several  times  round  the  scaffold,  bowed  to  the  people,  went  to 
his  coffin,  read  the  inscription,  and,  with  a  nod,  said,  "  It  is  right."  He 
then  examined  the  block,  which  he  called  his  "  pillow  of  rest."  His  lord- 
ship, putting  on  his  spectacles,  and  taking  a  paper  out  of  his  pocket,  read  it 
with  an  audible  voice  :  but  so  far  from  its  being  fiUed  with  passionate 
invectives,  it  mentioned  his  majesty  as  a  prince  of  the  greatest  magnani- 
mity and  mercy,  at  the  same  time  that,  through  erroneous  political  prin- 
ciples, it  denied  him  a  right  to  the  allegiance  of  his  people.  Having 
delivered  this  paper  to  the  sheriff,  he  called  for  the  executioner,  and  on  his 
being  about  to  ask  his  lordship's  pardon,  he  said,  "  Friend,  you  need  not 
ask  me  forgiveness,  the  execution  of  your  duty  is  commendable."  Upon 
this  his  lordship  gave  him  tliree  guineas,  saying.   "•  I  never  was  rich  ;  this 


lib  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

is  all  the  money  I  have  now  ;  I  wish  it  was  more,  and  I  am  sorry  I  can  add 
nothing  to  it  but  my  coat  and  waistcoat ;"  which  he  then  took  off,  together 
with  iiis  neckcloth,  and  threw  them  on  his  coffin,  putting  on  a  flannel 
waistcoat  which  had  been  provided  for  the  purpose ;  and  then  taking  a 
plaid  cap  out  of  his  pocket,  he  put  it  on  his  head,  saying  he  died  a  Scotchman. 
After  kneeling  down  at  the  block  to  adjust  his  posture,  and  show  the  execu- 
tioner the  signal  for  the  stroke,  which  was  dropping  his  arms,  be  once  more 
gave  a  farewell  look  to  his  friends,  and  turning  round  on  the  crowd,  said, 
"  Perhaps  some  may  think  my  behaviour  too  bold  ;  but  remember,  sir, 
(to  a  gentleman  who  stood  near  him,)  that  I  now  declare  it  is  the  effect 
of  a  confidence  in  God,  and  a  good  conscience  ;  and  I  should  dissemble  if  I 
«howed  any  signs  of  fear." 

Having  observed  the  axe  in  the  executioner's  hand  as  he  passed  him,  he 
now  took  it  from  him,  felt  the  edge,  and,  returning  it,  clapped  the  execu- 
tioner on  the  shoulder  to  encourage  him  ;  he  even  tucked  down  the  collar 
of  his  shirt  and  waistcoat,  and  showed  him  where  to  strike,  desiring  him  to 
do  it  resolutely,  "for  in  that,"  says  his  lordship,  "  will  consist  your  kindness." 

He  afterwards  went  to  the  side  of  the  stage  and  called  up  the  warder,  of 
whom  he  inquired  which  was  his  hearse,  and  ordered  the  man  to  drive 
near,  which  was  instantly  done. 

Immediately,  without  trembling  or  changing  countenance,  he  again 
kneeled  down  at  the  block,  and  having,  with  his  arms  stretched  out,  said, 
"  O  Lord,  reward  my  friends,  forgive  my  enemies,  and  receive  my  soul,"  he 
gave  the  signal  by  letting  them  fall.  But  his  uncommon  firmness  and 
intrepidity,  with  the  unexpected  suddenness  of  the  signal,  so  surprised  the 
executioner,  that  though  he  struck  the  part  directed,  the  blow  was  not 
given  with  strength  enough  to  wound  him  very  deeply.  It  was  observed 
that  he  moved  as  if  he  made  an  effort  to  turn  his  head  towards  the  execu- 
tioner, and  the  under  jaw  fell,  and  returned  very  quick,  like  anger  and 
gnashing  the  teeth  ;  but  this  arose  from  the  parts  being  convulsed,  and  a 
second  blow  immediately  succeeding  the  first,  rendered  him  quite  insensible 
and  a  third  finished  the  work. 

His  head  was  received  in  a  piece  of  red  baize,  and,  with  his  body,  put 
mto  a  coffin,  which,  at  his  particular  request,  together  with  that  of  the 
Earl  of  Kilmarnock,  was  placed  on  that  of  the  late  ^Marquis  of  TuUibardine 
(who  died  during  his  imprisonment,)  in  St.  Peter's  church  in  the  Tower 
all  three  lords  lying  in  one  grave. 


MATTHEW  HENDERSON. 

EXECVTED    FOR   THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    MISTRESS,    LADY    DALRYMPLE. 

This  offender  was  the  son  of  honest  parents,  and  was  born  at  North 
Berwick,  in  Scotland,  where  he  was  educated  in  the  liberal  manner  customary 
in  that  country. 

At  tke  age  of  fourteen  years  he  was  taken  into  the  employment  of  Sir 
Hugh  Dalrymple,  a  member  of  the  British  parliament,  whom  he  accom- 
panied to  London  ;  and  it  was  while  in  his  service  that  he  was  guilty  of 
the  murder  of  his  mistress.  It  appears  that  at  the  time  at  which  he 
committed  this  oti'ence  he  was  in  his  twenti*  th  j  ear,  and  having  accidentally 


THE    NEAV     iNEWGATE    CALENDAR.  117 

^ven  offence  to  liis  lady,  by  treading  on  her  toe,  she  rebuked  him  in  no 
very  gentle  manner.  Offended  by  the  insult  which  he  conceived  he  had 
received,  he  determined  to  obtain  a  deep  revenge  ;  and  seeking  an  oppor- 
tunity, during  the  absence  of  his  master  from  London,  he  proceeded  to  put 
his  intention  into  execution  by  murdering  his  mistress. 

For  this  offence  he  was  brought  to  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey,  on  the  22d 
April  1746,  when  he  pleaded  guilty,  and  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  on 
the  following  Monday,  the  25th  of  the  same  month.  On  the  night  before 
his  execution  he  made  a  confession  of  his  crime,  from  which  the  following 
particulars  are  taken : — Having  called  the  Almighty  to  witness  the  truth 
of  his  assertion,  he  proceeded  to  enter  into  a  history  of  his  early  life, 
alleging  that  he  had  always  been  well  treated  by  his  master  and  mistress, 
for  whom  he  entertained  the  most  sincere  respect.  On  the  evening  of  the 
25th  March  1746,  all  the  other  servants  having  quitted  the  house,  he 
proceeded  to  bed  in  the  apartment  which  was  appropriated  to  his  use. 
He  had  pulled  off  his  shoes,  and  had  tied  tip  his  hair  with  his  garter, 
when  suddenly  the  thought  came  into  his  head  that  he  would  kill  his 
mistress.  He  directly  went  into  the  kitchen  in  search  of  an  instrument  to 
effect  his  object,  and  he  took  a  small  iron  cleaver ;  but,  returning  to  his 
chamber,  he  sat  during  a  period  of  twenty  minutes,  considering  whether 
he  should  commit  the  murder  or  not.  His  heart  relented  when  he 
remembered  that  his  mistress  had  been  so  kind  to  him  ;  but  then  he 
thought  that  there  was  no  one  in  the  house  who  could  hear  him,  and  he 
determined  upon  perpetrating  the  deed.  Impelled  by  a  feeling  which  he 
could  not  control,  he  rushed  up  stairs  as  far  as  the  first  landing-place,  but 
there  he  tarried,  and  in  his  alarm  returned  to  his  bed-room.  Again  he 
felt  determined  upon  the  course  which  he  had  originally  pi-oposed,  and 
again  he  had  ascended  the  stairs  on  his  way  to  his  mistress's  room,  but 
once  more  he  felt  irresolute.  To  use  his  own  expression,  he  had  now 
determined  not  to  commit  the  murder,  but  "  the  devil  was  so  busy  within 
him,"  that,  in  an  agony  of  emotion,  he  was  unable  to  prevail  against  an 
inward  feeling,  which  drove  him  again  towards  his  lady's  room.  Once 
he  retired, — but  once  again  he  advanced, — and  he  had  now  reached  the 
door,  by  which  only  he  was  separated  from  the  object  upon  which  he  was 
about  to  connnit  the  foul  crime,  of  which  in  the  sequel  he  was  guilty. 
Had  that  door  been  locked  all  would  have  been  well, — but  no,  the  latch 
turned  easily  in  his  hand,  and  he  stood  within  a  yard  of  his  victim.  Still 
be  could  not  kill  her,  and  in  trepidation  and  alarm  he  crept  back  as  far  as 
the  stair-head.  Again  he  felt  the  devil  at  w^ork,  and  once  more  he  was 
driven  onwards  to  his  fate.  He  entered  the  room  a  second  time,  and  could 
distinctly  hear  the  respirations  of  the  unfortunate  lady ;  he  opened  the 
curtains  softly,  and  fancied  he  could  see  the  outline  of  her  figure.  Had 
he  had  a  light,  he  was  convinced  he  could  never  have  killed  her.  At 
length,  however,  urged  by  an  irresistible  impulse,  he  raised  the  cleaver, 
and  yet,  hesitating,  he  made  as  many  as  thirteen  or  fourteen  motions  in 
the  air  before  he  could  determine  to  strike  her, — but  then  he  let  the 
murderous  instrument  fall  with  redoubled  force  upon  her  head.  The 
unhappy  lady  attempted  to  escape,  but  without  effect,  for  he  followed  up 
the  frightful  wound  which  he  had  first  inflicted  with  others  still  more 
dreadful,  until  at  last  she  sunk  exhausted  on  the  floor  and  died.  The  only 
words  which  he  heard  her  utter  were — "  Oh  Lord  !  what  is  this?"    And 


118  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

when  she  died,  she  rattled  very  much  in  the  throat.  He  was  so  alarmed 
at  this  that  he  ran  down  stairs,  and  threw  the  chopper  in  the  privy  ;  and 
when  he  had  returned  to  his  own  room,  the  thought  struck  him  that  he 
would  rob  the  house.  The  idea  had  no  sooner  entered  his  head  than  he 
resolved  to  put  it  into  execution,  and,  striking  a  light,  he  returned  to  his 
mistress's  room.  He  took  away  some  articles  of  jewellery  from  the  drawers; 
but  while  he  was  occupied  in  finding  them,  he  fancied  that  he  heard  the 
death-rattle  still  in  his  lady's  throat,  and  he  would  have  given  the  world 
to  have  been  able  to  recal  what  had  passed. 

When  he  had  purloined  all  that  he  thought  was  of  any  value,  he  ran 
out  of  the  house  ;  and  as  he  passed  through  Holborn,  he  heard  tlie  watch- 
man cry  "  Past  one  o'clock,"  from  which  he  knew  that  it  was  more  than 
an  hour  since  he  had  first  contemplated  the  murder.  He  concealed  the 
articles  vrhich  he  had  stolen  in  the  lodgings  of  a  female  of  his  acquaintance, 
and  returned  home ;  but  on  his  arrival  at  the  door  he  found  that  he  had 
shut  himself  out.  He  waited  until  the  maid-servant  came  at  six  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  then,  on  their  entering  the  house,  appearances  were 
perceptible,  which  induced  the  girl  to  suppose  that  there  had  been  some 
strangers  in  the  house.  On  her  going  up  stairs  she  found  that  her  mistress 
had  been  murdered,  and  she  directly  conveyed  information  of  the  circum- 
stance to  the  police,  when  Henderson  being  at  once  suspected,  he  was  taken 
into  custody,  and  confessed  his  guilt. 

The  sentence  was  carried  out  in  its  terms  ;  and  the  body  of  the  wretched 
young  man,  after  execution,  was  hung  in  chains  in  the  Edgeware-road 


CHARLES  RATCLIFFE,  ESQ. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

This  gentleman  was  a  party  to  the  designs  of  the  Jacobinical  lords 
whose  execution  we  have  detailed,  and  was  taken  by  the  Sea-horse  frigate  on 
his  passage  to  Scotland  to  join  the  rebel  forces.  He  had  been  concerned  in 
the  rebellion  of  1715,  and  would  then  have  been  pardoned,  but  with  fifteen 
others  he  escaped  out  of  Newgate,  and  went  to  France.  He  afterwards 
lived  in  London,  but  was  not  molested  ;  but  subsequently  again  joining  the 
design  of  the  Pretender,  and  being  seized,  he  was  tried  whether  he  was 
the  same  person  who  had  been  before  convicted,  and  was  found  to  be  the 
same.  He  therefore  received  sentence  of  death,  and  was  beheaded  on 
Tower-hill,  on  the  8th  of  December  1746.  This  prisoner  was  one  of  the 
brothers  of  the  Earl  of  Derwentwater,  who  was  executed  in  1 7 1 6,  as  before 
detailed  ;  and  they  were  the  sons  of  Sir  Francis  Ratclifte,  by  Lady  Mary 
Tudor,  natural  daughter  of  Charles  the  Second,  by  Mrs.  Mary  Davis. 


LORD    LOVAT. 

BEHEADED    FOR    HIGH    TREASON. 

This  lord,  who  in  1715  had  been  a  supporter  of  the  House  of  Hanover, 
in  1745  changed  sides,  and  became  a  friend  of  the  party  which  he  had 
before  opposed. 

His  career  in  life  began  in  the  year  1692,  when  he  was  appointed  a 
captain  in  Lord  TuUibardine's  regiment,  but  he  resigned  his  commission 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  119 

in  order  to  prosecute  his  claim  to  be  the  Chief  of  the  Frasers ;  in 
order  to  ettect  which,  he  laid  a  scheme  to  get  possession  of  the  heiress 
of  Lovat,  who  was  about  to  be  married  to  a  son  of  Lord  Salton.  He 
raised  a  clan,  who  violently  seized  the  young  lord,  and,  erecting  a 
gibbet,  showed  it  to  him  and  his  fiither,  threatening  their  instant 
death  unless  they  relinquished  the  contract  made  for  the  heiress  of 
Lovat.  To  this,  fearing  for  their  lives,  they  consented ;  but  still  unable  to 
get  possession  of  the  young  lady,  he  seized  the  dowager  Lady  Lovat  in  her 
own  house,  caused  a  priest  to  marry  them  against  her  consent,  cut  her 
stays  open  with  his  dirk,  and,  assisted  by  his  ruffians,  tore  off  her  clothes, 
forced  her  into  bed,  to  which  he  followed  her,  and  then  called  his  companions 
to  witness  the  consummation  of  the  outrageous  marriagre.  For  this  breach  of 
the  peace  he  was  indicted,  but  fled  from  justice  ;  but  he  was,  nevertheless, 
tried  for  a  rape,  and  for  treason,  in  opposing  the  laws  with  an  armed  force  ; 
and  sentence  of  outlawry  was  pronounced  against  him.  Having  fled  to 
France,  he  turned  papist,  ingratiated  himself  with  the  Pretender,  and  was 
rewarded  by  him  with  a  commission  ;  but  he  was  apprehended  on  the 
remonstrance  of  the  English  ambassador  in  Paris,  and  lodged  in  the 
Bastile,  where  having  remained  some  years,  he  procured  his  liberty  by 
taking  priest's  orders,  under  colour  of  which  he  became  a  Jesuit  in  the 
college  of  St.  Omer's. 

In  the  first  rebellion  of  1715  he  returned  to  Scotland,  and  joining  the 
king's  troops,  assisted  them  in  seizing  Laverness  from  the  rebels  ;  for  which 
service  he  got  the  title  of  Lovat,  was  appointed  to  command,  and  had  other 
favours  conferred  upon  him.  In  the  rebellion  of  which  we  are  now  treat- 
ing, he  turned  sides,  and  joined  the  Pretender ;  a  step  treacherous  in  the 
extreme.  When  taken,  he  was  old,  unwieldy,  and  almost  helpless  ;  although 
in  that  condition  he  had  been  possessed  of  infinite  resources  to  assist  the 
rebellion.  He  petitioned  the  Duke  of  Cumberland  for  mercy  ;  and,  hoping 
to  work  upon  his  feelings,  recapitulated  his  former  services,  the  favours 
that  he  had  received  from  the  duke's  grandfather.  King  George  I.,  and 
dwelt  much  upon  his  access  to  court,  saying  "  he  had  carried  him  to  whom 
he  now  sued  for  life  in  his  arms,  and,  when  a  baby,  held  him  up,  while  his 
grandsire  fondled  upon  him." 

On  the  9th  March  1747,  however,  he  was  taken  from  the  Tower  to 
Westminster  Hall  for  trial,  and  the  evidence  adduced  clearly  proving  his 
guilt  to  be  of  no  ordinary  character,  he  was  convicted.  He  was  next  day 
brought  up  for  judgment,  and  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced. 

That  tliis  sentence  was  not  ill  deserved,  appears  from  a  speech  of  Lord 
Belhaven,  delivered  in  the  last  parliament,  held  in  Edinburgh  in  1706,  in 
which  his  lordship,  speaking  of  this  nobleman,  then  Captain  Fraser,  on 
occasion  of  the  Scots  plot,  commonly  called  Eraser's  plot,  says  "  That  he 
deserved,  if  practicable,  to  have  been  hanged  five  several  times,  in  five 
different  places,  and  upon  five  different  accounts  at  least ;  as  having  been 
notoriously  a  traitor  to  the  court  of  St.  James's,  a  traitor  to  the  court  of 
St.  Germain's,  a  traitor  to  the  court  of  Versailles,  and  a  traitor  to  his  own 
country  of  Scotland ;  in  being  not  only  an  avowed  and  restless  enemy  to 
the-  peace  and  quiet  of  its  established  government  and  constitution,  both 
in  church  and  state,  but,  likewise,  a  vile  Proteus-like  apostate,  and  a 
seducer  of  others  in  point  of  religion,  as  the  tide  or  wind  changed  :  and, 
moreover,  that  (abstracted  from  all  those,  his  multiplied  acts  of  treason, 


120  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR 

abroad  and  at  home)  lie  deserved  to  be  hanged  as  a  condemned  criminal, 
outlaw,  and  fugitive,  for  the  barbarous,  cruel,  and  most  flagitious  rape,  he 
had,  with  the  assistance  of  some  of  his  vile  and  abominable  band  of  ruffians, 
violently  committed  on  the  body  of  a  right  honourable  and  virtuous  lady, 
the  widow  of  the  late  Lord  Lovat,  and  sister  of  his  Grace  the  late  Duke 
of  Athol.  Nay,  so  hardened  was  Captain  Fraser,  that  he  audaciously 
erected  a  gallows,  and  threatened  to  hang  thereon  one  of  the  said  lady's 
brothers,  and  some  other  gentlemen  of  quality,  who  accompanied  him  in 
goinor  to  rescue  him  out  of  that  criminal's  cruel  hand." 

On  the  morning  fixed  for  his  execution,  9th  April  1747,  Lord  Lovat, 
who  was  now  in  his  80th  year,  and  very  large  and  unwieldy  in  his  person, 
awoke  at  about  three  o'clock,  and  was  heard  to  pray  with  great  devotion. 
At  five  o'clock  he  arose,  and  asked  for  a  glass  of  wine  and  water,  and  at 
eight  o'clock,  he  desired  that  his  wig  might  be  sent,  that  the  barber  might 
have  time  to  comb  it  out  genteelly,  and  he  then  provided  himself  with  a 
purse  to  hold  the  money  which  he  intended  for  the  executioner.  At  about 
half-past  nine  o'clock  he  ate  heartily  of  minced  veal,  and  ordered  that  his 
friends  might  be  provided  with  cofiee  and  chocolate,  and  at  eleven  o'clock 
the  sheriti's  came  to  demand  his  body.  He  then  requested  his  friends  to 
retire  while  he  said  a  short  prayer ;  but  he  soon  called  them  back,  and  said 
that  he  was  ready. 

At  the  bottom  of  the  first  pair  of  stairs.  General  Williamson  invited 
him  into  his  room  to  rest  himself,  which  he  did,  and,  on  his  entrance,  paid 
his  respects  to  the  company  politely,  and  talked  freely.  He  desired  of  the 
general,  in  French,  that  he  might  take  leave  of  his  lady,  and  thank  her  for 
her  civilities :  but  the  general  told  his  lordship,  in  the  same  language,  that 
she  was  too  much  aifected  with  his  lordship's  misfortunes  to  bear  the  shock 
of  seeing  him,  and  tlierefore  hoped  his  lordship  would  excuse  her.  He  then 
took  his  leave,  and  proceeded.  At  the  door  he  bowed  to  the  spectators, 
and  was  conveyed  from  thence  to  the  outer  gate  in  the  governor's  coach, 
where  he  was  delivered  to  the  sheriffs,  who  conducted  him  in  another 
coach  to  the  house  near  the  scaffold,  in  which  was  a  room  lined  with  black 
cloth,  and  hung  with  sconces,  for  his  reception.  His  friends  were  at  first 
denied  entrance ;  but,  upon  application  made  by  his  lordship  to  the  sheriffs 
for  their  admittance,  it  was  granted.  Soon  after,  liis  lordship,  addressing 
himself  to  the  sheriffs,  thanked  them  for  the  favour,  and,  taking  a  paper 
out  of  his  pocket,  delivered  it  to  one  of  them,  saying  he  should  make  no 
speech,  and  that  they  might  give  the  word  of  command  when  they  pleased. 
A  gentleman  present  beginning  to  read  a  prayer  to  his  lordship  while  he 
was  sitting,  he  called  one  of  the  warders  to  help  him  up,  that  he  might 
kneel.  He  then  prayed  silently  a  short  time,  and  afterwards  sat  again  in 
his  chair.  Being  asked  by  one  of  the  sheriffs  if  lie  would  refresh  himself 
with  a  glass  of  wine,  he  declined  it,  because  no  warm  water  could  be  had 
to  mix  with  it,  and  took  a  little  burnt  brandy  and  bitters  in  its  stead.  He 
requested  that  his  clothes  might  be  delivered  to  his  friends  with  his  corpse, 
and  said  for  that  reason  he  should  give  the  executioner  ten  guineas.  He 
also  desired  of  the  sheriffs  that  his  head  might  be  received  in  a  cloth,  and 
put  into  the  coffin,  which  the  sheriffs,  after  conferring  with  some  gentlemen 
present,  promised  should  be  done ;  as  also  that  the  holding  up  the  head  at 
the  corners  of  the  scaffold  should  be  dispensed  with,  as  it  had  been  of  late 
years  at  the  execution  of  lords.     When  his  lordship  was  going  up  the  steps 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  121 

to  the  scaffold,  assisted  by  two  warders,  he  looked  round,  and,  seeing  so 
great  a  concourse  of  people,  "  God  save  us,"  says  lie,  "  why  should  there 
be  such  a  bustle  about  taking  off  an  old  grey  head,  that  cannot  get  up 
4hree  steps  without  three  bodies  to  supjwrt  it?" 

Turnino-  about,  and  observing  one  of  his  friends  much  dejected,  he 
clapped  him  on  the  shoulder,  saying,  "  Cheer  up  thy  heart,  man  !  I  am  not 
afraid  ;  why  sliould  you  be  so  ?"  As  soon  as  he  came  upon  the  scaffold, 
he  asked  for  the  executioner,  and  presented  him  with  ten  guineas  in  a 
purse,  and  then,  desiring  to  see  the  axe,  he  felt  the  edge,  and  said,  "  he 
believed  it  would  do."  Soon  after,  he  rose  from  the  chair  which  was  placed 
for  him,  and  looked  at  the  inscription  on  his  coffin,  and  on  sitting  down 
again,  he  repeated  from  Horace, 

"  Dulce  et  decorum  est  pro  patria  mori  ;  " 

and  afterwards  from  Ovid, 

"■  Nam  genus  et  proavos,  et  quae  noii  fecimus  ipsi, 
Vix  ea  nostra  voco  " — 

He  then  desired  all  the  people  to  stand  off,  except  his  two  warders,  who 
supported  his  lordship  while  he  said  a  prayer ;  after  which,  he  called  liis 
solicitor  and  agent  in  Scotland,  Mr.  W.  Fraser,  and,  presenting  his  gold- 
headed  cane,  said,  "  I  deliver  you  this  cane  in  token  of  my  sense  of  your 
faithful  services,  and  of  my  committing  to  you  all  the  power  I  have  upon 
earth,"  and  then  embraced  him.  He  also  called  for  Mr.  James  Fraser,  and 
said,  "  My  dear  James,  I  am  going  to  heaven  ;  but  you  must  continue  to 
crawl  a  little  longer  in  this  evil  world."  And,  taking  leave  of  both,  he 
delivered  his  hat,  wig,  and  clothes,  to  Mr.  William  Fraser,  desiring  him 
to  see  that  the  executioner  did  not  touch  them.  He  ordered  his  cap  to  be 
put  on,  and,  unloosing  his  neckcloth  and  the  collar  of  his  shirt,  kneeled 
down  at  the  block,  and  pulled  the  cloth  which  was  to  receive  his  head 
close  to  him.  But,  being  placed  too  near  the  block,  the  executioner  desired 
him  to  remove  a  little  further  back,  wliich,  with  the  warders'  assistance, 
was  immediately  done ;  and,  his  neck  being  properly  placed,  he  told  the 
executioner  he  would  say  a  short  prayer,  and  then  give  the  signal  by 
dropping  his  handkerchief,  in  this  posture  he  remained  about  half  a 
minute,  and  then,  throwing  his  handkerchief  on  the  floor,  the  executioner 
at  one  blow  cut  off"  his  head,  which  was  received  in  the  cloth,  and,  with  his 
body,  was  put  into  the  coffin,  and  carried  in  a  hearse  back  to  the  Tower, 
where  it  was  interred  near  the  bodies  of  the  other  lords. 

His  lordship  professed  himself  a  papist,  and,  at  his  request,  was  attended 
by  Mr.  Baker,  attached  to  the  chapel  of  the  Sardinian  ambassador ;  and 
though  he  insisted  nuich  on  the  services  he  had  done  the  royal  family  in  1715, 
yet  he  declared,  but  a  few  days  before  his  death,  that  he  had  been  concerned 
in  all  the  schemes  formed  for  restoring  the  house  of  Stuart  since  he  was 
fifteen  years  old. 

This  nobleman's  ixitellectual  powers  seem  to  have  been  considerable,  and 
his  learning  extensive.  He  spoke  Latin,  French,  and  English,  fluently, 
and  other  modern  languages  intelligibly.  He  studied  at  Aberdeen,  and 
disputed  his  philosophy  in  Greek  ;  and,  though  he  was  educated  a  pro- 
testant,  yet,  after  three  years'  study  of  divinity  and  controversy,  he  turned 
papist.  He  maintained  an  appearance  of  that  facetious  disposition  for 
which   he  was  remarkable,  to  the  last ;  and  seems  to  have  taken  great 

VOL.  I.  R 


122  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CAIiENDATl. 

pains  to   quit  the  stage,  not  only  with  decency,  but  with  that  dignity 
wliich  is  thought  to  distinguish  the  good  conscience  and  the  noble  mind. 

The  following  lines  upon  the  execution  of  these  noblemen  are  said  tc 
have  been  repeated  with  great  energy  by  Dr.  Johnson,  although  there 
appears  to  be  no  ground  for  supposing  that  they  were  the  Doctor's  own  com- 
position.    They  first  appeared  in  the  Gentleman's  Magazine  : 

"  Pitied  by  gentle  minds,  Kilmarnock  died  ; 

The  brave,  Balmeiino,  were  on  thy  side  ; 

Ratcliffe,  unhappy  in  his  crimes  of  youth, 

Steady  in  what  he  still  mistook  for  truth, 

Beheld  his  deatli  so  decently  unmoved, 

The  soft  lamented,  and  the  brave  approved. 

But  Lovat's  end  indifferently  we  view, 

True  to  no  king,  to  no  religion  true  : 

No  fair  forgets  the  ruin  he  has  done  ; 

No  child  laments  the  tyrant  of  his  son  ; 

No  Tory  pities,  thinking  what  lie  was  ; 

No  Whig  compassions,  for  he  left  the  cause  ; 

The  brave  regret  not,  for  he  was  not  brave  , 

The  honest  mourn  not,  knowing  him  a  knave." 


FEANCIS  TOAYNLEY,  JAMES  DAWSON,  AND  OTHERS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    HIGH    TREASOX. 

These  prisoners  were  parties  to  the  same  plot,  and  all  of  them  held  ranks  in 
the  Pretender's  anuy.  Dawson  had  paid  addresses  to  a  young  lady,  to  whom 
he  was  to  have  been  married  immediately  after  his  enlargement,  if  the  solici- 
tations thatweremade  for  his  pardonhad  been  attended  with  the  desired  effect. 

The  circumstance  of  his  love,  and  the  melancholy  that  was  produced  by 
his  death,  are  so  admirably  treated  in  the  following  ballad  of  Shenstone, 
that  Dawson's  story  will  probably  be  remembered  and  regretted  when  that 
of  the  rest  of  the  rebels  will  be  forgotten, 

JEMMY  DAWSON  t  A  BALLAD. 

Come  listen  to  my  mournful  tale, 

Ye  tender  hearts  and  lovers  dear, 
Nor  will    you  scorn  to  heave  a  sigh, 

Nor  will  you  blush  to  shed  a  tear. 

And  thou,  dear  Kitty,  peerless  maid. 

Do  thou  a  pensive  ear  incline  ; 
For  canst  thou  weep  at  every  woe. 

And  pity  every  'plaint,  but  mine? 

Young  Dawson  was  a  gallant  youth, 

A  lighter  never  trod  the  plain  ; 
And  well  he  loved  one  charming  maid, 

And  dearly  was  he  loved  again. 

One  tender  maid,  she  loved  him  dear, 

Of  gentle  blood  the  damsel  came  ; 
And  faultless  was  her  beauteous  form, 

And  spotless  was  her  virgin  fame. 

But  curse  on  parties'  hateful  strife. 

That  led  the  ftiithful  youth  asti-ay ! 
Tiie  day  the  rebel  clans  appear' d — 

(Oh  !   had  he  never  seen  tliat  day  !) 


THE   NEAV    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR.  123 

Tlieir  colours  and  their  sash  he  wore, 

And  in  their  fatal  dress  was  found  ; 
And  now  he  must  that  death  endure 

Which  gives  the  brave  the  keenest  wound. 

TTow  pale  was  then  his  true-love's  cheek 

When  Jemmy's  sentence  reach'd  her  ear  ! 
For  never  yet  did  Alpine  snows 

So  pale  nor  yet  so  chill,  appear. 

"  Yet,  might  sweet  mercy  find  a  place, 

And  bring  relief  to  Jemmy's  woes, 
O  George  !  without  a  prayer  for  thee 

My  orisons  should  never  close. 

"  The  gracious  prince  that  gives  him  life 

Would  crown  a  never-dying  flame  ; 
And  every  tender  babe  I  bore 

Should  learn  to  lisp  the  giver's  name. 

"  But  though,  dear  youth,  thou  shouldst  be  drasf'i 

To  yonder  ignominious  tree, 
Thou  shall  not  want  a  faithful  friend 

To  share  thy  bitter  fate  vvith  thee." 

O,  then  her  mourning- coach  was  call'd  ; 

The  sledge  moved  slowly  on  before  ; — 
Though  borne  in  a  triumphal  car. 

She  had  not  loved  her  favourite  more. 

She  follow'd  him,  prepared  to  view 

The  terrible  behests  of  law  ; 
And  the  last  scene  of  Jemmy's  woes, 

With  calm  and  steadfast  eyes  she  saw. 

Distorted  was  that  blooming  face 

Which  she  had  fondly  loved  so  long. 
And  stifled  was  that  tuneful  breath 

Which  in  her  praise  had  sweetly  sung; 

And  sever'd  was  that  beauteous  neck 

Round  which  her  arms  had  fondly  closed  : 
And  mangled  was  that  beauteous  breast 

On  which  her  love-sick  head  reposed  ;  — 

And  ravish'd  was  that  constant  heart 

She  did  to  every  heart  prefer ; 
For.  though  it  could  his  king  forget, 

'Twas  true  and  loyal  still  to  her. 

Amidst  those  unrelenting  flames 

She  bore  this  constant  heart  to  see  ; 
But,  when  'twas  moulder'd  into  dust, 

"Yet,  yet,"  she  cried,  "  I'll  follow  theei 

"  My  death,  my  death,  can  only  show 

The  pure  and  lasting  love  I  bore  : 
Accept,  O  Heaven  !   of  woes  like  ours. 

And  let  us — let  us  weep  no  more." 

The  dismal  scene  was  o'er  and  past. 

The  lover's  mournful  hearse  retired  ; 
The  maid  drew  back  her  languid  head, 

And,  sighing  forth  his  name,  expired. 

Though  justice  ever  must  prevail, 

The  tear  my  Kitty  sheds  is  due  ; 
For  seldom  shall  we  hear  a  tale 

So  sad,  so  tender,  and  so  true. 


\94  THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

Tliese  offenders  were  hanged  on  Kennlngton  Common.  They  had  not 
hunof  above  five  minutes  when  Townley  was  cut  down,  being  yet  alive: 
and  his  body  being  placed  on  the  block,  the  executioner  chopped  off  his 
head  witli  a  cleaver.  His  heart  and  bowels  were  then  taken  out,  and 
thrown  into  the  fire ;  and  the  other  parties  being  separately  treated  in  the 
same  manner,  the  executioner  cried  out,  "  God  save  King  George  !" 

The  bodies  were  quartered,  and  delivered  to  the  keepers  of  the  New  Jail, 
who  buried  them  :  the  heads  of  some  of  the  parties  were  sent  to  Carlisle 
and  jNlanchester,  where  they  were  exposed ;  but  those  of  Townley  and 
another  were  fixed  on  Temple  Bar,  and  after  remaining  some  time,  fell  dov«i. 

It  would  be  useless  to  attempt  to  enumerate  the  other  persons  whose 
crimes  and  misfortunes  at  this  time  consigned  them  to  the  gibbet ;  but  some 
account  of  the  escape  of  the  Pretender  may  not  be  uninteresting.  It  would 
appear  that  the  battle  of  Culloden  having  decided  the  fate  of  his  causa 
w^here  the  Pretender  had  his  horse  shot  imder  him  by  one  of  the  king's 
troopers  as  he  was  endeavouring  to  rally  his  soldiers,  he  retired  to  the  house 
of  a  factor  of  Lord  Lovat,  at  about  ten  miles  from  Inverness,  where  he  met 
with  that  lord  and  supped  with  him.  After  supper  he  started  on  his 
journey  to  Fort  Augustus,  and  next  day  went  on  to  Invergarry,  A  boy, 
whom  he  found  there  caught  him  a  salmon  and  he  dined,  and  afterwards 
waited  for  some  of  his  troops,  who  had  promised  to  meet  him  there.  Being 
disappointed,  however,  in  his  object,  he  proceeded  to  Lockharciage,  and 
he  arrived  there  on  the  18th  of  April,  at  about  two  in  the  morning,  and 
slept,  but  at  five  he  set  out  on  foot,  and  travelled  through  the  Glen  of 
Morar,  where  he  arrived  at  four  the  next  morning.  He  reached  Arrashag 
in  twelve  hours  after,  and  was  there  joined  by  Captain  O'Xeil  on  the  27th, 
who  informed  him  that  his  cause  was  hopeless,  and  recommended  him, 
therefore,  to  sail  at  once  for  France.  One  Donald  I\I'Leod  was  engaged  to 
hire  a  ship,  and  on  tlie  28th  the  Chevalier  went  on  board  an  eight-oared 
boat,  in  company  with  Sullivan  and  O'Neil,  ordering  the  people  who 
belono-edto  the  boat  to  make  the  best  haste  they  could  to  Stornoway,  where 
it  was  proposed  they  should  take  ship.  The  night  proving  very  tem- 
pestuous, thev  all  begged  of  him  to  go  back,  which  he  would  not  do  ;  but 
to  keep  up  the  spirits  of  the  people,  he  sang  them  a  Highland  song.  The 
weather  growing  worse  and  worse,  about  seven  in  the  morning  of  the  29th, 
thev  were  driven  on  shore  on  a  point  of  land  called  Rushness,  in  the  island 
of  Benbecula,  where,  when  they  got  on  shore,  the  Pretender  helped  to  make  a 
fire  to  warm  the  crew,  who  were  almost  starved  to  death  with  cold.  On  the 
30th,  at  six  in  the  evening,  they  set  sail  again  for  Stornoway,  but  meeting  with 
another  storm,  were  obliged  to  put  into  the  island  of  Scalpa,  in  the  Harris, 
where  they  all  went  on  shore  to  a  farmer's  house,  passing  for  merchants  that 
vere  ship\\Tecked  in  tlieirvoyage  to  the  Orkneys:  the  Pretender  and  Sullivan 
going  by  the  name  of  Sinclair,  the  latter  passing  for  the  father,  and  the 
former  for  his  son.  They  thought  proper  to  send  from  thence  to  Stornoway, 
with  instructions  to  freight  a  ship  for  the  Orkneys ;  and  on  the  3d  of  3Iay  they 
x-eceived  a  message  that  a  ship  was  ready.  On  the  4th  they  set  out  for  that 
place,  where  they  arrived  on  the  5th  about  noon,  but  meeting  with  their 
messenger,  Donald  31'Leod,  they  found  that  he  had  got  into  company,  and 
told  a  friend  of  his  for  whom  he  had  hired  the  ship  ;  upon  whicli  tliere  were 
two  hundred  people  in  arms  at  Stornoway,up()n  a  report  that  the  Pretender 
was  landed  with  five  hundred  men,  and  was  coming  to  burn  the  town;  so  that 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  125 

they  were  obliged  to  lie  all  nignt  upon  the  moor,  witli  no  other  refreshment 
than  biscuit  and  brandy.  On  the  6th  they  resolved  to  go  in  the  eiglit- 
oared  boat  to  the  Orkneys ;  but  the  crew  refused  to  venture,  so  that  they 
were  obliged  to  steer  south  along  the  coast-side,  where  they  met  with  two 
English  ships  ;  and  this  compelled  them  to  put  into  a  desert  island,  where 
they  remained  till  the  10th,  without  any  provision  but  some  salt  fish  they 
found  upon  the  place.  About  ten  in  the  morning  of  that  day  they 
embarked  for  the  Harris,  and  at  break  of  day  on  the  ilth  tliey  were 
chased  by  an  English  vessel,  but  made  their  escape  among  the  rocks. 
About  four  in  the  afternoon  they  arrived  on  theisland  of  Benbecula,  where  they 
remained  till  the  l4th,  and  then  they  set  out  for  the  mountain  of  Currada,  in 
South  Uist,  where  they  staid  till  the  militia  of  the  Isle  of  Skye  came  to  the 
island  of  Irasky.  They  now  sailed  for  the  island  of  Uia,  where  they  remained 
three  nights,  till,  having  intelligence  that  the  militia  were  coming  towards 
Benbecula,  they  immediately  got  into  their  boat,  and  sailed  for  Lochbus- 
dale.  Being  met,  however,  by  some  ships  of  war,  they  were  obliged  to 
return  to  Lochagnart,  and  at  night  sailed  for  Lochbusdale ;  upon  arriving 
at  which  place  they  staid  eight  days  on  a  rock,  making  a  tent  of  the  sail 
of  the  boat.  They  found  themselves  here  in  a  most  dreadful  situation ; 
for,  having  intelligence  that  Captain  Scott  had  landed  at  Kilbride,  they 
were  obliged  to  separate,  and  the  Pretender  and  O'Neil  went  to  the 
mountains,  wliere  they  remained  all  night,  and  soon  after  were  informed 
that  General  Campbell  was  at  Bernary ;  so  that  now  they  had  forces  very 
near  on  both  sides  of  them,  and  were  absolutely  at  a  loss  wliich  way  to 
move.  In  their  road  they  met  with  a  young  lady,  one  Miss  M'Donald, 
to  whom  Captain  O'Neil  proposed  assisting  the  Pretender  to  make  his 
escape,  which  at  first  she  refused ;  but,  upon  his  oflFering  to  put  on  women's 
clothes,  she  consented,  and  desired  them  to  go  to  the  mountain  of  Currada 
till  she  sent  for  them.  They  accordingly  there  staid  two  days ;  but 
hearing  nothing  from  tlie  young  lady,  the  Pretender  concluded  slie  would 
not  keep  her  word,  and  therefore  resolved  to  send  Captain  O'Neil  to 
General  Campbell,  to  let  him  know  he  was  willing  to  surrender  to  him  ; 
but  about  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  a  message  came  from  the  young  lady, 
desiring  them  to  meet  her  at  Rushness.  Being  afraid  to  pass  by  the  Ford, 
because  of  the  militia,  they  luckily  fovind  a  boat,  which  carried  them  to 
the  other  side  of  Uia,  where  they  remained  part  of  the  next  day,  afraid  of 
being  seen  by  the  country  people.  In  the  evening  they  set  out  for  Rush- 
ness, and  arrived  there  at  twelve  at  night ;  but  not  finding  the  young  lady, 
and  being  alarmed  by  a  boat  full  of  militia,  they  were  obliged  to  retire  two 
miles  back,  where  the  Pretender  remained  on  a  moor  till  O'Neil  went  to 
the  young  lady,  and  prevailed  upon  her  to  come  to  the  place  appointed  at 
night-fall  of  the  next  day.  About  an  hour  after,  they  had  an  account  of 
General  Campbell's  arrival  at  Benbecula,  which  obliged  them  to  move  to 
another  part  of  the  island,  where,  as  the  day  broke,  they  discovered  four 
sail  close  on  the  shore,  making  directly  up  to  the  place  where  they  were  ; 
so  that  there  was  nothing  left  for  them  but  to  throw  themselves 
among  the  heath.  When  the  wherries  were  gone,  they  resolved  to  go  to 
Clanronald's  house  ;  but  when  they  were  within  a  mile  of  it,  they  heard 
General  Campbell  was  there,  which  forced  them  to,  retreat  again.  The 
young  Pretender  having  at  length,  with  the  assistance  of  Captain  O'Neil, 
found  IMiss  M'Donald  in  a  cottage  near  the  place  appointed,  it  was  there 
determined  that  he  should  put  on  women's  clothes  and  pass  for  her  waiting- 


126  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

maid.  This  being  done,  he  took  leave  of  Sullivan  and  O'Neil  with  great 
regret,  who  departed  to  shift  for  themselves,  leaving  him  and  his  new 
mistress  in  the  cottage,  where  they  continued  some  days,  during  which  she 
cured  him  of  the  itch.  Upon  intelligence  that  General  Campbell  was 
gone  further  into  the  country,  they  removed  to  her  cousin  s,  and  spent  the 
night  in  preparing  for  their  departure  to  the  Isle  of  Skye  :  and  they  set  out 
the  next  morning  for  that  place,  with  only  one  man-servant,  named  M'-Lean, 
and  two  rowers.  During  their  voyage  they  were  pursued  by  a  pmall 
vessel ;  but  a  thick  fog  rising,  they  arrived  safe  at  midnight  in  that  island, 
and  landed  at  the  foot  of  a  rock,  where  the  lady  and  her  maid  waited  while 
iier  man  IM'Lean  went  to  see  if  Sir  Alexander  M'Donald  was  at  home. 
M'Lean  found  his  way  thither,  but  lost  it  in  returning ;  and  his  mistress 
and  her  maid,  after  in  vain  expecting  him  the  whole  night,  were  obliged 
in  the  morning  to  leave  the  rock,  and  go  in  the  boat  up  the  creek  to  some 
distance,  to  avoid  the  militia  which  guarded  the  coast.  They  went  on 
shore  again  about  ten  o'clock,  and,  attended  by  the  rowers,  inquired  the 
way  to  Sir  Alexander's.  When  they  had  gone  about  two  miles,  they  met 
M'Lean  ;  and  he  told  his  lady  that  Sir  Alexander  was  with  the  Duke  of 
Cumberland,  but  his  lady  was  at  home,  and  would  do  them  all  the  service 
she  could.  They  then  immediately  discharged  their  boat,  and  went  directly 
to  the  house,  where  they  remained  two  days,  being  always  in  her  ladyship's 
chamber,  except  at  night,  to  prevent  a  discovery.  But  a  party  of  the 
M'Leods,  having  intelligence  that  some  strangers  were  arrived  at  Sir 
Alexander's,  and  knowing  his  lady  to  be  well  affected  to  the  Pretender, 
came  thither,  and  demanding  to  see  the  new-comers,  were  introduced  to 
]\Iiss's  chamber,  where  she  sat  with  her  new  maid.  The  latter,  hearing 
the  militia  were  at  the  door,  had  the  presence  of  mind  to  get  up  and  open 
it,  which  occasioned  his  being  the  less  noticed  ;  and  after  they  had  narrowly 
searched  the  chests,  they  withdrew.  The  inquiry,  however,  alarmed  the 
youncr  lady,  and  the  next  day  she  sent  her  apparent  maid  to  a  steward  of 
Sir  Alexander's :  but  hearing  that  his  being  in  the  island  was  known,  he 
removed  to  Macdonald's,  at  Kingsborough,  ten  miles  distant,  where  he 
remained  but  one  day  ;  for  on  receiving  intelligence  that  it  was  rumoured 
that  he  was  disguised  in  a  woman's  habit,  JIacdonald  furnished  him  with 
a  suit  of  his  own  clothes,  and  he  went  in  a  boat  to  M'Leod's  at  Raza.  No 
prospect  of  escaping  to  France,  however,  presented  itself  there,  and  he 
returned  to  the  Isle  of  Skye,  being  thirty  miles,  with  no  attendant  but  a 
ferryman,  IM'Leod  assuring  him  that  the  elder  Laird  of  Mackinnon  would 
there  render  him  all  the  service  in  his  power.  On  his  reaching  M'Kinnon's, 
the  old  man  instantly  knew  him,  and  advised  him  to  go  to  Lochaber ; 
and  he  accordinoly  proceeded  thither  in  a  vessel  procured  for  that  pur- 
pose. M'Donald,  at  the  head  of  one  hundred  resolute  Highlanders,  then 
appeared  to  assist  him,  and  after  roving  about  with  them  from  place  to 
place,  he  at  length  removed  to  Badenoch.  He  was  there  very  much 
harassed  by  the  King's  troops,  and  losing  many  of  his  men  in  the  skirmishes 
which  daily  took  place,  they  were  at  length  obliged  to  disperse ;  and  the 
Pretender,  with  Lochiel  of  Barrisdale  and  some  others,  skulked  about 
m  Moidart.  Here  they  received  information  that  two  French  privateers 
were  at  anchor  in  Lochnanaugh,  in  one  of  which,  L'Heureux^  this  unfortu- 
nate prince  eventually  embarked,  with  twenty-three  gentlemen,  and  one 
nundred  and  seven  soldiers,  and  soon  after  arrived  safely  in  Franco. 


I 


THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  127 

WILLIAM   YORK, 

AGED    TEN    YEARS,   CONVICTED  OF  MURDERING  SUJiAN  MAHEW,   AGED  FIVE    YEARS. 

This  unhappy  child  was  but  ten  years  of  age  wlien  he  committed  the 
dreadful  crime  of  which  he  was  convicted.  He  was  a  pauper  in  the  poor- 
]iouse  belonging  to  the  parish  of  Eye,  in  Suffolk,  and  was  committed,  on 
the  coroner's  inquest,  to  Ipswich  jail,  for  the  murder  of  Susan  Mahew, 
another  child,  of  five  years  of  age,  who  had  been  his  bedfellow.  The 
following  is  his  confession,  taken  by  a  justice  of  the  peace,  and  which  was,  in 
part,  proved  on  the  trial,  with  many  corroborating  circumstances  of  his  guilt. 

He  said  that  a  trifling  quarrel  happening  between  them  on  the  13th  of 
May  1748,  about  ten  in  the  morning,  he  struck  her  with  his  open  hand, 
and  made  her  cry  :  that  she  going  out  of  the  house  to  the  dunghill,  oppo- 
site to  the  door,  he  followed  her,  with  a  hook  in  his  hand,  with  an  intent 
to  kill  her ;  but  before  he  came  up  to  her,  he  set  down  the  hook,  and  went 
into  the  house  for  a  knife.  He  then  came  out  again,  took  hold  of  the 
girl's  left  hand,  and  cut  her  wrist  all  round  to  the  bone,  and  then  threw 
her  down,  and  cut  her  to  the  bone  just  above  the  elbow  of  the  same  arm. 
That,  after  this,  he  set  his  foot  upon  her  stomach,  and  cut  her  right  arm 
round  about,  and  to  the  bone,  both  on  the  wrist  and  above  the  elbow. 
That  he  still  thought  she  would  not  die,  and  therefore  took  the  hook  and 
cut  her  left  thigh  to  the  bone.  His  next  care  was  to  conceal  the  murder  • 
for  which  purjiose  he  filled  a  pail  with  water  at  a  ditch,  and  washing  the 
blood  ofP  the  child's  body,  buried  it  in  the  dunghill,  together  with  the 
blood  that  was  spilled  upon  the  child's  clothes,  and  then  went  and  got  his 
breakfast.  When  he  was  examined,  he  showed  very  little  concern,  and 
appeared  easy  and  cheerful.  All  he  alleged  was,  that  the  child  fouled  the 
bed  in  which  they  lay  together  ;  that  she  was  sulky,  and  that  he  did  not 
like  her. 

The  boy  was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  death ;  but  he  was  respited 
from  time  to  time  on  account  of  his  tender  years,  and  at  length  pardoned. 


BENJAMIN  TAPNER,  JOHN  COBBY,  JOHN  HAMMOND 
RICHARD  MILLS,  RICHARD  MILLS  THE  YOUNGER,  AND 
OTHERS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

We  do  not  recollect  ever  to  have  heard  of  a  case  exhibiting  greater 
brutality  on  the  part  of  the  murderers  towards  their  victim  than  this.  The 
oftenders  were  all  smugglers,  and  the  unfortunate  objects  of  their  crime  were 
a  custom-house  officer,  and  a  shoemaker,  named  respectively  William 
Galley  and  Daniel  Chater.  It  would  appear  that  a  daring  and  very  exten 
sive  robbery  having  been  committed  at  the  custom-house  at  Poole,  Galle)' 
and  Chater  were  sent  to  Stanstead  in  Sussex,  to  give  some  information  to 
Major  Battine,  a  magistrate,  in  reference  to  the  circumstance.  They  did 
not,  however,  return  to  their  homes,  and  on  inquiry,  it  turned  out  that 
they  had  been  brutally  murdered,  the  body  of  Galley  being  traced,  by 
means  of  bloodhounds,  to  be  buried,  while  that  of  Chater  was  discovered 
at  a  distance  of  six  miles,  in  a  well  in  Harris'  AVood,  near  Leigh,  in  Lady 
Holt's  Park,  covered  up  with  a  quantity  of  stones,  wooden  railings,  and  earth. 


128  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

At  a  special  commission  held  at  Chichester,  on  the  16th  of  JaTuiary 
1749,  the  prisoners  Benjamin  Tapner,  John  Cobby,  John  Hammond, 
William  Carter,  Richard  ]\Iills  the  elder,  and  Richard  ]\Iills  the  younger, 
were  indicted  for  the  murder  of  Daniel  Chater ;  the  three  first  as  principals, 
and  the  others  as  accessories  before  the  fact ;  and  "William  Jackson  and 
William  Carter  were  indicted  for  the  murder  of  William  Galley. 

From  the  evidence  adduced,  the  circumstances  of  this  most  horrid  murder 
were  proved,  and  it  appeared  that  the  two  deceased  persons  having  passed 
Havant  on  their  road  to  Stanstead,  went  to  the  New  Inn  at  Leigh,  where  they 
met  one  Austin,  and  his  brother  and  brother-in-law,  of  whom  they  asked  the 
road,  and  they  conducted  them  to  Rowland's  Castle,  where,  they  said,  they 
might  obtain  better  information.  They  went  into  the  White  Hart,  and 
Mrs.  Payne,  the  landlady,  suspecting  the  object  of  their  mission,  sent  for 
the  prisoners  Jackson  and  Carter,  and  they  were  soon  after  joined  by  some 
others  of  the  gang.  After  they  had  been  all  sitting  together.  Carter  called 
Chater  out,  and  demanded  to  know  where  Diamond,  one  of  those  suspected 
of  the  robbery,  was  ?  Chater  replied  that  he  was  in  custody,  and  that  he 
was  soincr  aofainst  his  will  to  give  evidence  against  him.  Galley,  follow- 
ing  them  into  the  yard,  was  knocked  down  by  Carter,  on  his  calling 
Chater  away,  and  they  then  returned  in-doors.  The  smugglers  now  pre- 
tended to  be  sorry  for  what  had  occurred,  and  desired  Galley  to  drink  some 
rum,  and  they  persisted  in  plying  him  and  Chater  with  liquor  until  they 
were  both  intoxicated.  They  were  then  persuaded  to  lie  down  and  sleep, 
and  a  letter  to  INIajor  Battine,  of  which  they  were  the  bearers,  was  takei\ 
from  them,  read,  and  destroyed. 

One  John  Royce,  a  smuggler,  now  came  in,  and  Jackson  and  Carter  told 
him  the  contents  of  the  letter,  and  said  that  they  had  got  the  old  rogue, 
the  shoemaker  of  Fording-bridge,  who  was  going  to  inform  against  John 
Diamond,  the  shepherd,  then  in  custody  at  Chichester.  Here  William 
Steele  proposed  to  take  them  both  to  a  well  about  two  hundred  yards  from 
the  house,  and  to  murder  and  throw  them  in  ;  but  this  was  rejected,  and 
after  several  propositions  had  been  made  as  to  the  mode  in  which  they 
should  be  disposed  of,  the  scene  of  cnielty  was  commenced  by  Jackson, 
who,  putting  on  his  spurs,  jumped  upon  the  bed  where  they  lay,  and 
spurred  their  foreheads,  and  then  whipped  them  ;  so  that  they  both  got  up 
bleeding.  The  smugglers  then  took  them  out  of  the  house,  and  Mills 
swore  he  would  shoot  any  one  who  followed  or  said  anything  of  what  had 
occurred. 

Meanwhile,  the  rest  put  Galley  and  Chater  on  one  horse,  tied  their  legs 
under  the  horse's  belly,  and  then  tied  the  legs  of  both  together.  They  now 
set  forward,  with  the  exception  of  Royce,  who  had  no  horse  ;  and  they  had 
not  gone  above  two  hundred  yards,  before  Jackson  called  out  "  Whip  'em, 
cut  'em,  slash  'em,  d — n  'em!''  upon  which,  all  began  to  whip  except 
Steele,  who  led  the  horse,  the  roads  being  very  bad.  They  whipped  then; 
for  half  a  mile,  till  they  came  to  Woodash,  where  they  fell  off,  with  theii 
heads  under  the  horse's  belly ;  and  their  legs,  which  were  tied,  appeared 
over  the  horse's  back.  Their  tormentors  soon  set  them  upright  again,  and 
continued  whipping  them  over  the  head,  face,  shoulders,  &c.,  till  they  came 
to  Dean,  upwards  of  half  a  mile  farther  ;  and  here  they  both  fell  again  a& 
before,  with  their  heads  under  the  liorse's  belly,  which  were  struck  at  eveiy 
step  by  the  horse's  hoofs. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  129 

Upon  placing  them  again  in  tlie  saddle,  the  villains  found  them  so  weak 
that  they  could  not  sit ;  upon  whicli  they  separated  them,  and  put  Galley 
before  Steele,  and  Chater  before  little  Sam ;  and  then  whipped  Galley  so 
severely,  that,  the  lashes  coming  upon  Steele,  at  his  desire  they  desisted. 
They  then  went  to  Harris'-well,  and  threatened  to  throw  Galley  in ;  but 
wlien  he  desired  that  they  would  put  an  end  to  his  misery  at  once,  "  No," 
said  Jackson,  "  if  that's  the  case,  we  have  something  more  to  say  to  you  ;" 
and  they  thereupon  put  him  on  the  horse  again,  and  whipped  him  over  the 
Downs  until  he  was  so  weak  that  he  fell  off.  They  next  laid  him  across 
tlie  horse,  and  little  Sam,  getting  up  behind  him,  subjected  him  to  such 
cruelty  as  made  him  groan  with  the  most  excruciating  torments,  and  he 
fell  off  again.  Being  again  put  up  astride,  Richards  got  up  behind  him  ; 
but  the  poor  man  soon  cried  out,  "  I  fall,  I  fall,"  and  Kichards  pushed  him 
with  force,  saying,  "  Fall,  and  be  d — d  !"  Tlie  unhappy  man  then  turned 
over  and  expired  ;  and  they  threw  the  body  over  the  horse,  and  carried  it 
off  with  them  to  the  house  of  one  Scardefield,  who  kept  the  Red  Lion  at 
Rake.  The  landlord  remarking  the  condition  of  Chater,  a.-id  Galley's 
body,  the  fellows  told  him  that  they  had  engaged  with  some  officers,  had  lost 
their  tea,  and  that  some  of  them  were  wounded,  if  not  dead.  This  was 
sufficient,  and  Jackson  and  Carter  carried  Chater  down  to  the  house 
of  the  elder  Mills,  where  they  chained  him  up  in  a  turf -house.  Their 
companions,  in  the  mean  time,  drank  gin  and  brandy  at  Scardefield's,  and 
it  being  now  nearly  dark,  they  borrowed  spades,  and  a  candle  and  lantern, 
and  making  him  assist  them  in  digging  a  hole,  they  buried  the  body  of  the 
murdered  officer.  They  then  separated ;  but  on  the  Tlmrsday  they  met 
again  witli  some  more  of  their  associates,  including  the  pi-isoners  Richard 
]Mills,  and  his  two  sons  Richard  and  John,  Thomas  Stringer,  Cobby, 
Tajiner,  and  Hammond,  for  the  purpose  of  deliberating  what  should  be 
done  with  their  prisoner.  It  was  soon  unanimously  resolved  that  he  must 
be  destroyed,  and  it  was  determined  that  they  should  take  him  to  Harris'- 
well  and  throw  him  in,  as  it  was  considered  that  that  death  would  be 
most  likely  to  cause  him  the  greatest  pain. 

During  this  time  the  wretched  man  was  in  a  state  of  the  utmost  horror 
and  misery,  being  visited  occasionally  by  all  his  tormentors,  who  abused 
him,  and  beat  him  violently.  At  last,  when  this  determination  had  been 
arrived  at,  they  all  went,  and  Tapner  pulling  out  a  clasp-knife,  ordered 
him  on  his  knees,  swearing  that  he  would  be  his  butcher ;  but  being 
dissuaded  from  this,  as  being  opposed  to  their  plan  to  prolong  the  miseries 
of  their  prisoner,  he  contented  himself  with  slashing  the  knife  across  his 
eyes,  almost  cutting  tliem  out,  and  completely  severing  the  gristle  of  his 
nose.  They  then  placed  him  upon  a  horse,  and  all  set  out  together  for 
Harris'-well,  except  jMills  and  his  sons,  they  having  no  horses  ready,  and 
saying,  in  excuse,  "  that  there  were  enough  without  them  to  murder  one 
man."  All  the  way  Tapuer  whipped  him  till  the  blood  came  ;  and  then 
swore  that  if  he  blooded  the  saddle,  he  would  torture  him  the  more.  When 
they  were  come  within  one  hundred  yards  of  the  well,  Jackson  and 
Carter  stopped,  saying  to  Tapner,  Cobby,  Stringer,  Steele,  and  Hammond, 
"  Go  on  and  do  your  duty  on  Chater,  as  we  have  ours  upon  Galley."  It 
was  in  the  dead  of  the  night  that  they  brought  their  victim  to  the  well, 
which  was  nearly  thirty  feet  deep,  but  dry,  and  paled  close  round  :  and 
Tapner  having  fastened  a  noose  round  his  neck,  they  bade  him  get  over  the 

VOL.1.  s 


1-30  THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

pales.  He  was  going  tliroiigh  a  broken  place  ;  but  tbongh  he  was  covered 
with  blood  and  fainting  with  the  anguish  of  his  wounds,  they  forced  him 
to  climb  up,  having  the  rope  about  his  neck.  They  then  tied  one  end  of 
the  cord  to  the  pales  and  pushed  him  over  the  brink  ;  but  the  rope  being 
short,  he  hung  no  farther  within  it  than  his  thighs,  and  leaning  against  the 
edge,  he  hung  above  a  quarter  of  an  hour  and  was  not  strangled.  They 
then  untied  him,  and  threw  him  head  foremost  into  the  well.  They  tarried 
some  time,  and  hearing  him  groan,  they  determined  to  go  to  one  William 
Comleah's,  a  gardener,  to  borrow  a  rope  and  ladder,  saying  they  wanted  to 
relieve  one  of  their  companions  who  had  fallen  into  Harris'- well.  He  said 
they  might  take  them  ;  but  they  could  not  manage  the  ladder  in  their 
confusion,  it  being  a  long  one.  They  then  returned  to  the  well ;  and  still 
hearing  him  groan,  and  fearful  that  the  sound  might  lead  to  a  discovery, 
the  place  being  near  the  road,  they  threw  upon  him  some  of  the  rails 
and  gate-posts  fixed  about  the  well,  as  well  as  eome  great  stones ;  and  then 
fmding  him  silent,  they  left  him.  Their  next  consultation  was  how  to 
dispose  of  their  horses  ;  and  they  killed  Galley's,  which  was  grey,  and 
taking  his  hide  off",  cut  it  into  small  pieces,  and  hid  them  so  as  to  prevent 
any  discovery ;  but  a  bay  horse  that  Chater  had  ridden  on  got  from  them. 

This  being  the  evidence  produced,  the  jury,  after  being  out  of  court 
about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty  against  all  the 
prisoners  :  whereupon  the  judge  pmnoimced  sentence  on  the  convicts  in 
a  most  pathetic  address,  representing  the  enormity  of  their  crime,  and 
exhorting  them  to  make  immediate  preparation  for  the  awful  fate  that 
awaited  them  ;  adding,  "  Christian  charity  obliges  me  to  tell  you  that 
your  time  in  this  workl  will  be  very  short." 

The  heinousness  of  the  crime  of  which  these  men  had  been  convicted 
rendering  it  necessary  that  their  punishment  should  be  exemplary,  the 
judge  ordered  that  they  should  be  executed  on  the  following  day  ;  and  the 
sentence  was  accordingly  carried  into  execution  against  all  but  Jackson, 
who  died  in  prison  on  the  evening  that  he  was  condemned.  They  were 
attended  by  two  ministers  ;  and  all,  except  Mills  and  his  son  (who  took 
no  notice  of  each  other,  and  thought  themselves  not  guilty  because  they 
were  not  present  at  the  finishing  of  the  inhuman  murder),  showed  great 
marks  of  penitence.  Tapner  and  Carter  gave  good  advice  to  the  spectators, 
and  desired  diligence  might  be  used  to  apprehend  Richards,  whom  they 
charged  as  the  cause  of  their  being  brought  to  tliis  wretched  end.  Young 
]Mills  smiled  several  times  at  the  executioner,  who  was  a  discharged  marine, 
and  having  ropes  too  short  for  some  of  them,  was  puzzled  to  fit  them.  Old 
3Iills  being  forced  to  stand  tiptoe  to  reach  the  halter,  desired  that  he  might 
not  be  hanged  by  inches.  The  two  Mills  were  so  rejoiced  at  being  told 
that  they  were  not  to  be  hanged  in  chains  after  execution,  that  death  seemed 
to  excite  in  them  no  terror ;  while  Jackson  was  so  struck  with  horror  at 
being  measured  for  his  irons,  that  he  soon  expired. 

They  were  hanged  at  Chichester  on  the  18th  of  January  1749,  amidst 
such  a  concourse  of  spectators  as  is  seldom  seen  on  the  occasion  of  a  public 
execution. 

Carter  was  hung  in  chains  near  Rake,  in  Sussex  ;  Tapner,  on  Rook's 
Hill,  near  Chichester ;  and  Cobby  and  Hammond,  at  Cesley  Isle,  on  the 
beach  where  they  sometimes  landed  their  smuggled  goods,  and  where  they 
could  be  seen  at  a  great  distance  east  and  west. 


I 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  l.^i 


SAMUEL  COUCIIMAN  and  JOHN  MORGAN,  Lieutenants  op 
Marines;  THOMAS  KNIGHT,  Carpenter,  and  others. 

SHOT    FOR.  MUTINY. 

The  Chesterfield  man-of-war,  under  the  command  of  Captain  O'Briac 
Dudley,  was  stationed  off  Cape-coast  Castle,  on  the  coast  of  Africa,  whec 
a  dano-erous  mutiny  broke  out  among  the  crew,  of  whom  the  above-named 
officers  were  the  leaders.  They  were  charged  on  their  trial  with  "  exciting  and 
encouraging  mutiny,  and  running  away  with  his  Majesty's  ship  Chesterfield^ 
on  the  10th  day  of  October  1748,  from  the  coast  of  Africa,  leaving  their 
captain,  two  lieutenants,  with  other  officers,  and  some  seamen,  on  shore." 

It  appeared  from  the  evidence  adduced  before  the  court-martial,  by 
which  the  prisoners  were  tried,  and  which  was  presided  over  by  Sir 
Edward  Hawke,  that  on  the  15th  October  1748,  Captain  Dudley,  being 
on  shore  at  Cape -coast  Castle,  sent  off  his  barge  to  Lieutenant  Couchman, 
ordering  him  to  send  the  cutter  with  the  boatswain  of  the  ship,  to  see  the 
tents  struck,  and  to  bring  everything  belonging  to  the  ship  on  board  that 
night.  Coucliman,  however,  directly  ordered  the  barge  to  be  hoisted  in, 
and  the  boatswain  to  turn  all  liands  on  the  qiiarter-deck,  and  then 
coming  from  his  cabin  with  a  drawn  sword,  said,  "  Here  I  am  !  God 
d — n  me,  I  will  stand  by  you  while  I  have  a  drop  of  blood  in  ray  body  !" 
He  was  accompanied  by  John  Morgan,  the  second  lieutenant  of  marines, 
Thomas  Knight  the  carpenter,  his  mate  John  Place  (a  principal  actor), 
and  about  thirty  seamen  with  cutlasses.  Tliey  then  gave  three  huzzas, 
and  threw  their  hats  overboard  ;  damning  old  hats,  and  saying  that  they 
would  soon  get  new.  Couchman  now  sent  for  the  boatswain,  to  know  if 
he  would  stand  by  him,  and  go  with  him ;  but  he  replied  "  No,"  and  said. 

For  God's  sake,  sir,  be  ruled  by  reason,  and  consider  wliat  you  are 
about."  Couchman  threatened  to  put  him  in  irons  if  he  did  not  join  witli 
him  ;  but  the  boatswain  told  him  he  never  would  be  in  such  piratical 
designs,  and  he  was  immediately  ordered  into  custody,  and  two  sentinels 
put  over  him.  Couchman  soon  after  sent  for  Gilham,  the  mate  of  the 
tiiip ;  but  he  also  refusing  to  join  him,  was  put  into  custody  with  five  or 
«ix  others.  They  were  confined,  however,  only  five  or  six  hours  ;  for,  in 
the  middle  of  the  night  after  their  confinement,  Couchman  sent  for  them 
into  the  great  cabin,  desired  them  to  sit  and  drink  punch,  and  then 
dismissed  them.  The  next  day  the  boatswain  was  invited  to  dinner  by 
the  new  commander,  who  began  to  rail  against  Captain  Dudley,  and 
proposed  to  him  to  sign  a  paper.  He  refused  indignantly,  and  was  imme- 
diately dismissed.  AVhen  he  quitted  the  great  cabin,  he  went  to  the 
gunner,  who  informed  him  that  he  had  twenty  pistols  still  at  his  disposal, 
and  it  was  determined  that  an  effort  should  be  made  that  night  to  recover 
the  ship  from  the  mutineers.  "When  evening  drew  on,  the  boatswain 
proceeded  to  sound  the  ship's  company,  and  he  soon  found  about  thirty  of 
the  seamen,  besides  the  mates,  gunner's  mates,  and  cockswai«  of  the  barge, 
ready  to  aid  him.  The  boatswain  took  the  command  on  himself,  and  the 
first  step  which  he  took  w'as  to  get  up  all  the  irons  or  bilboes  on  the 
forecastle ;  he  tlien  sent  for  the  twenty  pistols,  which  were  all  loaded  :  he 
next  ordered  three  men  upon  the  grand  maoazine,  and  two  to  that  abaft ; 


132  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

and  tlie  remainder,  who  had  no  pistols,  to  stay  by  the  bilboes,  and  secure 
as  many  i)risoners  as  he  should  send.  This  disposition  being  made,  he 
went  directly  down  on  the  deck,  where  he  divided  his  small  company  into 
two  parties ;  and,  one  going  down  the  main,  and  the  other  the  fore  hatch- 
way, they  soon  secured  eleven  or  twelve  of  the  ringleaders,  and  sent  them 
up  to  the  forecastle  without  the  least  noise.  The  two  parties  then  joined, 
and  went  directly  to  the  great  cabin,  where  they  secured  Couchman  and 
Morgan,  with  the  carpenter,  whom  they  immediately  confined  in  diiFerent 
parts  of  the  vessel.  The  ship  being  thus  secured,  the  captain  again  boarded 
her  and  took  the  command  of  her ;  and  on  her  return  to  England  the 
mutineers  were  brought  to  trial. 

The  court-martial  having  found  them  guilty  of  the  crimes  imputed  to 
them,  they  were  shot  in  the  month  of  June  1749. 

The  boatswain  (Poger  Winket)  was  afterwards  rewarded  with  three 
liundred  pounds  a  year,  as  master-attendant  of  Woolwich- dockyard. 


JOHN   MILLS. 


EXECCTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  felon  becomes  remarkable  from  the  fact  of  tlie  criminal 
being  the  son  of  Richard  Mills  the  elder,  whose  ignominious  fate  we  have 
just  recorded.  It  appears  that  he  was  engaged  in  the  robbery  of  the 
Custom-house,  but  escaped  ;  and  soon  after  his  father,  brother,  and  their 
accomplices  were  hanged,  he  thought  of  going  to  Bristol,  with  a  view  of 
embarking  fur  France  ;  and  having  hinted  his  intentions  to  some  others, 
they  resolved  to  accompany  him.  Stopping  at  a  house  on  the  road,  they 
met  with  one  Richard  Hawkins,  whom  they  asked  to  go  with  them  ;  but 
the  poor  fellow  hesitating,  they  put  him  on  horseback  behind  Mills,  and 
carried  him  to  the  Dog  and  Partridge,  on  Slendon  Common,  which  was 
kept  by  John  Reynolds.  They  had  not  been  long  in  the  house  when 
complaint  was  made  that  two  bags  of  tea  had  been  stolen,  and  Hawkins 
was  charged  with  the  robbery.  He  steadily  denied  any  knowledge  of  the 
affair  ;  but  they  obliged  him  to  pull  off  his  clothes  ;  and,  having  stripped 
themselves,  they  began  to  whip  him  with  the  most  unrelenting  barbarity : 
and  Curtis,  one  of  the  gang,  said  he  did  know  of  the  robbery,  and  if 
he  would  not  confess,  he  would  whip  him  till  he  did;  for  he  had  whipped 
many  a  rogue,  and  washed  his  hands  in  his  blood. 

The  villains  continued  whipping  the  poor  wretch  till  their  breath  was 
almost  exhausted,  when  at  length  the  imfortunate  man  mentioned  some- 
thing of  his  father  and  brother  ;  on  which  Mills  and  Curtis  said  they  would 
go  and  fetch  them  ;  but  Hawkins  expired  soon  after  they  had  left  the  house. 

On  their  way  back  they  met  Winter,  one  of  their  companions,  who 
informed  them  of  this  fact,  when  they  dismissed  the  men  whom  they  had 
compelled  to  accompany  them,  saying  that  they  should  be  sent  for  when 
they  were  wanted.  Their  next  anxiety  was  as  to  the  mode  in  which  they 
should  dispose  of  the  body,  and  it  was  proposed  to  throw  it  into  a  well  in 
an  adjacent  park ;  but  this  being  objected  to,  they  carried  it  twelve  miles, 
and  having  tied  stones  to  it  in  order  to  sink  it,  they  threw  it  into  a  pond 
in  Parham  Park,  belonging  to  Sir  Cecil  Bishop  ;  and  in  this  place  it  lay 
more  than  two  months  before  it  was  discovered. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  133 

Mills  was  afterwards  taken  into  custody  on  the  information  of  Pring,  an 
outlawed  smuggler,  and  being  tried,  was  convicted. 

The  country  being  at  that  time  filled  with  smugglers,  a  rescue  was 
feared  ;  wherefore  he  was  conducted  to  the  place  of  execution  by  a  guard 
of  soldiers.  When  there,  he  prayed  with  a  clergyman,  confessed  that  he 
had  led  a  bad  life,  acknowledged  the  murder  of  Hawkins,  desired  that  all 
young  people  would  take  warning  by  his  untimely  end,  and  humbly  implored 
the  forgiveness  of  God.  He  was  executed  on  Slendon  Common  on  the  12th 
of  August  1 749,  and  afterwards  hung  in  chains  on  the  same  spot. 


AMY  HUTCHINSON. 

BURNT    FOR   THE    MURDER    OF    HER    HUSBAND. 

Tins  malefactor  was  born  of  indigent  parents,  in  the  Isle  of  Ely,  and 
having  received  a  poor  education,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  she  attracted  the 
attention  of  a  young  man,  whose  love  she  returned  with  equal  affection. 
Her  father,  being  apprised  of  the  connexion,  strictly  charged  his  daughter 
to  decline  it :  but  there  was  no  arguing  against  love  ;  the  intimacy 
continued  till  it  became  criminal.  The  young  fellow  having  soon  grown 
tired  of  her,  went  off  to  London,  and  she  determined  to  revenge  herself 
upon  him  for  his  infidelity,  by  marrying  another  suitor,  named  John 
Hutchinson,  who  had  previously  been  disagreeable  to  her.  The  marriage 
accordingly  took  place ;  but  her  first  admirer  happening  to  return  from 
London  just  as  the  newly- wedded  pair  were  coming  out  of  church,  the 
bride  was  greatly  affected  at  the  recollection  of  former  scenes,  and  the 
irrevocable  ceremony  which  had  now  passed.  Unable  to  love  the  man  she 
had  married,  she  doted  to  distraction  on  him  she  had  lost,  and,  only  a  few 
days  after  her  marriage,  admitted  him  to  his  former  intimacy  with  her. 
Hutchinson  becoming  jealous  of  his  wife,  a  quarrel  ensued,  in  consequence 
of  which  he  beat  her  with  great  severity;  but  this  producing  no  alteration 
in  her  conduct,  lie  had  recourse  to  drinking,  with  a  view  to  avoid  the  pain 
of  reflection  on  his  situation.  In  the  interim  his  wife  and  the  young 
fellow  continued  their  guilty  intercourse  uninterrupted ;  but,  considering 
the  life  of  her  husband  as  a  bar  to  their  happiness,  it  was  resolved  to 
remove  him  by  poison.  For  this  purpose  the  wife  purchased  a  quantity  of 
arsenic  ;  and  J\lr.  Hutchinson  being  afflicted  with  an  ague,  and  wishing 
for  something  warm  to  drink,  she  put  some  arsenic  in  ale,  of  which  he 
drank  very  plentifully  ;  and  then  she  left  him,  saying  she  would  go  and 
buy  something  for  his  dinner.  Meeting  her  lover,  she  acquainted  him  with 
what  had  passed ;  on  which  he  advised  her  to  buy  more  poison,  fearing 
the  first  might  not  be  suflicient  to  operate ;  but  its  effects  were  fatal,  and 
Hutchinson  died  about  dinner-time  on  the  same  day.  The  deceased  wag 
buried  on  the  following  Sunday,  and  the  next  day  the  former  lover  renewed 
his  visits  ;  which  occasioning  the  neighbours  to  talk  very  freely  of  the 
affair,  the  young  widow  was  taken  into  custody  on  suspicion  of  having 
committed  the  murder. 

The  body  being  exhumed,  it  was  foimd  that  death  had  been  caused  by 
poison,  and  the  prisoner  was  convicted  and  sentenced  to  death. 

She  was  strangled  and  burned  at  Ely,  on  the  7th  November  1750,  con- 
fessi.ig  the  crime  of  which  she  had  been  found  guilty. 


134  THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR 

JOHN  CARR. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

This  ofifender  was  born  of  respectable  parents,  who  gave  him  a  good 
education,  in  the  North  of  Ireland.  Having  gone  to  Dublin  at  tlie  age  of 
sixteen  years,  he  soon  afterwards  entered  into  business  as  a  wine-merchant ; 
but  being  uncontrolled,  he  fell  into  bad  habits  and  company,  and  was 
compelled  to  give  up  his  trade.  An  associate  inviting  him  to  join  him  at 
Kilkenny,  he  proceeded  thither  by  coach,  and  seeing  a  lady  in  the  convey- 
ance, the  elegance  of  her  appearance  and  manners  impressed  him  with  an 
idea  that  she  was  of  rank.  He  determined,  if  possible,  to  profit  by  the 
opportunity  afforded  him.  He  handed  her  into  the  inn,  and  a  proposal 
being  made  that  the  company  should  sup  together,  it  was  agreed  to  on  all 
hands  ;  and  while  the  supper  was  preparing,  Carr  applied  himself  to  the 
coachman  to  learn  the  history  of  the  young  lady ;  but  all  the  information 
he  could  obtain  was,  that  he  had  taken  her  up  at  Dublin,  and  that  she  was 
going  to  the  Spa  at  Mallow.  He  was  determined,  however,  to  become 
better  acquainted  with  her,  and  prevailed  on  the  company  to  repose  them- 
selves the  next  day  at  Kilkenny,  and  take  a  view  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond's 
seat,  and  the  curiosities  of  the  town.  This  proposal  being  acceded  to,  the 
evening  was  spent  in  the  utmost  harmony  and  good -humour;  and  the  fair 
stranger  even  then  conceived  an  idea  of  making  a  conquest  of  Mr.  Carr, 
from  whose  appearance  she  was  induced  to  suppose  that  he  was  a  man  of 
distinction.  It  was  now  "  diamond  cut  diamond,"  and  in  the  morning  the 
fair  incognita  dressed  herself  to  great  advantage,  not  forgetting  the  orna- 
ment of  jewels,  which  she  wore  in  abundance ;  so  that  when  she  entered 
the  room,  Carr  was  astonished  at  her  appearance.  She  found  the  influence 
she  had  over  him,  and  resolved  to  afford  him  an  early  opportunity  of 
speaking  his  sentiments ;  and  while  the  company  were  walking  in  the 
gallery  of  the  Duke  of  Ormond's  palace,  an  occasion  presented  itself,  which 
was  not  lost  by  either  party.  The  lady  at  first  affected  displeasure  at  so 
explicit  a  declaration ;  but,  soon  assuming  a  more  affable  deportment,  she 
told  him  she  was  an  Englishwoman  of  rank ;  that  his  person  was  not  dis- 
agreeable to  her ;  and  that,  if  he  was  a  man  of  fortune  and  the  consent  of 
her  relations  could  be  obtained,  she  should  not  be  averse  to  listening  to  his 
addi-esses.  She  further  said  that  she  was  going  to  spend  part  of  the 
summer  at  Mallow,  where  his  company  would  be  agreeable ;  and  he 
followed  her  to  that  place,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  his  friend,  who  had 
formed  a  very  unfavourable  opinion  of  the  lady's  character. 

It  is  needless  to  say  that  the  company  of  so  refined  and  elegant  a  person 
was  not  to  be  kept  without  some  expenses,  which  were  not  of  a  very 
moderate  character,  and  the  difficulties  in  which  our  hero  had  already 
placed  himself  were  in  nowise  diminished  by  his  new  connexion.  He 
remained  with  her,  however,  until  the  end  of  the  season  induced  them  to 
return  to  Dublin  ;  and  then  a  trip  to  England  was  proposed,  preparatory  to 
tlie  final  steps  being  taken  to  complete  the  nuptial  arrangements.  Tlie 
o-allantry  and  wits  of  the  gentleman  were  sorely  tested  to  i)rocure  tlie 
requisite  funds  for  the  trip  ;  but  he  at  length  succeeded  in  obtaining  such 
a  sum  as  he  and  the  lady  deemed  sufficient.     The  passage  only  remained 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  135 

to  be  secured,  and  the  too  credulous  sliarper  was  employed  iu  obtaining  it  ; 
but  in  his  absence  the  lady  shipjied  all  the  eft'ects  on  board  a  vessel  bound 
for  Amsterdam,  and,  having  dressed  herself  in  man's  apparel,  she  embarked 
and  sailed,  leaving  Carr  to  regret  his  ill-judged  credulity. 

Thus  reduced  to  want,  he  went  to  London,  and  having  enlisted  as  a  foot- 
soldier,  he  was  discharged  after  several  years'  service.  lie  subsequent!)- 
entered  as*  a  marine,  but  soon  afterwards  came  to  London  again,  and  opened 
a  shop  in  Hog-lane,  St.  Giles's.  He  now  married  a  girl  who  he  thought 
had  money;  but  soon  discovering  her  poverty,  he  abandoned  her,  and 
removed  to  Short's  Gardens,  where  he  entered  into  partnership  with  a 
cork-cutter  ;  but  having  obtained  the  promise  of  support  from  his  partner's 
customers,  he  set  up  on  his  own  account,  and  was  tolerably  successful,  though 
his  passion  for  gambling  prevented  his  retaining  any  part  of  the  produce 
of  his  business.  His  new  companions  at  the  gaming-table,  having  an  eye 
to  their  own  profit,  oftered  to  procure  him  a  wife  of  fortune,  though  they 
knew  he  had  a  wife  living,  and  actually  contrived  to  introduce  him  to  a 
young  lady  of  property,  with  whom  a  marriage  would  probably  have 
♦".ken  place,  but  that  one  of  them,  struck  with  remorse  of  conscience, 
developed  the  affixir  to  her  father,  and  frustrated  the  whole  scheme.  Being 
now  again  thrown  upon  his  own  resources,  he  engaged  himself  as  porter  to 
a  merchant ;  but  while  in  this  condition,  his  master  having  entrusted  him 
with  a  cheek,  for  sixty  pounds,  he  procured  it  to  be  cashed,  and  having 
spent  the  money  in  the  lowest  debauchery,  he  again  entered  as  a  marine. 
There  being  something  in  his  deportment  superior  to  the  vulgar,  lie  was 
advanced  to  the  rank  of  sergeant,  in  which  he  behaved  so  well  that  his 
officers  treated  him  with  considerable  favour. 

The  vessel  in  which  he  sailed  was  of  considerable  power,  and  taking  a 
merchant-ship  richly  laden,  and  soon  afterwards  several  smaller  vessels, 
the  prize-money  amounted  to  a  considerable  sum.  This  gave  Carr  an  idea 
that  very  great  advantages  might  be  obtained  by  privateering,  and  having 
procured  a  discharge,  he  entered  on  board  a  privateer,  and  was  made 
master-at-arms.  In  a  few  days  the  privateer  took  two  Fi-ench  ships,  one 
of  which  they  carried  to  Bristol,  and  the  other  into  the  harbour  of  Poole  ; 
and  refitting  their  ship,  they  sailed  again,  and  in  two  days  took  a  French 
j^rivateer,  and  gave  chase  to  three  others,  which  they  found  to  have  been 
English  vessels  belonging  to  Falmouth,  which  had  been  captured  by  a 
French  privateer.  These  they  retook,  and  carried  them  into  Falmouth  ; 
in  their  passage  to  which  place  they  made  prize  of  a  valuable  French  ship, 
the  produce  of  which  contributed  to  enrich  the  crew.  On  their  next  trip, 
they  saw  a  ship  in  full  chase  of  them,  on  which  they  prepared  for  a 
vigorous  defence  ;  and  an  action  soon  after  taking  place,  many  hands  were 
lost  by  the  French,  who  at  length  attempted  to  sheer  oft",  but  were  taken 
after  a  chase  of  some  leagues. 

The  commander  of  the  English  privateer,  being  desperately  wounded  in 
the  engagement,  died  in  a  few  days ;  on  which  Carr  courted  his  widow, 
and  a  marriage  woxdd  have  taken  place,  but  that  she  was  seized  with  a 
violent  fever,  which  deprived  her  of  life — but  not  before  she  had  bequeathed 
him  all  she  was  possessed  of.  Having  disposed  of  her  eft'ects,  he  repaired 
to  London,  where  he  commenced  smuggler  :  but  his  ill-gotten  goods  being 
seized  on  by  the  officers  of  tlie  revenue,  he  took  to  the  still  more  dangerous 
practice  of  forging  seamen's  wills,  and  gained  money  thus  for  some  time ; 


I3(i  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALEN'DAW. 

hut,  being  apprehended,  he  was  brought  to  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey  con- 
victed, and  was  sentenced  to  die. 

He  was  of  the  Romish  persuasion,  and  died  with  decent  resignation  to 
liis  fate. 

Carr  was  hanged  at  Tyburn  on  the  16th  of  November  1750. 


NORMAN  ROSS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ML'RDER. 

About  the  time  at  which  this  man  met  his  most  deserved  punishment, 
the  public  journals  teemed  ^vith  accounts  of  the  impudence  and  crimes  of 
the  parti-coloured  tribe  of  servants  denominated  footmen.  To  such  a 
darinof  pitch  had  their  impudence  arrived,  that  they  created  a  riot  at  the 
theatre  in  Drury  Lane,  even  in  the  presence  of  the  heir-apparent  to  the 
throne.  One  evening  when  the  Prince  and  Princess  of  Wales,  the  father 
and  mother  of  King  George  III.,  attended  the  performance,  these  mis- 
creants commenced  a  dreadful  uproar.  It  was  then  the  custom  to  admit 
servants  in  livery  into  the  upper  gallery  gratis^  in  compliment  to  their 
employers,  on  whom  they  were  supposed  to  be  in  attendance ;  and  not 
content  with  peaceably  witnessing  the  performance,  they  frequently 
interrupted  those  who  had  paid  for  admission,  and,  assuming  the  preroga- 
tive of  critics,  hissed  or  applauded  with  the  most  offensive  clamour.  In 
consequence  of  these  violent  proceedings,  the  manager  shut  the  door  against 
diem,  tinless  they  each  paid  their  shilling.  Upon  an  occasion  when  that  part 
of  the  roval  family  already  mentioned  were  present,  tliey  mustered  in  a  gang, 
to  the  number  of  three  hundred  ;  broke  open  the  doors  of  the  theatre,  fought 
their  way  to  the  very  door  of  the  stage,  and,  in  their  progress,  wounded 
twenty-five  peaceable  people.  Colonel  De  Veil,  then  an  active  magistrate 
for  Westminster,  happened  to  be  present,  and  in  vain  attempted  to  read  a 
proclamation  against  such  an  outrage  ;  but,  though  they  obstructed  him  in 
his  duty,  he  caused  the  ringleaders  to  be  secured,  and  the  next  day  com- 
mitted three  of  them  to  Newgate. 

At  the  ensuing  sessions  they  were  convicted  of  the  riot,  and  sentenced  to 
imprisonment. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  choler  of  these  upstarts  was  raised  to  such  a  pitch., 
that  they  sent  the  following  threat  to  the  manager  : — 

"  To  Mr.  Fleetwood,  in  Lincoln's-Inn-Fieids,  Master  of  the  Theatre,  Drury  Lane. 

"  Sir, — We  are  willing  to  admonish  you,  before  we  attempt  our  design  : 
and  provided  you  use  us  civil,  and  admit  us  into  our  gallery,  which  is  our 
property,  according  to  formalities  ;  and  if  you  think  proper  to  come  to  a 
composition  this  way,  you'll  hear  no  further ;  and  if  not,  our  intention  is 
to  combine  in  a  body,  incognito,  and  reduce  the  playhouse  to  the  ground  ; 
valuing  no  detection — we  are  indemnified  I" 

The  manager  carried  this  letter  to  the  Lord  Chamberlain,  who  ordered  a 
detachment  of  fifty  soldiers  to  do  duty  tliere  each  night,  and  thus  deterred 
the  saucy-  knaves  ft-om  carrying  their  threats  into  execution. 

At  the  Edinburgh  theatre  it  was  also  a  custom  to  admit  men  wearing  tlie 
badge  of  servitude  into  the  gallery^ra^js;  and  when  Garrick's inimitable  farce, 
"•  Hicfh  liife  Below  Stairs,"  wherein  the  waste  and  impudence  of  domestic 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  137 

servants  of  rich  men  is  completely  exposed,  was  performed  there,  a  nio>t 
violent  clamour  broke  out  in  the  gallery,  so  as  entirely  to  interrupt  the 
performance,  and  put  the  other  part  of  the  audience  in  fear  of  the  con- 
sequences. The  hardy  Scotchmen,  however,  laid  hold  of  the  rioters,  and 
kicked  every  footman,  who  alone  were  concerned,  out  of  the  house,  where, 
without  paying,  they  never  more  entered. 

Having  thus  referred  to  an  evil  which  existed  in  1751,  and  which  even 
to  this  moment  continues  to  exist  to  a  considerable  extent,  namely  the  over- 
bearing insolence  of  the  fellows  who  iisually  fill  the  situations  of  domestic 
servants  in  the  families  of  the  rich,  it  is  time  to  proceed  to  the  history  of 
the  subject  of  this  sketch.  Koss  was  born  of  decent  parents  in  Inverness, 
and  received  an  education  by  which  he  would  have  been  fitted  to  fill  a 
situation  in  a  merchant's  counting-house.  The  difficulty  in  obtaining  such 
employment,  however,  induced  him  to  enter  the  service  of  a  lady,  who  had 
always  exhibited  great  kindness  towards  his  family  ;  and  he  soon  afterwards 
accompanied  her  son  to  the  Continent  in  the  capacity  of  valet-de-cJiamhre. 
He  continued  in  this  situation  during  about  five  years,  when  he  returned 
to  Scotland,  and  was  employed  by  an  attorney  in  Edinburgh ;  but  having 
contracted  an  intimacy  among  other  servants,  from  their  instruction  he 
acquired  all  the  fashionable  habits  of  drinking,  swearing,  and  gaming,  and 
was  dismissed  on  account  of  his  impudence,  and  the  irregularities  of  his 
conduct. 

He  was  subsequently  engaged  by  a  Mrs.  Hume,  a  widow  lady  of  good 
fortune,  whose  residence,  during  the  summer,  was  at  Ayton,  a  village  about 
four  miles  from  Berwick-upon-Tweed,  The  extravagance  of  our  hero,  and 
an  unfortunate  intercourse  which  he  had  with  a  fellow-servant,  soon  com- 
pelled him  to  look  for  some  other  means  of  procuring  money,  besides  that 
which  was  honestly  affbrded  him  by  his  mistress  ;  and  having  exhausted 
the  patience  of  his  friends  by  borrowing  from  them  repeatedly,  he  formed 
the  resolution  of  robbing  his  employer.  It  would  appear  that  3Irs.  Hume 
slept  in  a  room  on  the  first  floor,  and  that  the  keys  of  her  bureau  were 
usually  placed  under  her  head  for  safety.  Sunday  night  was  the  time 
fixed  upon  for  the  commission  of  the  robbery,  and,  waiting  in  his  bed-room 
without  undressing  himself,  till  he  judged  the  family  to  be  asleep,  he 
descended,  and  leaving  his  shoes  in  the  passage,  proceeded  to  his  lady's 
bed-chamber.  Upon  his  endeavouring  to  get  possession  of  the  keys,  the 
lady  was  disturbed,  and  being  dreadfully  alarmed,  called  for  assistance ; 
but  the  rest  of  the  family  lying  at  a  distant  part  of  the  house,  her  screams 
were  not  heard.  Ross  immediately  seized  a  clasp-knife  that  lay  on  the 
table,  and  cut  his  mistress's  throat  in  a  most  dreadful  manner.  This  horrid 
act  was  no  sooner  perpetrated  than,  without  waiting  to  put  on  his  shoes, 
or  to  secure  either  money  or  other  effects,  he  leaped  out  of  the  window,  and 
after  travelling  several  miles,  concealed  himself  in  a  field  of  com. 

In  the  morning  the  gardener  discovered  a  livery  hat,  which  the  murderer 
had  dropped  in  descending  from  the  window;  and,  suspecting  that  some- 
thing extraordinary  had  happened,  he  alarmed  his  fellow-servants.  The 
disturbance  in  the  house  brought  the  two  daughters  of  j\Irs.  Hume  down 
stairs ;  but  no  words  can  express  the  horror  and  consternation  of  the  young 
ladies  upon  beholding  their  parent  weltering  in  her  blood,  and  the  fatal 
instrument  of  death  lying  on  the  floor. 

Ross  being  absent,  and  his  shoes  and  hat  being  found,  it  was  concluded 

VOL.   I.  X 


13S  THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

that  he  must  have  committed  the  barbarous  deed  ;  and  the  butler  tlierefore 
mounted  a  horse,  and  ahxrmed  the  country,  lest  the  nmrderous  villain 
should  escape.  The  butler  was  soon  joined  by  fji;reat  numbers  of  horsemen; 
and  towards  the  conclusion  of  the  day,  when  both  men  and  horses  were 
nearly  exhausted  through  excessive  fatigue,  tlie  murderer  was  discovered 
in  a  field  of  standing  corn.  He  was  immediately  secured,  and  beiTior 
brought  to  trial,  he  had  the  effrontery  to  declare  that  he  was  admitted  to 
sliare  his  mistress's  bed,  and  that  his  custom  was  always  to  leave  his  shoes 
at  tlie  parlour  door.  That  on  the  night  of  the  murder  he  proceeded  as 
usual  to  her  room,  but  on  entering  it  his  horror  was  aroused  at  discovering 
her  to  be  murdered.  He  leaped  out  at  the  window  to  search  for  the 
perpetrators  of  the  deed,  and  dropping  his  hat  he  tliought  it  better  not  to 
return  until  night.  Having  been  found  guilty,  he  was  sentenced  to  have 
his  right  hand  chopped  oft',  then  to  be  hanged  till  dead,  the  body  to  be 
hung  in  chains,  and  the  right  hand  to  be  aftixed  at  the  top  of  the  gibbet, 
with  the  knife  made  use  of  in  the  commission  of  the  murder. 

Upon  receiving  sentence  of  death  he  began  seriously  to  reflect  on  his 
miserable  situation,  and  the  next  day  he  requested  the  attendance  of  INlr. 
James  Craig,  one  of  the  ministers  of  Edinburgh,  to  whom  he  confessed  his 
guilt,  declaring  that  there  was  no  foundation  for  his  reflections  against  the; 
chastity  of  the  deceased.  Six  weeks  elapsed  between  the  time  of  his  trial 
and  that  of  his  execution,  during  which  he  showed  every  sign  of  the  most 
sincere  penitence,  and  refused  to  accompany  two  ])risoners  who  broke  out 
of  jail,  saying  he  had  no  desire  to  recover  his  liberty,  but  that  on  the 
contrary  he  would  cheerfully  submit  to  the  utmost  severity  of  punishment, 
that  he  might  make  atonement  for  his  wickedness.  The  day  appointed 
for  putting  the  sentence  of  the  law  into  force  being  arrived,  Ross  walked 
to  the  place  of  execution,  holding  Mr.  Craig  by  the  arm.  Having  addressed 
a  pathetic  speecli  to  the  populace,  and  prayed  sometime  with  great  fervency 
of  devotion,  the  rope  was  put  round  his  neck,  and  he  laid  his  right  hand 
upon  the  block,  when  it  was  struck  oft"  by  the  executioner  at  two  blows. 
lie  was  immediately  afterwards  run  up  to  the  gallows,  when,  feeling  the 
rope  drawing  tight,  by  a  convulsive  motion  of  the  arm  he  struck  his  bloody 
wrist  against  his  cheek,  wliichgaveit  a  ghastly  appearance.  The  sentence 
was  subsequently  fully  carried  into  effect. 

The  execution  took  place  on  the  bth  January  1751. 


THOMAS   COLLEY. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

Tuis  offender  was  a  victim  to  his  own  feelings  of  superstition.  At  the 
time  of  his  crime  and  execution  the  belief  in  witchcraft  was  almost 
universal,  and  CoUey  was  hanged  for  the  murder  of  a  poor  old  woman 
named  Osborne,  whose  qualities  as  a  witch  he  tested  by  ducking  her  in  a 
])ond  until  she  was  dead,  thereby  indisputably  proving  to  the  satisfaction 
of  all,  and  to  the  credit  of  the  deceased  woman,  how  unjustifiable  were  the 
susjncions  which  had  been  entertained  of  her  character. 

The  evidence  given  against  the  prisoner  was  to  tlie  following  effect  : — 
On  the  18th  April,  1751,  a  man  named  Nichols  went  to  William  Dell,  the 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  135 

crier  at  Hcniel  Hempstead,  in  Hertfordshire,  and  delivered  to  lilm  a  papei 
to  the  following  effect,  which  was  to  be  cried  : 

'•  This  is  to  give  notice,  that  on  ^Monday  next,  a  man  and  woman  are  to 
be  ]iubllcly  ducked  at  Trlng,  in  this  county,  for  their  wicked  crimes.' 

Tills  notice  was  given  at  Wlnslow  and  Leighton-Buzzard,  as  well  as  at 
Heniel- Hempstead,  on  the  respective  market-days,  and  was  heard  by  Mr. 
Barton,  overseer  of  the  parish  of  Trlng,  who  being  Informed  that  the 
])ersons  intended  to  be  ducked  were  John  Osborne,  and  lluth  his  wife,  and 
having  no  doubt  of  the  good  character  of  both  the  parties,  sent  them  to 
the  workhouse,  as  a  protection  from  the  rage  of  the  mob. 

On  the  day  appointed  for  the  practice  of  the  infernal  ceremony,  an 
immense  number  of  people,  supposed  to  be  not  fewer  tlian  five  thousand, 
assembled  near  the  workhouse  at  Trlng,  vowing  revenge  against  Osborne 
and  his  wife,  as  a  wizard  and  a  witch,  and  demanding  that  they  should  be 
delivered  up  to  their  fury.  In  support  of  their  demands  they  pulled  down 
a  wall  belonging  to  the  workhouse,  and  broke  the  windows  and  window- 
frames.  On  the  preceding  evening  the  master  of  the  workhouse,  suspecting 
some  violence  from  what  he  heard  of  the  disposition  of  the  people,  had 
sent  Osborne  and  his  wife  to  the  vestry-room  belonging  to  the  church,  as  a 
place  the  most  likely  to  secure  them  from  Insult.  The  mob  would  not 
give  credit  to  the  master  of  the  workhouse  that  the  parties  were  removed, 
but,  rushing  into  the  house,  searched  it  through,  examining  the  closets, 
boxes,  trunks,  and  even  the  salt-box,  in  quest  of  them.  There  being  a 
jiole  In  the  celling,  which  had  been  left  by  the  plasterers,  CoUey,  who  was 
one  of  the  most  active  of  the  gang,  exclaimed,  "  Let  us  search  the  celling ;" 
and  this  being  done,  but  of  course  without  success,  they  swore  that  they 
would  pull  down  the  liouse,  and  set  fire  to  Trlng,  If  the  parties  were  not 
produced.  The  master  of  the  workhouse,  ajiprehenslve  that  they  would 
carry  their  threats  Into  execution,  and  unmindful  of  the  safety  of  the 
unfortimate  wretches  whom  it  was  his  duty  to  protect,  at  length  gave  up 
their  place  of  concealment ;  and  the  whole  jnob,  with  Colley  at  their  head, 
forthwith  marched  off  to  the  church  and  brought  them  off  in  triumj)h. 
Their  persons  secured,  they  were  carried  to  a  pond,  called  Marlston  Mere, 
Avhere  they  were  stripped  and  tied  up  separately  in  cloths.  A  rope  was 
then  bound  round  the  body  of  the  woman,  under  her  arm-pits,  and  two 
men  dragged  her  into  the  pond,  and  through  it  several  times ;  Colley  going 
into  the  pond,  and,  with  a  stick,  turning  her  from  side  to  side.  Having 
ducked  her  repeatedly  In  this  manner,  they  placed  her  by  the  side  of  the 
pond,  and  dragged  the  old  man  In,  and  ducked  him :  then  he  was  put  by, 
and  the  woman  ducked  again  as  before,  Colley  making  the  same  use  of  his 
stick.  AVith  this  cruelty  the  husband  was  treated  twice  over,  and  the 
wife  three  times  ;  during  the  last  of  which  the  cloth  In  which  she  was 
wrapped  came  oft",  and  she  appeared  cfulte  naked. 

Not  satisfied  with  this  barbarity,  Colley  pushed  his  stick  against  her 
breast,  and  the  poor  woman  attempted  to  lay  hold  of  it  ;  but  her  strength 
being  now  exhausted,  she  expired  on  the  spot.  Colley  then  went  round  the 
))ond,  collecting  money  of  the  populace  for  the  sport  he  had  shown  them  in 
ducking  the  old  witch,  as  he  called  her.  The  mob  now  departed  to  their 
several  habitations ;  and  the  body  being  taken  out  of  the  ])ond,  was  exa- 
mined by  Mr.  Foster,  a  sixrgeon  ;  and  the  coroner's  Inquest  being  summoned 
oa  the  occasion,  ]\Ir    Foster  deposed  that,  '•  on  examining  the  body  of  the 


IJO  THE    >;EW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

deceased,  he  found  no  wound,  either  internal  or  external,  except  a  little 
piac«  ihat  had  the  skin  off  on  one  of  her  hreasts ;  and  it  was  his  opinion 
that  she  was  suffocated  with  water  and  mud." 

Hereupon  CoUey  was  taken  into  custody,  and  when  his  trial  came  on, 
Mr.  Foster  deposed  to  the  same  effect  as  above  mentioned  ;  and  there  being 
a  variety  of  other  strong  proofs  of  the  prisoner's  guilt,  he  was  convicted,  and 
received  sentence  of  death.  His  defence  was  that  he  had  endeavoured  to 
protect  the  old  people  from  violence,  instead  of  attempting  to  injure  them 

After  conviction  he  seemed  to  behold  his  guilt  in  its  true  light  of  enor- 
mity. He  became,  as  far  as  could  be  judged,  sincerely  penitent  for  his  sins, 
and  made  good  use  of  the  short  time  he  had  to  live  in  the  solemn  prepara- 
tion for  eternity. 

The  day  before  his  execution  he  was  removed  from  the  jail  of  Hertford, 
imder  the  escort  of  one  hundred  men  of  the  Oxford  Blues,  commanded  by 
seven  officers;  and  being  lodged  in  the  jail  of  St.  Albans,  was  put  into  a 
chaise  at  five  o'clock  the  next  morning,  with  the  hangman,  and  reached  the 
place  of  execution  about  eleven,  where  his  y\\ie  and  daughter  came  to  take 
leave  of  him.  The  minister  of  Tring  assisted  him  in  his  last  moments,  and 
he  died  exhibiting  all  the  marks  of  unfeigned  penitence. 

He  was  executed  on  the  24th  of  August  1751,  and  his  body  afterwards 
hunor  in  chains  at  a  place  called  Gubblecut,  near  which  the  offence  was 
committed. 

It  is  not  a  little  remarkable  that,  at  so  recent  a  period,  so  many  people 
as  composed  this  mob  should  be  found  so  benighted  in  intellect,  and  ritterly 
uninformed,  as  to  be  guilty  of  so  miserable  and  so  glaring  a  piece  of 
absurdity  and  wickedness  as  that  which  was  proved  in  the  evidence  against 
the  prisoner.  In  former  ages,  it  is  true,  not  only  the  people,  but  even  the 
authorities  of  the  land,  believed  in  witchcraft  and  sorcery  ;  but  it  is  indeed 
extraordinary  that  in  tlie  eighteenth  century  a  scene  such  as  that  described 
could  have  been  permitted  to  occur  at  a  village  within  thirty  miles  of  the 
metropolis. 

The  following  copy  of  an  indictment,  furnished  us  by  a  friend  who  took 
it  from  the  American  Court  record,  must  prove  a  matter  of  curiosity  to  the 
reader  at  the  present  enlightened  era  : — 

"  Essex,  ss.  (a  town  in  the  colony  of  Massachusetts  Bay,  in  Xew 
England.) 

"  The  jurors  of  our  sovereign  lord  and  lady,  the  king  and  queen  (King 
William  and  Queen  ^lary),  present,  that  George  Burroughs,  late  of  Fal- 
mouth, in  tlie  province  of  ^Massachusetts  Bay,  clerk  (a  Presbyterian  minister 
of  the  Gospel),  the  9th  day  of  ]May,  and  divers  other  days  and  times,  as 
well  before  as  after,  certain  detestable  arts,  called  witchcraft  and  sorceries, 
wickedly  and  feloniously  hath  used,  practised  and  exercised  at  and  in  the 
town  of  Salem,  in  the  county  aforesaid,  upon  and  against  one  ]\Iary  Walcot, 
single  woman,  by  which  said  wicked  arts  the  said  Mary,  on  the  day  afore- 
said, and  divers  other  days  and  times,  as  well  before  as  after,  was,  and  is 
tortured,  afflicted,  pined,  consumed,  wasted,  and  tormented  against  the 
peace,"  See. 

A  witness,  by  name  Ann  Putnam,  deposed  as  follows  : — On  the  8th  of 
May,  l(i92,  I  saw  the  apparition  of  George  Burroughs,  who  grievously 
tormented  me,  and  urged  me  to  write  in  his  book,  which  I  refused.  He 
then  told  me  that  his  two  first  wives  would  appear  to  me  presently    and 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  141 

tell  me  a  great  many  lies,  but  I  must  not  believe  tliem.  Then  immediately 
appeared  to  me  the  forms  of  two  women  in  winding-sheets,  and  napkins 
about  their  heads,  at  which  I  was  greatly  affrighted.  They  turned  their 
faces  towards  Mr.  Burroughs,  and  looked  red  and  angry,  and  told  him  that 
he  had  been  very  cruel  to  tliem,  and  that  their  blood  called  for  vengeance 
acrainst  him  ;  and  they  also  told  him  that  tliey  should  be  clothed  with  white 
robes  in  heaven  when  he  should  be  cast  down  into  hell,  and  he  imme- 
diately vanished  away.  And  as  soon  as  he  was  gone,  the  women  turned 
tlieir  faces  towards  me,  and  looked  as  pale  as  a  white  wall ;  and  told  me 
tliey  were  Mr.  Burroughs's  two  wives,  and  that  he  had  murdered  them. 
And  one  told  me  she  was  his  first  wife,  and  he  stabbed  her  under  the  left 
breast,  and  put  a  piece  of  sealing-wax  in  the  wound  ;  and  she  pulled  aside 
the  winding-sheet  and  showed  me  the  place  :  she  also  told  me  that  she  was 
in  the  house  where  Mr.  Daris,  the  minister  of  Danvers,  then  lived  when  it 
was  done.  And  the  other  told  me  that  Mr.  Burroughs  and  a  wife  that  he 
hath  now,  killed  her  in  the  vessel  as  she  was  coming  to  see  her  friends  from 
the  eastward,  because  they  would  have  one  another.  And  they  both 
charged  me  to  tell  these  things  to  the  magistrates  before  Mr.  Burroughs's 
face  ;  and  if  he  did  not  own  them,  they  did  not  know  but  they  should 
appear  this  morning.  This  morning,  also,  appeared  to  me  another  woman 
in  a  winding-sheet,  and  told  me  that  she  was  Goodman  Fuller's  first  wife, 
and  Mr.  Burroughs  killed  her,  because  there  was  a  difference  between  her 
husband  and  him. 

Upon  the  above,  and  some  other  such  evidence,  was  this  unfortunate 
man  condemned  and  executed. 

The  days  are  now,  happily,  past,  when  sucli  monstrous  absurdities 
are  heard  of. 


FREDERICK  CAULFIELD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  following  is  a  remarkable  instance,  if  it  be  true,  of  a  dream  occa- 
sioning the  discovery  of  a  murder  : 

Adam  Rogers  (a  creditable  man,  who  kept  a  public-house  at  Portlaw,  a 
small  village  nine  or  ten  miles  fi'om  Waterford,  in  Ireland)  dreamed  one 
night  that  he  saw  two  men  at  a  particular  green  spot  on  an  adjacent  moun- 
tain ;  one  of  them  a  sickly-looking  man,  the  other  remarkably  strong  and 
large.  He  then  fancied  that  he  saw  the  little  man  murder  the  other,  and 
awoke  in  great  agitation.  The  circumstances  of  the  dream  were  so 
distinct  and  forcible  that  he  continued  much  affected  by  them  ;  and  on  the 
next  morning  he  was  extremely  startled  at  seeing  two  strangers  enter  his 
house,  about  eleven  o'clock  in  the  forenoon,  who  resembled  precisely  the 
two  men  that  he  fancied  he  had  seen. 

After  the  strangers  had  taken  some  refreshment,  and  were  about  to 
tiepart,  in  order  to  prosecute  their  journey,  Rogers  earnestly  endeavoured 
to  dissuade  tlie  little  man  from  quitting  his  house  and  going  on  with  his 
fellow-traveller ;  and  he  assured  him  that  if  he  would  remain  with  him 
that  day,  he  would  himself  accompany  him  to  Carrick  next  morning,  that 
being  the  town  to  which  they  were  proceeding.  He  was  unwilling  and 
ashamed  to  tell  the  cause  of  his  being  so  solicitous  to  separate  him  from 


142  THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

his  companion  ;  but  as  he  observed  tliat  Hickoy,  whicli  was  the  name  of  the 
little  man,  seemed  to  be  quiet  and  gentle  in  his  deportment,  and  had  money 
about  him,  and  that  the  other  had  a  ferocious  bad  countenance,  he  dreaded 
that  something  fatal  would  happen,  and  wished,  at  all  events,  to  keep  them 
asunder.  The  humane  precautions  which  he  took,  however,  proved 
ineftectual;  for  Caulfield  (such  was  the  other's  name)  prevailed  upon  Hickey 
to  continue  with  him  on  their  way  to  Carrick,  declaring  that,  as  they  had 
loner  travelled  together  they  should  not  part,  but  should  remain  together 
until  he  should  see  Hickey  safely  arrive  at  the  habitation  of  his  friends. 
They  accordingly  set  out  together ;  and  in  about  an  hour  after  they  left 
Portlaw,  in  a  lonely  part  of  the  mountain,  just  near  the  place  observed  by 
Roo-ers  in  his  dream,  Caulfield  took  the  opportunity  of  murdering  his  com- 
panion. It  appeared  afterwards,  from  his  own  account  of  the  horrid  trans- 
action, that  as  they  were  getting  over  the  ditch,  he  struck  Hickey  on  the 
back  part  of  his  head  with  a  stone ;  and  when  he  fell  down  into  the  trench, 
in  consequence  of  the  blow,  Caulfield  gave  him  several  stabs  with  a  knife, 
and  cut  his  throat  so  deeply,  that  the  head  was  almost  severed  from  the 
body.  He  then  rifled  Hickey's  pockets  of  all  the  money  in  them,  took 
part  of  his  clothes,  and  everything  else  of  value  about  him,  and  afterwards 
proceeded  on  his  way  to  Carrick.  He  had  not  been  long  gone  when  the 
body,  still  warm,  was  discovered  by  some  labourers  who  were  returning  to 
their  work  from  dinner.  The  report  of  the  murder  soon  reached  Portlaw  ; 
and  Rooers  and  his  wife  went  to  the  place,  and  instantly  knew  the  body  of 
him  whom  they  had  in  vain  endeavoured  to  dissuade  from  going  on  with 
his  treacherous  companion.  They  at  once  declared  their  suspicions  that 
the  murder  was  perpetrated  by  the  fellow  traveller  of  the  deceased  ;  and  an 
immeiiiate  search  was  made,  and  Caulfield  was  apprehended  at  Waterford 
on  the  second  day  after.  He  was  brought  to  trial  at  the  ensuing  assizes, 
and  convicted  of  the  fact. 

After  sentence,  the  prisoner  confessed  that  he  had  been  guilty  of  the 
murder,  and  stated  that  he  had  accompanied  Hickey  home  from  the  West 
Indies  ;  and  that  observing  that  he  had  money  in  his  possession,  he  had 
long  contemplated  the  deed  which  he  afterwards  effected,  but  was  unable  to 
meet  with  a  good  opportunity  until  their  arrival  at  the  spot  alluded  to. 

He  was  executed  at  Waterford  in  the  year  1751. 


WILLIAM  PARSONS,  ESQ. 

KXECUTED    FOR    RETURNING    FROM    TRANSPORTATION. 

The  unhappy  subject  of  this  narrative  was  the  eldest  son  of  Sir  WiUiam 
Parsons,  Bart.,  of  the  county  of  Nottingham,  and  was  born  in  London  in 
the  year  1717.  He  was  placed  imder  the  care  of  a  pious  and  learned 
divine  at  Pepper -harrow,  in  Surrey,  where  he  received  the  first  rudiments 
of  education.  In  a  little  more  than  three  years  he  was  removed  to  Eton 
College,  where  it  was  intended  that  he  should  qualify  himself  for  one  of 
the  imiversities ;  but  his  misconduct  prevented  his  friends  from  carrying 
out  their  intentions  in  this  respect ;  for  having  been  detected  in  various 
acts  of  petty  pilfering,  he  was  dismissed  the  school,  and  sent  home  to  his 
father.    His  disposition  was  now  found  to  be  of  so  unpromising  a  character, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  ]43 

tliafc  it  was  thought  advisable  to  send  him  to  sea,  and  an  appointment  was 
procnred  for  him  as  midshipman  on  board  a  vessel  of  war  lying  at  Spitliead, 
which  was  immediately  abont  to  proceed  to  Jamaica.  Our  hero  soon  obtained 
the  necessary  outfit,  and  joined  his  ship ;  but  some  accident  detaining  her 
beyond  the  time  when  it  was  expected  she  would  sail,  he  applied  for  leave 
of  absence,  and  went  on  shore ;  but  having  no  intention  to  return, 
he  directed  his  course  towards  a  small  town  about  ten  miles  from  Ports- 
mouth, called  Bishop's  Waltham,  Avhere,  by  representations  of  his 
respectability,  he  soon  ingratiated  himself  into  the  favour  of  the  principal 
inhabitants. 

His  figure  being  pleasing,  and  his  manner  of  address  easy  and  polite,  he 
found  but  little  difficulty  in  recommending  himself  to  the  ladies,  and  he 
became  greatly  enamoured  of  a  beautiful  and  accomplished  young  lady, 
the  daughter  of  a  physician  of  considei-able  practice,  and  prevailed  upon 
her  to  promise  that  she  woiild  yield  to  him  her  hand  in  marriage. 

News  of  the  intended  alliance  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  his  father  and 
of  his  uncle,  the  latter  directly  hastened  to  AValtham,  to  prevent  a  union, 
which  would  have  produced  consequences  of  the  worst  character  to  the 
contracting  parties,  and  having  apprised  the  friends  of  the  young  lady  with 
the  condition  and  situation  of  the  intended  bridegroom,  their  consent  was 
withdrawn,  and  our  hero  was  with  some  difficulty  induced  to  rejoin  his 
ship.  Restless,  however,  in  his  new  employment,  he  had  scarcely  reached 
Jamaica,  when  he  determined  that  he  would  desert  and  return  to  England ; 
and  the  sailing  of  the  Sheerness  man-of-war  for  tliat  place  afforded  him  an 
opportunity  of  carrying  his  design  into  execution,  of  which  he  lost  no  time 
in  availing  himself.  A  new  effort  to  obtain  the  hand  of  his  former  lov? 
was  as  unsuccessful  as  that  which  he  had  first  made  ;  and  his  uncle  having 
ascertained  the  fact  of  his  presence  in  Englaiid,  induced  him  at  once  to  go 
back  to  the  residence  of  his  father,  with  promises  of  future  amendment. 
For  a  time  his  determination  to  alter  his  course  of  life  was  obeyed  ;  but 
soon  again  launching  forth  into  habits  of  irregularity,  he  was  despatched 
as  midshipman  on  board  the  Roinney^  for  the  coast  of  Newfoundland.  On 
his  revisiting  England,  after  an  absence  of  some  years,  he  was  mortified  to 
learn  that  the  Duchess  of  Northumberland,  to  whom  he  was  distantly 
related,  had  revoked  a  will  in  his  favour,  which  she  had  made,  and  had 
bequeathed  to  his  sister  the  fortune  which,  he  knew,  had  been  intended  for 
him  ;  and  now,  finding  himself  spurned  by  his  friends,  he  was  soon  reduced 
to  a  condition  of  absolute  necessity.  Through  the  friendly  intervention  of 
a  Mr.  Bailey,  however,  he  procured  an  engagement  at  James  Fort,  on  the 
river  Gambia,  but  here,  as  in  all  other  situations  unfortunate,  he  contrived 
to  engage  himself  in  a  quarrel,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  compelled 
to  return  to  Europe — a  step,  however,  which  he  was  alone  enabled  to  take 
by  setting  at  defiance  the  commands  of  the  Governor  Aufleur,  that  he 
should  not  quit  the  colony — and  take  his  passage  under  an  assumed  name 
on  board  a  homeward-bound  trader. 

Arrived  in  London,  he  found  no  friend  to  whom  he  could  apply  for 
assistance  or  relief,  but  at  length  discovering  the  residence  of  his  father,  he 
went  to  him  and  implored  some  aid,  even  if  he  should  not  give  him  any 
further  countenance.  Five  shillings,  and  advice  to  enter  a  horse  regiment 
as  a  private,  were  all  that  he  could  obtain,  nowever,  and  rendered  wretched 
by  his  miserable  condition,  the  grave  appeared  to  be  the  only  resource  to 


T44  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

which  he  could  look  for  consolation.  But  a  thought  suggested  itself  m 
time  to  i)revent  his  rashly  taking  away  his  life,  that  he  should  represent 
himself  as  his  brother,  who  had  recently  come  into  a  fortune ;  and  under 
the  pretext  that  he  Avas  entitled  to  the  legacy,  he  committed  frauds  upon 
various  tradesmen  to  a  considerable  amount.  His  impudence  and  his 
ingenuity  were  now  required  to  be  exerted  in  order  to  relieve  him  from  the 
difficulty  in  which  he  was  involved  in  consequence  of  this  proceeding,  but 
his  good  fortune  in  throwing  him  in  the  way  of  a  young  lady  of  good 
fortune,  to  whom  he  was  married,  placed  in  his  power  the  means  of 
retrieving  his  lost  character  and  his  degraded  position.  The  marriage  was 
solemnised  on  the  lOth  February  1740;  and  the  intercession  of  his  friends, 
to  whom  he  Avas  now  with  difficulty  again  reconciled,  procured  for  him 
an  ensigncy  in  the  34th  regiment  of  foot  from  the  right  honourable 
Arthur  Onslow. 

He  appeared  at  this  time  to  be  desirous  of  xe-appearing  in  that  position 
in  society  to  which  his  birth  entitled  him ;  but  liaving  hired  a  house  in 
Poland-street,  his  extravagant  mode  of  living  again,  in  the  course  of  a  few 
years,  reduced  him  to  a  condition  of  great  distress.  He  was  compelled  to 
sell  his  commission  in  order  to  recruit  his  shattered  finances  ;  and  then,  in 
order  to  meet  new  demands,  he  was  guilty  of  various  forgeries,  iipon  which 
he  procured  money  to  a  very  large  amount.  For  two  years  he  pursued 
new  plans  of  iniquity  with  considerable  success,  but  then  being  apprehended 
in  the  act  of  putting  off  a  forged  draft,  he  was  committed  to  Maidstone 
jail,  and  having  been  convicted  at  the  ensuing  assizes,  was  sentenced  to  be 
transported  for  seven  yeai's.  In  the  month  of  September,  1749,  he  was 
put  on  board  the  Thames  transport,  bound  for  Maryland,  and  in  the 
following  November  he  was  landed  at  Annapolis,  in  that  place.  He  was 
now  guilty  of  new  offences,  even  more  criminal  than  those  which  he  had 
before  committed,  and  having  first  ridden  off  with  a  horse  belonging  to 
the  person  to  whom  he  was  assigned  as  a  servant,  and  committed  several 
robberies,  he  shaped  his  course  to  Potomac,  from  whence  he  immediately 
sailed  for  England. 

That  refuge  for  the  destitute  of  all  classes  at  this  period,  "  the  road," 
was  now  the  only  resource  left  to  our  hero,  and  for  a  time  he  pursued  his 
nev»^  occupation  with  infinite  determination  and  proportionate  success  ;  but 
at  length  having  attempted  to  rob  Mr.  Fuller,  tlie  gentleman  by  whom  he 
had  before  been  prosecuted,  he  was  recognised  by  him,  and  being  vigorously 
attacked,  was  at  length  compelled  to  surrender,  and  was  secured  and 
committed  to  Newgate. 

It  was  necessary  to  prove  no  new  offence  against  him  at  his  trial,  but 
all  that  was  required  was  to  identify  him  as  a  transported  felon,  who  had 
returned  to  England  before  the  termination  of  the  period  for  which  he  had 
been  sentenced  to  be  banished ;  and  this  being  done,  he  was  declared  to 
have  forfeited  his  life  to  the  laws  of  his  country.  His  distressed  father 
and  wife  used  all  their  interest  to  obtain  for  him  a  pardon,  but  in  vain  : 
he  was  an  old  offender,  and  judged  by  no  means  a  fit  object  for  mercy. 

While  Parsons  remained  in  Newgate,  his  behaviour  was  such  that  it 
could  not  be  determined  whether  he  entertained  a  proper  idea  of  his  dreadful 
situation.  There  is,  indeed,  but  too  much  reason  to  fear  that  the  hopes  of 
a  reprieve  (in  which  he  deceived  himself  even  to  the  last  moments  of  his 
life)  induced  him  to  neglect  the  necessary  preparation  for  eternity. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  145 

His  taking  leave  of  his  wife  afforded  a  scene  extremely  affecting :  he 
recommended  to  her  parental  protection  his  only  child,  and  regretted  that 
his  misconduct  had  put  it  in  the  power  of  a  censorious  world  to  reflect  upon 
both  the  mother  and  son. 

At  tlie  place  of  execution  he  joined  in  the  devotional  exercises  with  a 
fervency  of  zeal  that  proved  him  to  be  convinced  of  the  necessity  of 
obtainino-  the  pardon  of  his  Creator. 

AVilliam  Parsons,  Esq.  suffered  at  Tyburn,  on  the  11th  of  Feb.  1751. 


W  I  L  L  I A  ]\I    *";  H  A  N  D  L  E  K. 

TRANSPORTED    FOR    PERJURY. 

The  scheme  laid  by  this  man  for  the  purpose  of  plunder  has  scarcely 
ever  been  equalled  in  art  and  consummate  hypocrisy.  It  is  to  be  observed 
that  in  the  case  of  every  robbery  committed,  the  hundred  where  it  happens, 
or  the  county  at  large,  is  responsible  for  the  amount  of  the  loss  which  the 
injured  person  in  such  cases  may  sustain.  In  Chandler's  attempt  at  fraud 
founded  upon  this  law,  he  implicated  three  innocent  men,  by  whom  he 
pretended  to  have  been  robbed,  and  who,  had  his  tale  ultimately  received 
credit,  might  have  lost  their  lives.  Happily  his  plot  was  frustrated,  and 
the  real  offender  was  brought  to  justice. 

William  Chandler  was  the  only  child  of  Mr.  Thomas  Chandler,  of 
Woodborough,  near  Devizes,  a  gentleman  farmer  of  moderate  means.  At 
an  early  age  the  youth  was  articled  to  IMr.  Banks,  who  was  clerk  of  the 
Goldsmiths'  Company  ;  but  before  two  years  had  elapsed,  in  consequence 
of  frequent  disputes  which  took  place,  he  was  transferred  to  Mr.  Hill,  a 
respectable  attorney  in  Clifford's  Inn.  His  clerkship  being  nearly  expired, 
the  necessity  of  providing  himself  with  the  means  of  commencing  practice 
on  his  own  account  suggested  itself  to  his  mind,  and  he  therefore  laid  a 
plan  to  procure  the  possession  of  as  much  money  as  he  could,  and  then 
going  a  journey  into  the  country,  upon  some  plausible  pretence,  to  trump 
up  a  story  of  being  robbed,  and  sue  the  hundred  for  the  amount.  Upon 
representations  to  his  father,  that  he  had  a  good  match  in  view,  the  old 
man  gave  him  an  estate  of  the  value  of  400Z. ;  and  then  producing  the 
deeds  to  his  master,  together  with  500/.  which  he  had  obtained  by  other 
means,  but  which  he  represented  that  he  had  received  from  a  rich  uncle  in 
Suffolk,  he  procured  from  him  the  advance  of  500/.  more,  in  order,  as  he 
alleged,  that  he  might  take  a  mortgage  upon  some  property  at  Enford, 
within  a  few  miles  of  his  father's  house.  Mr.  Hill  demanded  some 
security  for  his  money,  and  his  clerk  immediately  pi'oposed  to  give  him  a 
mortgage  upon  his  own  estate.  In  order  to  favour  the  appearance  of  the 
probability  of  his  proceedings,  he  engaged  with  a  Mrs.  Poor,  who  lived  at 
Enford,  in  a  transaction,  having  the  mortgage  of  some  land  which  she 
owned  for  its  object,  and  the  money  having  been  duly  advanced  by  his 
employer,  he  fixed  the  25th  March,  1748,  to  meet  Mrs.  Poor  to  hand  over 
the  money  and  receive  the  necessary  papers.  Early  on  the  24th,  having 
turned  most  of  his  cash  into  small  bills,  to  the  amount  of  900/.,  he  found, 
when  he  came  to  put  these  in  canvas  bags  under  his  garters,  where  he 
proposed  to  carry  them  for  safety,  that  they  made  too  great  a  bundle,  and 

VOL.  1.  U 


146  THE   NKW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

therefore  he  took  several  of  the  bills,  with  some  cash,  amoimtino-  to  4-^0/., 
and  exchanged  them  at  the  bank  for  two  notes,  one  of  400/.  and  the  other 
of  40/. ;  the  first  of  which,  in  his  way  home,  he  changed  in  his  master's 
name,  at  Sir  Richard  Hoare's,  for  one  note  of  200/.,  and  two  of  100/.  each. 
<.)n  liis  reaching  the  office,  he  told  his  master  that  the  bank  clerks  were  a 
little  out  of  humour  at  the  trouble  he  had  already  given  them,  and  that  he 
had  changed  his  small  notes  with  a  stranger  in  the  bank- hall  for  the  notes 
which  he  in  reality  had  received  at  Sir  Richard  Hoare's.  Mr.  Hill,  at 
Chandler's  request,  having  then  written  down  tlie  numbers  and  dates  of 
the  several  bills,  and  having  seen  them  safely  put  up,  Chandler  took  leave 
of  him,  and  about  twelve  o'clock  set  out. 

About  four  o'clock  the  same  afternoon  he  reached  Hare-hatch,  distant 
thirty  miles  from  London,  where  he  stopped  to  refresh ;  and  about  five, 
just  as  he  had  left  his  inn,  he  was,  as  he  said,  unfortunately  met  by  three 
bargemen  on  foot,  who,  after  they  had  robbed  him  of  his  watch  and  money, 
took  him  to  a  pit  close  by  the  road,  and  there  stripped  him  of  all  his  bank- 
notes, bound  his  hands  and  feet,  and  left  him,  threatening  lo  return  and 
shoot  him  if  he  made  the  least  noise.  In  this  woful  condition,  he  said,  he 
lay  three  hours,  though  the  pit  was  so  near  the  road  that  not  a  single  horse 
could  pass  without  his  hearing.  When  night  came,  however,  he  jumped, 
bound  as  he  was,  near  half  a  mile,  all  up  hill,  till,  luckily  for  his  purpose, 
''e  met  one  Avery,  a  simple  shepherd,  who  cut  the  cords,  and  of  whom  the 
first  question  Chandler  asked  was,  where  a  constable  or  tything-man  lived. 
Avery  conducted  him  to  Richard  Kelly's,  the  constable's  just  by,  and  with 
him  Mr.  Chandler  left  the  notices  required  by  the  statutes,  with  the 
description  of  the  men  who  robbed  him,  so  exactly,  that  a  person  present 
remembered  three  such  men  to  have  passed  by  his  house  about  the  very 
time  the  robbery  was  said  to  have  been  committed ;  and  the  mayor  of 
Reading,  who  was  accidentally  on  the  road,  had  a  similar  recollection  of 
the  bargemen,  whom  he  had  met  near  Maidenhead  thicket,  between  four  anti 
five  the  same  day.  Chandler  then  returned  to  the  inn  where  he  had 
refreshed,  and,  after  telling  his  deplorable  tale,  and  acquainting  his  land- 
lord with  his  intention  of  suing  the  hundred,  he  ordered  a  good  supper  and 
a  bowl  of  punch,  and  sat  down  with  as  little  concern  as  if  nothing  had 
happened. 

Next  day  he  returned  to  London,  acquainted  his  master  with  the  pre- 
tended robbery,  and  requested  his  assistance.  Mr.  Hill  gave  him  the 
memorandum  he  had  of  the  numbers,  dates,  and  sums  of  the  notes,  and  sent 
him  to  the  bank  to  stop  payment ;  but,  instead  of  that,  he  went  to  3Ir. 
Tufley,  a  silversmith  in  Cannon  Street,  bought  a  silver  tankard,  and  in 
payment,  changed  one  of  the  notes  for  a  hund'-pd  pounds  which  he  had 
received  the  day  before  at  Sir  Richard  Hoare's  ;  and  on  his  return  to  his 
master,  told  him  the  bank  did  no  business  that  day,  on  account  of  the 
hurry  the  city  was  in  with  regard  to  a  fire  in  Cornhill,  which  had  happened 
the  night  before.  He  therefore  went  again  tlie  following  morning,  and 
when  he  came  back,  being  asked  by  Mr.  Hill  for  the  paper  on  which  he 
had  taken  down  the  numbers,  (Sire,  he  said  he  had  left  it  with  the  clerks  of 
the  bank,  who  were  to  stop  the  notes,  but  that  he  liad  taken  an  exact  copy 
of  it.  This,  however,  was  false ;  for  he  had  reserved  i\Ir.  Hill's  copy,  and 
left  anotlier  at  the  bank,  in  which  he  had  so  craftily  altered  the  numbers 
and  dates  of  the  three  notes  he  received  at  Sir  Richard  Hoare's,  amounting 


THE  NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  147 

to  four  hundred  pounds,  as  to  prevent  their  being  stopped  and  Mr.  Hill 
remembering  the  difference. 

On  the  2(ith  he  inserted  a  list  of  his  notes,  being  fifteen  in  all,  with  their 
dates  an  1  numbers,  in  the  daily  papers,  offering  a  reward  of  fifty  pounds 
for  the  recovery  of  tlie  whole,  or  in  proportion  for  any  part ;  but  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  same  day  he  withdrew  his  advertisement  in  all  the  daily 
papers,  and  took  his  own  written  copy  away  at  each  place.  On  the  29tli  of 
March,  he  put  the  notice  of  the  robbery  and  the  description  of  the  robbers 
in  the  London  Gazette,  as  the  law  directs,  except  that  he  did  not  particu- 
larize the  notes,  as  he  had  done  in  other  papers. 

On  the  12th  of  May  following,  he  made  the  proper  information  before  a 
justice  of  the  peace ;  but  though  Mr.  Plill,  his  master,  was  with  him,  and 
had  undertaken  to  manage  tlie  cause  for  him,  yet  he  made  the  same  omis- 
sion in  his  information  as  in  his  advertisement  in  the  London  Gazette. 

All  things  being  prepared,  on  the  18th  of  July  1748,  Chandler's  cause 
came  on  at  Abingdon,  before  a  special  jury  ;  and,  after  a  hearing  of  twelve 
hours,  the  jury  retired,  and  then  gave  the  prosecutor  a  verdict  for  nine 
hundred  and  seventy  pounds,  subject,  however,  to  a  case  reserved  for  the 
opinion  of  the  Court  of  Common  Pleas,  concerning  the  sufficiency  of  the 
description  of  the  bank-notes  in  the  London  Gazette. 

In  the  mean  time.  Chandler,  fearing  that  by  what  came  out  upon  the 
trial  he  should  soon  be  suspected,  and  that  he  might  be  arrested,  obtained 
a  protection  from  Lord  Willoughby  de  Broke,  and  gave  out  that  he  was 
removed  into  Suffolk  to  reside,  as  he  had  before  pretended,  with  his  rich 
uncle  ;  but  in  reality  he  retired  to  Colchester,  where  his  brother-in-law, 
Humphry  Smart,  had  taken  an  inn,  with  whom  he  entered  into  copartner- 
ship, and  never  came  publicly  to  London  afterwards.  He  was,  however, 
obliged  to  correspond  with  his  master,  on  account  of  the  point  of  law  which 
was  soon  to  be  argued ;  and,  therefore,  to  obtain  his  letters  without  dis- 
covering his  place  of  abode,  he  ordered  them  to  be  directed  "  To  ^Ir. 
Thomas  Chandler,  at  Easton,  in  Suffolk,  to  be  left  for  him  at  the  Crown 
at  Audley,  near  Colchester." 

Mr. Hillhaving writtenseverallettersto  Mr. Chandler, pressinghim to  come 
to  town  (as  the  Term  drew  near),  and  he  evading  it  by  trifling  excuses,  the 
former  began  to  suspect  him,  even  before  the  point  of  law  was  determined. 
Just  before  this  period,  twelve  of  the  notes  of  which  Mr.  Chandler  pre- 
tended to  have  been  robbed,  were  all  brought  to  the  bank  together,  having 
been  bought,  October  31,  1748,  at  Amsterdam,  of  one  John  Smitli,  by 
Barnard  Solomon,  a  broker  there,  and  by  him  transmitted  to  his  son, 
Nathan  Solomon,  a  broker  in  London.  Upon  further  inquiry,  it  appeared 
that  John  Smith,  who  sold  the  notes,  staid  but  a  few  days  in  Holland ; 
that  he  was  seen  in  company  with  Mr.  Casson,  a  Holland  trade  r,  and  came 
over  in  the  packet  with  him.  Mr.  Casson  was  then  found,  and  his 
description  of  John  Smith  answered  to  the  person  of  Chandler,  who  was, 
in  consequence,  pressed  by  letter  to  come  to  town  and  face  Casson,  to 
remove  all  suspicion  ;  but  he  refused. 

In  the  interim,  the  point  of  law  was  argued  before  the  judges  of  the 
Common  Pleas,  when  their  determination  was  to  the  following  cfflct : — 
"  That,  as  Chandler  had  not  inserted  the  numbers  of  his  notes  in  the 
Gazette,  nor  sworn  to  them  when  he  made  oath  before  the  justice,  the 
verdict  must  be  set  aside  and  the  plaintiti"  nonsuited,  without  the  advantage 
of  a  new  trial." 


"  148  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

But  now  the  scene  began  to  open  apace;  for  about  this  time  the  very 
paper  which  Chandler  left  when  he  stopped  payment  of  the  notes  at  the 
bank,  was  found  ;  and  upon  its  being  seen  by  J\lr.  Hill,  he  at  once  saw 
that  he  had  been  deceived,  and  proceeded  to  take  the  necessary  steps  to 
secure  his  apprehension.  The  whole  circumstances  attending  the  case  were 
soon  traced,  upon  a  minute  inspection  of  the  bank  books,  as  contrasted 
with  those  of  the  banking-house  of  Messrs.  Hoare  and  Co. ;  and  about 
midsummer  1749,  Mr.  Hill  and  others  set  out  for  Colchester,  with  a  view 
of  securing  the  person  of  the  culprit.  After  a  fruitless  journey,  however, 
of  about  a  hundred  and  fifty  miles  in  search  of  the  fugitive,  they  returned 
to  the  very  inn  at  Colchester  which  was  kept  by  the  object  of  their  search, 
and  then  departed  for  London,  without  gaining  any  hitelligence.  Chandler 
having  seen  his  pursuers,  thought  it  prudent  to  decamp,  and  proceeded  to 
Coventry,  where  he  took  a  small  public-house;  but  being  desirous  of  making 
some  reparation  to  his  late  master,  he  transmitted  to  him  a  hundred  and 
fifty  pounds  by  letter  from  Nottingham.  By  the  post-mark  of  his  letter, 
he  was  eventually  traced  to  Coventry,  and  an  indictment  for  perjury,  in 
respect  of  the  information  on  oath,  which  he  gave  to  the  magistrates  of  the 
robbery,  having  been  found  against  him,  he  was  taken  into  custody  on  a 
judge's  warrant,  aud  removed  to  Abingdon,  where,  on  the  2'2d  July,  1750, 
he  was  arraigned  on  the  indictment  preferred  against  him.  The  witnesses 
being  all  in  attendance,  the  prisoner  traversed  his  trial  until  the  next 
assizes,  in  pursuance  of  a  right  which  he  possessed  ;  but  then  the  facts 
already  detailed  having  been  proved  in  evidence,  he  was  found  guilty,  and 
on  the  16th  July  1751,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  transported  for  seven  years, 
having  first  undergone  three  months'  imprisonment  in  the  County  Jail. 


MARY  BLANDY. 

EXECUTED    FOR    PARRICrDE. 


The  unhappy  subject  ot  this  memoir  was  a  young  lady  of  most  respect- 
able family,  and  of  superior  education,  but  who,  in  spite  of  the  exertions  of 
her  parents  in  her  early  life  to  implant  in  her  breast  sentiments  of  piety 
and  virtue,  was  guilty  of  a  crime  of  the  most  heinous  description— the 
wilful  murder  of  her  father.  i\lr.  Francis  Blandy  was  an  attorney  residing 
at  Henley-on-Thames,  and  held  the  oflfice  of  town-clerk  of  that  place. 
Possessed"  of  ample  means,  his  house  became  the  scene  of  much  gaiety;  and 
as  report  gave  to  his  daughter  a  fortune  of  no  inconsiderable  extent,  and 
as,  besides,  her  manners  were  sprightly  and  atiable,  and  her  appearance 
engaging,  her  hand  was  sought  in  marriage  by  many  persons  whose  rank 
and  wealth  rendered  them  fitting  to  become  her  partner  for  life.  But 
among  all  these  visitants,  none  were  received  with  greater  pleasure  by  Mr. 
or  J\lrs.  Blandy,  or  their  daughter,  than  those  who  held  commissions  in  the 
army.  This  predilection  was  evidenced  in  the  introduction  of  the  Hon, 
WiUiam  Henry  Cranstoun,  at  that  time  engaged  on  the  recruiting  service 
for  a  foot  regiment,  in  which  he  ranked  as  captain. 

Captain  Cranstoun  was  tlie  son  of  Lord  Cranstoun,  a  Scotch  peer  of 
ancient  family,  and  through  the  instrumentality  of  his  uncle,  Lord  Mark 
Ker,  he  had  obtained  his  commission.     In  the  year  1745,  he  had  married 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  149 

a  youn^  lady  of  good  family  named  3Iurray,  with  whom  he  received  an 
ample  fortune;  and  in  the  year  1752,  he  was  ordered  to  England  to 
endeavour  to  procure  his  complement  of  men  for  his  regiment.  His  bad 
fortune  led  him  to  Henley,  and  there  he  formed  an  intimacy  with  ^Miss 
rdandy.  At  this  time  Cranstoun  was  forty -six  years  of  age.  while  Miss 
liiandy  was  twenty  years  his  junior;  and  it  is  somewhat  extraordinary 
that  a  person  of  her  accomplishments  and  beauty  should  have  formed  a 
liaison  with  a  man  so  much  older  than  herself,  and  who,  besides,  is  repre- 
sented as  having  been  devoid  of  all  personal  attractions. 

A  short  acquaintance,  it  appears,  was  sufl&cient  to  excite  the  flame  of 
passion  in  the  mind  of  tlie  gallant  captain,  as  well  as  of  Miss  Blandy  ;  and 
ere  long,  their  troth  was  plighted,  that  they  would  be  for  ever  one.  The 
captain,  however,  felt  the  importance  of  forestalling  any  information  which 
niio'ht  reach  the  ears  of  his  new  love  of  the  existence  of  any  person  who 
possessed  a  better  right  to  his  affections  than  she  ;  and  he  therefore 
informed  her  that  he  was  engaged  in  a  disagreeable  lawsuit  with  a  young 
lady  in  Scotland  who  had  claimed  him  as  her  husband  ;  but  he  assured  her 
that  it  was  a  mere  affair  of  gallantry,  of  which  the  process  of  the  law  would 
in  the  course  of  a  very  short  time  relieve  him.  This  disclosure  being  fol- 
lowed by  an  offer  of  marriage,  Cranstoun  was  referred  to  jNIr.  Blandy,  and 
he  obtained  an  easy  acquiescence  on  his  part  in  the  wishes  expressed  by  the 
young  lady. 

At  this  juncture,  an  intimation  being  conveyed  to  Lord  Ker  of  the 
proceedings  of  his  nephew,  his  lordship  took  instant  steps  to  apprise  Mr. 
Blandy  of  the  position  of  Cranstoun.  Prejudice  had,  however,  worked  its 
end  as  well  with  the  father  as  the  daughter,  and  the  assertion  of  the  intended 
bridegroom  of  the  falsehood  of  the  allegations  made  was  sufficient  to 
dispel  all  the  fears  which  the  report  of  Lord  Ker  had  raised.  But  although 
Captain  Cranstoun  had  thus  temporarily  freed  himself  from  the  effects  of 
the  imputation  cast  upon  him,  he  felt  that  some  steps  were  necessary  to  get 
his  first  marriage  annulled,  and  he  at  length  wrote  to  his  wife,  requesting 
her  to  disown  him  for  a  husband.  The  substance  of  this  letter  was,  that, 
having  no  other  way  of  rising  to  preferment  but  in  the  army,  he  had  but 
little  ground  to  expect  advancement  there,  while  it  was  known  he  was 
encumbered  with  a  wife  and  family  ;  but  could  he  once  pass  for  a  single 
man,  he  had  not  the  least  doubt  of  being  quickly  promoted,  which  would 
procure  him  a  sufficiency  to  maintain  her  as  well  as  himself  in  a  genteeler 
manner  than  now  he  was  able  to  do.  "  All,  therefore,  (adds  he)  I  have  to 
request  of  you  is,  that  you  will  transcribe  tlie  enclosed  copy  of  a  letter, 
wherein  you  disown  me  for  a  husband  ;  put  your  maiden  name  to  it,  and 
send  it  by  the  post.  All  the  use  I  shall  make  of  it  shall  be  to  procure  my 
advancement,  which  will  necessarily  include  your  own  benefit.  In  full 
assurance  tliat  you  will  comply  with  my  request,  I  remain  your  most 
affectionate  husband." 

Mrs.  Cranstoun,  ill  as  she  had  been  treated  by  her  husband,  and  little 
hope  as  she  had  of  more  generous  usage,  was,  after  repeated  letters  had 
passed,  induced  to  give  up  her  claim,  and  at  length  sent  the  desired  com- 
munication. On  this,  an  attempt  was  made  by  him  to  annul  the  marriage, 
this  letter  being  produced  as  evidence ;  but  the  artifice  being  discovered,  the 
suit  was  dismissed,  with  costs.  ]\Ir.  Blandy  soon  obtained  intelligence  of 
thij  circumstance,  and  convinced  now  of  the  falsehood  of  his  intended  son- 


150  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

in-law,  lie  conveyed  a  knowledge  of  it  to  his  daughter;  but  she  and  her 
mother  repelled  the  insinuations  which  were  thrown  out,  and  declared,  in 
obedience  to  what  they  had  been  told  by  the  gallant  captain,  that  the  suit 
was  not  yet  terminated,  for  that  an  appeal  to  the  House  of  Lords  would 
immediately  be  made.  Soon  after  this,  Mrs.  Blandy  died,  and  her  husband 
began  now  to  show  evident  dislike  for  Captain  Cranstoun's  visits  ;  but  the 
latter  complained  to  the  daughter  of  the  father's  ill-treatment,  and  insi- 
nuated that  he  had  a  method  of  conciliating  his  esteem  ;  and  tliat  when  he 
Arrived  in  Scotland  he  would  send  her  some  powders  proper  for  the  purpose ; 
on  which,  to  prevent  suspicion,  he  would  write  "  Powders  to  clean  the 
Scotch  pebbles." 

Cranstoun  sent  her  the  powders,  according  to  promise,  and  Mr.  Blandy 
being  indisposed  on  the  Sunday  se'nnight  before  his  death,  Susan  Gunnel, 
a  maid-servant,  made  him  some  water-gruel,  into  which  Miss  Blandy  con- 
veyed some  of  the  powder,  and  gave  it  to  her  father  ;  and  repeating  this 
draught  on  the  following  day,  he  was  tormented  with  the  most  violent  pains 
in  his  bowels. 

The  disorder,  which  had  commenced  with  symptoms  of  so  dangerous  a 
character,  soon  increased  ;  and  the  greatest  alarm  was  felt  by  the  medical 
attendants  of  the  old  gentleman,  that  death  alone  would  terminate  his  suf- 
ferings. Every  effort  was  made  by  which  it  was  hoped  that  his  life  could 
be  saved ;  but  at  length,  when  all  possibility  of  his  recovery  was  past, 
his  wretched  daughter  rushed  into  his  presence,  and  in  an  agony  of  tears 
and  lamentations,  confessed  that  she  was  the  author  of  his  sufferings  and 
of  his  inevitable  death.  Urged  to  account  for  her  conduct,  which  to  her 
father  appeared  inexplicable,  she  denied,  with  the  loudest  asseverations,  all 
guilty  intention.  She  repeated  the  tale  of  her  love,  and  of  the  insidious  arts 
employed  by  Cranstoun,  but  asserted  that  she  was  unaware  of  the  deadly 
nature  of  the  powders,  and  that  her  sole  object  in  administering  them  was 
to  procure  her  father's  affection  for  her  lover.  Death  soon  terminated  the 
accumulated  misery  of  the  wretched  parent,  and  the  daughter  had  scarcely 
witnessed  his  demise,  ere  she  became  an  inmate  of  a  jail. 

At  the  ensuing  assizes  at  Oxford,  Miss  Blandy  was  indicted  for  the 
wilful  murder  of  her  father,  and  was  immediately  found  guilty,  upon  the 
confession  which  she  had  made.  She  addressed  the  jury  at  great  length, 
repeating  the  story  which  she  had  before  related  ;  but  all  was  of  no  avail, 
and  sentence  of  death  was  passed. 

After  conviction,  the  wretched  young  woman  behaved  with  the  utmost 
decency  and  penitence.  She  spent  the  night  before  her  execution  in  devo- 
tion ;  and  at  nine  in  the  morning  of  the  6th  of  April  1752,  she  left  her 
apartment  to  ba  conducted  to  the  scaffold,  habited  in  a  black  bombasin 
dress,  her  arms  being  bound  with  black  ribands.  On  her  ascending  the 
gallows,  she  begged  that  she  might  not  be  hanged  high,  "  for  the  sake  of 
decency  ;"  and  on  her  being  desired  to  go  a  little  higher,  expressed  her  fear 
that  she  should  fall.  The  rope  being  put  round  her  neck,  she  pulled  her 
handkerchief  over  her  face,  and  was  turned  off  on  holding  out  a  book  of 
devotions,  which  slie  had  been  reading. 

The  crowd  of  sjiectators  assembled  on  this  occasion  was  immense ;  and 
when  she  ha^l  hung  the  usual  time  she  was  cut  down,  and  the  body  being 
put  into  a  hearse,  was  conveyed  to  Henley,  and  interred  with  her  parenta, 
at  one  o'clock  on  the  following  morning. 


THE    NEVV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  151 

It  vvill  be  proper  now  to  return  to  Cranstoun,  who  was  the  original 
contriver  of  this  liorrid  murder.  Having  heard  of  Miss  Blandy's  comtnit- 
nient  to  Oxford  jail,  he  concealed  himself  some  time  in  Scotland,  and  then 
escaped  to  Boulogne,  in  Franco.  Meeting  there  with  Mrs.  Ross,  who  wa? 
distantly  related  to  his  family,  he  acquainted  her  witli  his  situation,  and 
heo-oed  lier  protection  ;  on  which  she  advised  him  to  change  his  name  for 
her  maiden  name  of  Dunbar.  Some  officers  in  the  French  service,  who 
were  related  to  his  wife,  hearing  of  his  concealment,  vowed  revenge,  if 
they  should  meet  with  him,  for  his  cruelty  to  the  unhappy  woman  :  on 
which  he  fled  to  Paris,  from  whence  he  went  to  Furnes,  a  town  in  Flanders, 
where  ]\Irs.  Ross  had  provided  a  lodging  for  his  reception.  He  had  not 
been  long  at  Furnes  when  he  was  seized  with  a  severe  fit  of  Illness,  which 
brought  him  to  a  degree  of  reflection  to  which  he  had  been  long  a  stranger. 
At  length  he  sent  for  a  father  belonging  to  an  adjacent  convent,  and 
received  absolution  from  his.  hands,  on  declaring  himself  a  convert  to  the 
Romish  faith. 

Cranstoun  died  on  the  30th  of  November,  1752  ;  and  the  fraternity  of 
monks  and  friars  looked  on  his  conversion  as  an  object  of  such  importance, 
tiiat  solemn  mass  was  sung  on  the  occasion,  and  the  body  was  followed  to 
tho  grave  not  only  by  the  ecclesiastics,  but  by  the  magistrates  of  the  town. 


JOHN  M'CANELLY  AND  LUKE  MORGAN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    BURGLARY. 

These  men  were  of  that  class  who  usually  visit  England  during  harvest, 
from  the  sister  kingdom,  and  who,  if  they  possessed  honesty,  would  prove 
most  useful  to  the  community  of  this  country. 

It  appeals  that  in  the  year  1751,  I\Ir.  Porter,  a  farmer  of  great 
respectability,  residing  in  Cheshire,  had  engaged  a  number  of  Irish  people 
to  assist  in  gathering  his  harvest,  when  ou  one  evening  in  the  month  of 
August  he  was  alarmed,  while  sitting  at  supper,  by  hearing  that  they  had 
attacked  his  house.  Every  effort  was  employed  by  him  and  his  family  to 
oppose  the  entry  of  their  assailants,  but  their  power  being  small,  in  the 
course  of  a  few  minutes  the  doors  were  burst  in,  and  they  found  tliemselves 
surrounded  by  a  gang,  whose  ferocious  demands  for  money  or  blood 
convinced  them  of  the  uselessness  of  resistance.  Mr.  Porter,  however,  for 
a  while  delayed  meeting  the  demands  which  were  made  upon  him,  in  the 
hope  that  some  assistance  might  arrive ;  but  his  ruffian  assailants  bound 
him  with  cords,  and  threatened  instant  destruction  '*"  his  money  and  plate 
were  not  instantlj'  brought  forth.  Miss  Porter  at  this  moment  made  her 
appearance,  supplicating  for  the  life  of  her  parent,  when  she  in  turn  was 
seized  and  Ijouiid,  and  was  compelled  to  discover  the  chest  in  which  the 
valuables  were  kept. 

In  the  confusion  created  by  these  proceedings,  the  youngest  daughter,  a 
girl  of  thirteen,  whose  presence  of  mind  and  courage  were  alike  admirable, 
made  her  escape,  and  determined  to  px'ocure  some  assistance  to  repel  the 
attack  which  had  been  made ;  and  running  into  the  stable,  she  got  astride 
the  bare  back  of  a  horse,  with  the  halter  only  in  his  mouth,  and  galloping 
over  hedges  and  ditches,  so  as  to  avoid  the  house,  from  which  she  miglit 


i52  IHE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

be  seen  by  the  villains,  she  rode  to  Pulford,  a  village  at  a  short  distance, 
to  inform  her  eldest  brother  of  the  danger  to  which  their  relations  at  the 
farm  were  exposed.  Young  Porter,  with  a  friend  named  Craven,  (whose 
conduct  certainly  was  the  very  opposite  of  his  name,)  immediately  resolved 
upon  attacking  the  villains  in  turn,  and,  with  the  girl,  set  off  at  full  speed 
to  render  such  aid  as  lay  in  their  power.  On  their  reaching  the  farm, 
they  discovered  a  fellow  on  the  watch,  whom  they  instantly  killed  with  so 
little  noise  as  to  create  no  alarm,  and  then  proceeding  to  the  parlour,  they 
found  four  others  in  the  very  act  of  placing  old  ]Mr.  Porter  on  the  fire, 
having  deprived  him  of  his  clothes,  in  order  to  extort  from  him  a  confession 
of  the  depository  of  his  money,  his  daughter  being  on  her  knees  at  their 
side  praying  for  his  life.  The  appearance  of  two  strangers  was  sufficient 
to  induce  the  villains  at  once  to  desist  from  their  horrid  purpose ;  and 
being  now  violently  attacked,  they  were  compelled  to  use  their  utmost 
exertions  to  defend  themselves.  A  desperate  conflict  took  place,  but  one 
of  the  robbers  being  felled  senseless  to  the  ground,  and  the  others  wounded 
and  deprived  of  their  arms,  they  jumped  through  the  window  and  ran  off. 
They  were  instantly  pursued  by  the  young  men,  and  the  alarm  having 
by  this  time  been  given,  INPCanelly  and  jMorgan  were  secured  on  Chester 
bridofe,  havino-  a  silver  tankard  in  their  possession  which  they  had  stolen 
from  3Ir.  Porter's  house.  A  fellow  named  Stanley,  who  turned  out  to  be 
ringleader  in  this  desperate  attack,  was  subsequently  apprehended  on  board 
a  vessel  bound  for  the  West  Indies,  at  Liverpool :  and  with  31'Canelly, 
jMorgan,  and  a  youth  named  Boyd,  who  had  been  left  in  the  house,  was 
committed  to  Chester  jail  for  trial. 

They  were  indicted  at  the  ensuing  assizes  held  in  !March,  17.t2,  and 
after  a  lonw  investigation,  were  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  death  ;  but 
Boyd,  in  whose  case  some  mitigating  circumstances  were  proved,  was 
respited,  and  his  punishment  eventually  comnmted  to  transportation 
for  life. 

On  the  night  before  the  execution,  Stanley  shpped  his  irons,  and  got 
clear  off  from  the  jail,  not  without  some  suspicion  that  his  escape  was 
connived  at  by  the  keeper. 

On  the  23th  jMay,  1752,  ]\I'Canelly  and  Morgan  were  brought  out  of 
prison  in  order  to  be  hanged.  Their  behaviour  was  as  decent  as  could  be 
expected  from  persons  of  their  station.  They  both  declared  that  Stanley, 
who  escaped,  was  the  sole  contriver  of  the  robbery.  They  died  in  the 
Catholic  faith,  and  were  attended  by  a  priest  of  that  persuasion. 


ELIZABETH  JEFFRIES  AND  JOHN  SWAN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  these  offenders  is  one  of  the  greatest  atrocity.  It  appears 
that  the  female  was  the  niece  of  a  gentleman  of  respectability  residing  at 
Walthamstow,  who,  having  acquired  an  ample  fortune,  and  having  no 
children,  adopted  his  brother's  daughter,  and  made  a  will  in  her  favour, 
bequeathing  to  her  nearly  his  whole  estate.  The  girl,  however,  returned 
her  uncle's  kindness  with  ingratitude,  aiul  having  heard  him  declare  that 
he  would  alter  his  will  on  account  of  her  bad  behaviour,  she  determined  to 


— «?ii5^ 


';<^,^,«^',5^9^  ^.Ji^'i^^  yffaA/i^iny  a/^a^-  lii4i'-■l:^^iUi^A^  o/^  --^/^ 


THE    NEW   NEWfJATE    CALENDAR.  153 

preveiit  his  carrying  liis  design  to  her  detriment  into  execution  by  mur- 
dering him.  She  soon  discovered  her  inability  to  complete  this  project 
sinffie-handed,  and  she  gained  the  assistance  of  her  accomplice  in  the  crime, 
Jolm  Swan,  who  was  in  the  employment  of  her  uncle,  and  with  whom 
there  is  good  reason  to  believe  she  was  on  terms  of  intimacy.  They 
endeavoured  to  suborn  a  simple  fellow  named  Matthews  to  assist  them,  but 
although  the  promise  of  a  large  reward  at  first  staggered  him,  his  terrors 
eventually  steeled  him  against  the  temptations  held  out  to  him.  The 
night  of  the  3rd  July,  1731,  was  fixed  upon  for  the  completion  of  this 
villany  ;  and  at  the  trial,  which  took  place  at  Chelmsford,  before  !Mr. 
Justice  Wright,  on  the  11th  3Iarch,  1752,  the  follov.'ing  facts  were  proved : 
[Matthews  having  travelled  from  Yorkshire  was  accidentally  met  in 
Epping  Forest  by  Mr.  Jeffries,  who  gave  him  employment  as  an  assistant 
to  Swan,  who  was  his  gardener.  After  he  had  been  at  work  only  four 
days,  he  was  sent  up  stairs  by  Miss  Jeffries  to  wipe  a  chest  of  drawers, 
and  she  followed  him,  and  asked  him  if  he  was  willing  to  earn  one  hundred 
pounds  ?  He  answered  that  he  was,  "  in  an  honest  way  ; "  on  whicli 
she  desired  him  to  go  to  Swan.  He  accordingly  joined  him  in  the  garden, 
and  he  offered  him  seven  hundrei  pounds  to  murder  their  master. 
He  acquiesced  ;  and  on  his  being  dismissed  two  days  afterwards.  Swan 
gave  him  half  a  guinea  to  buy  a  brace  of  pistols  ;  but  having  spent  the 
money  given  to  him,  he  was  ordered  to  meet  ]\Iiss  Jeffries  and  Swan  at 
Walthamstow  on  the  Tuesday  following,  at  ten  o'clock  at  night,  the  object 
being  then  to  carry  out  their  intentions  with  respect  to  the  murder. 

When  he  arrived,  he  found  the  garden  door  on  the  latch  ;  and  going  into 
the  pantry,  he  hid  himself  behind  a  tub  till  about  eleven  o'clock, when  Swan 
brought  him  some  cold  boiled  beef.  About  twelve  jMiss  Jeffries  and  Swa,n 
came  to  him  ;  when  the  latter  said,  "  Now  it  is  time  to  knock  the  old 
miser,  my  master,  on  the  head  ;"  but  [Matthews  relented  and  said,  "  I  can- 
not find  it  in  my  heart  to  do  it.''  3Iiss  Jeffries  then  immediately  replied, 
"  You  may  be  d — d  for  a  villain,  for  not  performing  your  promise  !'  And 
Swan,  who  was  provided  with  pistols,  also  loudly  abused  him,  and  said  he 
had  a  mind  to  blow  his  brains  out  for  the  refusal.  Swan  then  produced  a 
book,  and  insisted  that  [Matthews  should  swear  that  he  would  not  discover 
what  had  passed  :  and  he  did  so,  with  this  reserve,  "  unless  it  was  to  save 
his  own  life."  Soon  after  this  Matthews  heard  the  report  of  a  pistol ; 
when  getting  out  of  the  house  by  the  back  waj ,  he  crossed  the  ferry,  and 
proceeded  to  Enfield  Chase.  Immediately  afterwards  Miss  Jeffries 
appeared  at  the  door  of  the  house,  and  called  out  for  assistance,  and  some  of 
the  neighbours  going  in,  they  found  jMr.  Jeffries  dying,  but  they  failed  in 
discovering  any  thing  which  could  lead  to  the  supposition  of  any  person 
having  quitted  the  house.  Violent  suspicions  in  consequence  arose,  and  [Miss 
Jeffries  was  taken  into  custody,  but  no  evidence  arising  to  criminate  her, 
she  was  discharged,  and  immediately  administered  to  her  uncle's  estate  and 
took  possession  of  his  property.  Renewed  suspicions,  however,  were 
raised,  and  Matthews  having  been  discovered,  Jeft'ries  and  Swan  were 
apprehended.     Upon  this  testimony  a  verdict  of  Guilty  was  returned 

After  conviction  Elizabeth  Jeffries  made  the  following  confession  : — 

"  I,  Elizabeth  Jeffries,  do  freely  and  voluntarily  confess  that  I  first 
enticed  and  persuaded  John  Swan  and  Thomas  Matthews  to  undertake  and 
perpetrate  the  murder  of  my  deceased  imcle,  which  they  both  consented  to 

VOL.  I.  X 


154  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

do  tlie  first  opportunity.  That  on  the  third  day  of  July  1751,  myself  and 
John  Swan  (Matthews,  to  my  knowledge,  not  being  in  the  house)  agreed  to 
kill  my  said  uncle  ;  and,  accordingly,  after  the  maid  was  gone  to  bed,  1 
went  into  John  Swan's  room,  and  called  him,  and  we  went  down  together  into 
the  kitchen,  and  having  assisted  Swan  in  putting  some  pewter  and  other 
things  into  a  sack,  I  said  I  could  do  no  more,  and  then  I  went  into  my 
room  ;  and  afterwards  Swan  came  up,  as  I  believe,  and  went  into  my 
uncle's  room  and  shot  him  ;  which  done,  he  came  to  my  door  and  rapped. 
Accordingly  I  went  out  in  my  shift,  and  John  Swan  opened  the  door  and 
let  me  out.  That  done,  I  alarmed  the  neighbourhood.  And  I  do  solemnly 
declare  that  I  do  not  know  that  any  person  was  concerned  in  the  murder  of 
my  deceased  uncle  bvit  myself  and  John  Swan;  for  that  Matthews  did  net 
come  to  my  uncle's  house  the  day  before,  or  night  in  which  the  murder  was 
committed  as  I  know  of.  "  Elizabeth  Jeffries. 

"  Takeu  aud  acknowledged  March  12,  1752." 

Swan  for  some  time  expressed  great  resentment  at  Miss  JeflFries's  confes- 
sion ;  but  when  he  learned  that  he  was  to  be  hung  in  chains  he  began  to 
relent,  and  seemed  at  length  to  behold  his  crime  in  its  true  light  of 
enormity. 

On  the  day  of  execution  the  convicts  left  the  prison  at  four  in  the  morning. 
Miss  Jeffries  being  placed  in  a  cart  and  Swan  on  a  sledge.  The  unfortu- 
nate woman  repeatedly  fainted  on  her  way  to  the  gallows  ;  and  having 
fallen  into  a  fit,  had  not  recovered  when  she  was  turned  off.  The  execution 
took  place  near  the  six -mile-stone  on  Epping  Forest  on  the  28th  of  jNIarch 
1752;  and  the  body  of  Miss  Jeffries  having  been  delivered  to  her  friends 
for  interment,  the  gibbet  was  removed  to  another  part  of  the  forest,  where 
Swan  was  hung  in  chains. 


DOCTOR  ARCHIBALD  CAMERON. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

The  Scottish  rebellion  had  been  suppressed  nearly  eight  years,  and 
England  had,  during  that  time,  enjoyed  internal  peace,  when  Doctor 
Cameron  fell  a  victim  to  liis  exertions  in  the  caust;  of  the  Pretender.  Doctor 
Cameron  was  the  brcjther  of  the  chief  of  the  Highland  clan  of  the  same 
name  ;  and  it  appears  that  having  studied  successively  at  Glasgow,  Edin- 
burgh, Paris,  and  Leyden,  he  returned  to  Scotland  admirably  qualified  to 
practise  the  profession  of  medicine,  to  which  he  had  been  brought  up. 
Althouoh  educated  in  a  manner  which  rendered  him  fit  to  mix  in  the  best 
society  of  the  day,  he  took  up  his  residence  in  the  district  of  Lochaber, 
where,  in  a  short  time,  he  was  married  to  a  lady  of  respectable  family. 
Universally  esteemed,  and  beloved  by  his  neighbours  for  his  zealous  and 
efiectual  services  in  the  civilisation  of  the  manners  of  his  countrymen,  and 
for  his  generous  conduct  in  the  attendance  of  the  sick  poor,  he  was  residing 
in  the  bosom  of  his  family,  when  the  rebelUon  of  1745  broke  out,  which 
laid  waste  the  country,  and  introduced  misery  and  wretcliedness  to  many  a 
happy  home.  The  cliief  of  the  Camerons  was  a  zealous  friend  to  Prince 
Charles ;  and  although  he  firmly  believed  that  any  attempt  at  the  restora- 
tion of  the  Stuart  family  to  the  throne  of  England  must  prove  abortive,  yet 
being  pledged  to  assist  his  prince,  he  generously  sacrificed  his  own  feelings, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  155 

and  appeared  in  arms  at  the  head  of  nearly  twelve  hundred  men.  Tims 
arrayed  he  sent  for  his  brother  to  undertake  the  medical  charge  of  his  troops  ; 
but  althouo^h  the  doctor  urged  every  argument  which  could  be  raised  against 
so  rash  an  undertaking  as  that  which  w^as  proposed,  he  was  at  length  cum- 
pelled  to  forego  all  further  resistance,  and  to  attend  tlie  army  in  his  profes- 
sional capacity,  although  he  absolutely  refused  to  accept  any  commission. 
Thus  circumstanced,  Doctor  Cameron  was  remarkable  throughout  the  whole 
advance  and  retreat  of  the  rebel  army  for  the  humanity  and  assiduity  witli 
which  he  attended  all,  whether  friend  or  foe,  who  required  his  aid.  And 
when  the  battle  of  CuUoden  put  an  end  to  all  the  hopes  of  the  Pretender, 
lie  and  his  bi'otlier  escaped  to  France  in  a  vessel  belonging  to  that  kingdom. 
While  in  France,  the  doctor  was  appointed  physician  to  a  French  regiment, 
of  which  his  brother  obtained  the  command ;  but  the  latter  dying  about 
two  years  afterwards,  he  joined  Ogilvie's  regiment  in  Flanders. 

In  the  meantime  proceedings  had  been  taken  against  the  rebel  leaders  in 
England,  many  of  whom  had  forfeited  their  lives  to  the  offended  laws  of 
their  country,  and  by  an  act  of  attainder  passed  in  the  year  1746,  for  the 
effectual  punishment  of  persons  concerned  in  the  rebellion,  the  life  of 
Doctor  Cameron  was  declared  to  be  forfeited.  In  the  years  1750  and 
1752,  subscri^^tions  were  entered  into  in  Scotland  for  the  support  of  those 
]3ersons  who  had  escaped  into  foreign  countries,  and  Doctor  Cameron 
having  already  more  than  once  visited  his  native  country,  finally  in  the 
latter  year  came  over  to  Scotland,  for  the  jDurpose  of  procuring  some 
permanent  relief  for  himself  and  his  suffering  fellow-countrymen  abroad. 
Rumours  were  soon  set  afloat  that  he  was  in  Scotland,  and  a  detachment 
of  Lord  George  Beaufort's  regiment  was  sent  in  search  of  him.  Being 
made  acquainted  with  the  vicinity  of  his  hiding-place,  but  being  unable 
for  a  considerable  time  to  discover  its  exact  locality,  the  soldiers  were 
unable  to  secure  their  prisoner  ;  but  at  length  perceiving  a  little  girl,  who 
appeared  to  be  acting  as  a  scout,  they  followed  her  until  she  met  a  boy, 
who  was  evidently  employed  in  a  similar  capacity,  to  whom  they  observed 
that  she  whispered  something.  They  directly  pursued  tlie  boy,  but  being 
unable  to  reach  him,  they  presented  their  guns,  threatening  to  shoot  him 
if  he  did  not  immediately  stop.  Having  then  secured  his  person,  they 
menaced  him  with  instant  death  if  he  did  not  inform  them  of  the  hiding- 
place  of  Dr.  Cameron.  The  boy  pointed  to  the  house  where  he  was 
tioncealed,  and  the  unfortunate  gentleman  was  directly  placed  under  arrest, 
and  was  then  immediately  sent  to  Edinburgh,  and  from  thence  subse- 
quently to  London,  where  he  was  placed  in  confinement  in  the  Tower. 
Upon  Ills  examination  before  the  Privy  Council,  he  denied  that  he  was  the 
person  mentioned  in  the  Act  of  Attainder  ;  but  being  brought  to  the  bar 
of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  on  the  17th  of  May,  he  acknov/Iedged  that 
he  was  the  person  who  had  been  attainted ;  on  which  Lord  Chief 
Justice  Lee  pronounced  sentence  in  the  following  terms  : — "  You.  Archibald 
Cameron,  of  Lochiel,  in  that  part  of  Great  Britain  called  Scotland,  nuist 
be  removed  from  hence  to  his  Majesty's  prison  of  the  Tower  of  London, 
from  whence  you  came,  and  on  Thursday,  the  7tli  of  June  next,  your  body 
to  be  drawn  on  a  sledge  to  the  place  of  execution,  there  to  be  hanged,  but 
not  till  you  are  dead, — your  bowels  to  be  taken  out,  your  body  quartered, 
your  head  cut  olF,  and  affixed  at  tlie  king's  disposal, — and  the  Lord  have 
uiercy  on  your  soul !" 


156  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

After  his  commitment  to  the  Tower  he  begged  to  see  his  wife,  who  was 
then  at  Lille,  in  Flanders  ;  and,  on  her  arrival,  the  meeting  between  them 
was  inexpressibly  atFecting.  The  unfortunate  lady  wept  incessantly  ;  and 
on  her  going  to  take  her  final  leave  of  her  husband,  on  the  morning  of 
execution,  she  was  attacked  with  fits,  which  left  her  only  after  grief  had 
deprived  her  of  her  senses. 

On  the  morning  of  the  7th  June,  1753,  the  unhappy  man  was  carried  to 
Tyburn  to  be  executed.  He  wasdressed  in  a  light-coloured  coat,  red  waistcoat 
and  breeches,  and  a  new  bag- wig.  He  looked  much  at  the  spectators  in  the 
houses  and  balconies,  as  well  as  at  those  in  the  street,  and  bowed  to  several 
persons  with  whom  he  was  acquainted.  He  was  attended  at  the  scafltbld 
by  a  clergyman  of  the  Church  of  England  ;  and  before  his  being  turned 
off,  he  declared  that  he  was  at  peace  with  all  men,  and  that  he  died  firmly 
hopinor  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  sins  through  the  merits  of  his  blessed 
Redeemer.  When  his  body  had  hung  during  twenty  minutes  it  was  cut 
down,  and  the  heart  was  taken  out  and  burned,  but  the  sentence  was  not 
further  fulfilled.  On  the  following  Sunday,  his  remains  were  interred  in  a 
large  vault  in  the  Savoy  chapel. 

Dr.  Cameron,  it  appears,  was  the  last  person  who  suffered  punishment 
on  account  of  connection  with  the  rebellion  of  Scotland  ;  and  of  all  those 
who  were  concerned  in  it,  probably  he  least  of  all  deserved  the  unhappy 
fate  which  befel  him.  The  very  small,  and  apparently  unwilling  par*, 
which  he  took  in  the  proceedings,  should  have  screened  him  from  condign 
punishment,  more  especially  at  a  period  when  all  appearance  of  discontent 
having  vanished,  no  further  harm  was  to  be  apprehended. 


CAPTAIN   JOHN   LANCEY. 

EXECUTED   FOR    BURNING    HIS    SHIP. 

Captain  Lancey  was  a  native  of  Biddeford,  in  Devonshire,  and  was 
respec'ably  connected.  At  an  early  age,  he  exhibited  a  predilection  for  a 
seafaring  life,  and  having  served  his  apprenticeship,  he  was  employed  as 
mate  of  a  vessel  belonging  to  Mr,  Benson,  a  rich  merchant  of  Biddeford, 
at  that  time  31. P.  for  Barnstaple. 

Having  married  a  sister  of  Benson's,  Lancey  was  soon  advanced  to  the 
command  of  the  vessel ;  and  on  his  return  frcm  a  voyage,  he  was  surprised 
at  receiving  an  order  from  his  emploj'er  to  refit  as  soon  as  possible,  Mr. 
Benson  saying  that  he  would  insure  the  vessel  for  twice  her  value,  and  that 
Lancey  should  destroy  her.  The  latter  hesitated  at  first  to  assent  to  this 
extraordinary  proposition,  and  for  a  time  the  suggestion  was  not  again 
mentioned ;  but  another  opportunity  being  afforded  to  Benson,  on  his 
brother-in-law  dining  with  him,  he  plied  him  with  wine,  and  having 
pointed  out  to  him  the  poverty  to  which  his  family  might  be  reduced  in 
rase  of  his  refusal,  by  his  being  dismissed  from  employment,  the  unhappy 
man  at  length  yielded  to  his  persuasions. 

A  ship  was  now  fitted  out^  and  bound  for  Maryland :  goods  to  a  large 
amount  were  shipped  on  board,  but  re-landed  before  the  vessel  sailed,  and 
a  lading  of  brick-bats  taken  in  by  way  of  ballart ;  and  T'he  vessel  had  not 
been  long  at  sea  before  a  hole  was  bored  in  her  side,  and  a.  cask  of  com- 


TOE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  '57 

bustlble  ingredients  set  on  fire  witli  a  view  to  destroy  lier.  The  fire  no 
sooner  appeared  than  the  captain  called  to  some  convicted  transports,  then 
in  the  hold,  to  inqnire  if  they  had  fired  the  vessel ;  but  this  appears  to 
have  been  only  a  feint  to  conceal  the  real  design.  The  boat  being  hoisted 
out,  all  the  crew  got  safely  on  shore ;  and  then  Lancey  repaired  imme- 
diately to  Benson  to  inform  him  of  what  had  passed.  The  latter  instantly 
despatched  him  to  a  proctor,  before  whom  he  swore  that  the  ship  had 
accidentally  taken  fire,  and  that  it  was  impossible  to  prevent  the  conse- 
quences which  followed. 

The  crime  was  soon  afterwards  discovered,  however,  and  Lancey  was 
taken  into  custody ;  but,  secure  in  his  anticipation  of  protection  from 
Benson,  he  did  not  express  much  concern  at  his  situation.  His  employer, 
in  the  mean  time,  was  perfectly  aware  of  the  consequences  which  would 
fall  upon  him,  and  fled  to  avoid  them ;  and  his  unhappy  dupe  being 
brought  to  trial,  was  capitally  convicted,  and  received  sentence  of  death. 
He  subsequently  lay  in  prison  for  about  four  months,  during  which  time 
he  pursued  his  devotional  exercises  with  the  utmost  regularity,  and  was 
hanged  on  the  7th  June,  1754,  at  Execution  Dock,  in  the  27th  year  of 
liis  age. 


NICOL  BROWN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    WIFE. 

This  malefactor  appears  to  have  suffered  for  a  crime  as  savagely  ferocious 
as  it  was  deliberate.  He  was  a  native  of  Cramond,  near  Edinburgh,  where 
he  was  decently  educated,  and  was  apprenticed  to  a  butcher  ;  but  his  taste 
tending  towards  a  seafaring  life,  he  entered  on  board  a  man-of-war  as  a 
sailor,  and  remained  in  that  situation  for  four  years.  On  his  return,  he 
married  the  widowof  a  respectable  butcher,  who  had  left  her  a  decent  fortune. 

Taking  to  a  habit  of  drinking,  he  seldom  came  home  sober  at  night ;  and 
bis  wife  following  his  example,  he  used  frequently  to  beat  her  for  copying 
his  own  crime.  This  conduct  rendered  both  parties  obnoxious  to  their 
acquaintance ;  and  the  following  revolting  anecdote  of  Brown  will  incon- 
testably  prove  the  unfeeling  brutality  of  his  nature. 

About  a  week  after  the  execution  of  Norman  Ross  (already  mentioned) 
for  murder.  Brown  had  been  drinking  with  some  company  at  Leith,  till,  in 
the  beight  of  their  jollity,  they  boasted  what  extravagant  actions  they  could 
perform.  Brown  swore  that  he  would  cut  ofi"  a  piece  of  flesh  from  the  leg 
of  the  dead  man  and  eat  it.  His  companions,  drunk  as  they  were,  appeared 
shocked  at  the  very  idea  ;  while  Brown,  to  prove  that  he  was  in  earnest, 
procured  a  ladder,  which  he  carried  to  the  gibbet,  and  cutting  ofi"  a  piece 
of  flesh  from  the  leg  of  the  suspended  body  of  Ross,  brought  it  back, 
broiled  and  ate  it. 

The  circumstances  of  tbe  crime  for  which  he  was  executed  were  as  follow. 

After  liavinw;  been  drinkin^f  at  an  alehouse  in  the  Canoncrate,  he  went 
lionie  at  about  eleven  at  night,  in  a  high  degree  of  intoxication.  His  wife 
was  also  much  in  liquor;  but,  though  equally  criminal  himself,  he  was 
exasperated  against  her,  and  struck  her  so  violently  that  she  fell  from  her 
chair.  The  noise  of  her  fall  alarmed  the  neighbours ;  but,  as  frequent 
quarrels  had  happened  between  them,  no  immediate  notice  was  taken  of  the 
affair.     In  about  fifteen  minutes,  the  wife  was  heard  to  cry  out  *■•  Mard°r ' 


158  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALEXDAR. 

lielp  !  fire  !  the  rogue  is  murdering  me !"  and  the  neighbours,  now  appre- 
hending real  dangt^r,  knocked  at  tlie  door ;  but  no  person  being  in  the  house 
but  Brown  and  his  wife,  admission  was  refused.  The  woman,  mean- 
time, was  heard  to  groan  most  shockingly,  and  a  person  looking  through 
the  keyhole,  savv  Brown  holding  his  wife  to  the  fire.  He  was  called  on  to 
open  tiie  door,  but  refused  to  do  so  ;  and  tlie  candle  being  extinguished,  and 
the  woman  still  continuing  her  cries,  the  door  was  at  length  forced  open. 
When  the  neighbours  went  in,  they  beheld  her  a  most  shocking  spectacle, 
lying  half  naked  before  the  fire,  and  her  flesh  in  part  broiled.  In  the 
interim,  Brown  had  got  into  bed,  pretending  to  be  asleep,  aud  when  spoken 
to,  appeared  ignorant  of  the  transaction.  The  woman,  though  so  dread- 
fully burnt,  retained  her  senses,  and  accused  her  husband  of  the  murder, 
and  told  in  what  manner  it  was  perpetrated.  She  survived  till  the  follo'.v- 
ing  morning,  still  continuing  in  tlie  same  tale,  and  then  expired  in  the 
utmost  agony. 

The  murderer  was  now  seized,  and  being  lodged  in  the  jail  of  Edinburgh, 
was  broucrht  to  trial  and  capitally  convicted. 

On  August  the  14th,  1754,  he  was  attended  to  the  place  of  execution  at 
Edinburgh  by  the  Rev.  Dr.  BrovNTi ;  but  to  the  last  he  denied  having  been 
guilty  of  the  crime  for  which  he  suffered. 

After  execution  he  was  hung  in  chains ;  but  the  body  was  stolen  from 
the  gibbet,  and  thrown  into  a  pond,  where  being  found,  it  was  exposed  as 
before.  In  a  few  days,  however,  it  was  again  stolen;  and  though  a  reward 
was  offered  for  its  discovery,  it  was  not  again  found. 


EDWARD  MORGAN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  circumstances  which  came  out  on  the  trial  of  Edward  Morgan,  at 
the  assizes  of  Glamorfian,  were  these  : — According  to  annual  custom,  he 
had  been  invited  by  3Ir.  Rees  Morgan,  of  Lanvabon,  his  cousin,  to  spend 
the  Christmas  holidays.  He  had  partaken  of  the  first  day's  festivity,  and 
retired  to  bed  along  with  a  young  man,  apprentice  to  Mr.  Rees  Morgan. 
Xo  sooner  had  he  laid  his  head  upon  the  pillow,  to  use  his  own  expression, 
than  the  devil  whispered  him  to  get  up  and  murder  the  whole  family,  and 
he  detennined  to  obey. 

He  first  made  an  attempt  on  the  apprentice,  his  bedfellow  ;  out  he 
struooled  so  far  as  to  eifect  his  escape,  and  hid  himself.  The  murderer 
then  provided  hhuself  with  a  knife,  which  he  sharpened  on  a  stone  as 
deliberately  as  the  butcher  uses  his  steel ;  and  thus  prepared,  he  softly 
crept  to  the  bedchamber  of  his  host  and  hostess,  and  cut  their  throats  in 
their  sleep.  He  then  proceeded  to  the  bed  of  their  beautiful  daughter,  with 
whom  the  monster  had  but  an  hour  before  been  sporting  and  playing,  and 
with  equal  expedition,  aud  by  the  same  means,  robbed  her  of  life.  Not 
satisfied,  however,  with  these  deeds  of  blood,  he  seized  a  firebrand,  and 
]iroceeded  to  the  barn  and  outhouses,  setting  fire  to  them  all ;  and,  to  com- 
plete the  sum  of  his  crime,  he  fired  the  dwelling-house,  after  plundering  it 
of  some  articles. 

"  The  Gloucester  Journal,"  of  the  year  1757,  describes  the  property 
consumed  by  fire  on  this  melancholy  occasion  to  have  been  "  the  dwelling- 
house,  a  bam  full  of  corn,  a  beast-hou^e,  with  twelve  head  of  cattle  in  it." 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  159 

It  was  at  first  conjectured  that  the  unfortunate  people  had  perished  in 
the  conflagration.  Their  murdered  bodies,  it  is  too  true,  were  consutned 
to  ashes  ;  but  the  manner  of  their  death  was  subsequently  proved,  partly 
by  what  the  concealed  apprentice  overheard,  but  chiefly  from  the  murderer's 
own  confession.     Morgan  was  executed  at  Glamorgan,  April  the  6th,  1757 


The  Rev.  JOHN  GRIERSON  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  WILKINSON 

TRANSPORTED  FOR  UNLAWFULLY  PERFORMING  THE  MARRIAGE  CEREMONY. 

Among  the  singular  customs  of  our  forefathers,  arising  in  a  great  measure 
from  their  indifference  to  decorum,  one  of  the  most  remarkable  was 
matrimony,  solemnised,  we  were  going  to  say,  but  the  fittest  word  would 
be  "  performed,"  by  the  parsons  in  the  Fleet  prison,  to  which  reference  has 
already  frequently  been  made.  These  clerical  functionaries  were  dis- 
reputable and  dissolute  men,  mostly  prisoners  for  debt,  who,  to  the  great 
injury  of  public  morals,  dared  to  insult  the  dignity  of  their  holy  profession 
by  marrying  in  the  precincts  of  the  Fleet  prison,  at  a  minute's  notice,  any 
persons  who  might  present  themselves  for  that  purpose.  No  questions 
were  asked,  no  stipulations  made,  except  as  to  the  amount  of  the  fee  for 
the  service,  or  the  quantity  of  liquor  to  be  drunk  on  the  occasion.  It  not 
unfrequently  happened,  indeed,  that  the  clergyman,  the  clerk,  the  bride- 
groom and  the  bride,  were  drunk  at  the  very  time  the  ceremony  was  per- 
formed. These  disgraceful  members  of  the  sacred  calling  had  their  "  plyers," 
or  "  barkers,"  who,  if  they  caught  sight  of  a  man  and  woman  walking 
together  along  the  streets  of  the  neighbourhood,  pestered  them  as  the  Jew 
clothesmen  in  the  present  day  tease  the  passers-by  in  Holywell  Street,  with 
solicitations,  not  easily  to  be  shaken  off,  as  to  whether  they  wanted  a 
clergyman  to  marry  them.  Mr.  Burn,  a  gentleman  who  has  recently 
published  a  curious  work  on  the  Fleet  Registers,  says  he  has  in  his  pos- 
session an  engraving  (published  about  1747)  of"  A  Fleet  Wedding  between 
a  brisk  young  Sailor  and  Landlady's  daughter  at  Rederiff."  "  The  print," 
he  adds,  "represents  the  old  Fleet  market  and  prison,  with  the  sailor, 
landlady,  and  daughter,  just  stepping  from  a  hackney-coach,  while  two 
Fleet  parsons  in  canonicals  are  contending  for  the  job.  The  following 
verses  are  in  the  margin  : 

"  Scarce  had  the  coach  discharg'd  its  trusty  fare, 
But  gaping  crowds  surround  th'  amorous  pair  ; 
The  busy  Plyers  make  a  mighty  stir, 
And  whisp'ring  cry,  D'ye  want  the  Parson,  Sir? 
Pray  step  this  way — just  to  the  Pen  in  Hand, 
The  Doctor  's  ready  there  at  your  command  : 
This  way  (another  cries).  Sir,  I  declare, 
The  true  and  ancient  Register  is  here  : 

"  Th'  alarmed  Parsons  quickly  hear  the  din. 
And  haste  with  soothing  words  t'  invite  'em  in  : 
In  this  confusion  jostled  to  and  fro, 
Th'  inamour'd  couple  know  not  where  to  go  , 
Till,  slow  advancing  from  the  coach's  side, 
Th'  experienc'd  matron  came,  (an  artful  guide,) 
She  led  the  way  without  regarding  cither, 
And  the  first  Parson  splic'd  'em  both  togetner.  ' 


IfiO  THK    NEW    KEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

One  of  the  most  notorious  of  these  scandalous  officials  was  a  man  of  the 
name  of  George  Keith,  a  Scotch  minister,  who,  being  in  desperate  circum- 
stances, set  up  a  marriage-office  in  May -Fair,  and  subsequently  in  the 
Fleet,  and  carried  on  the  same  trade  which  has  since  been  practised  in  front 
of  the  blacksmith's  anvil  at  Gretna  Green.  This  man's  wedding-business 
was  so  extensive  and  so  scandalous,  that  the  Bishop  of  London  found  it 
necessary  to  excommunicate  him.  It  has  been  said  of  this  person  and 
"  his  journeyman"  that  one  morning,  during  the  Whitsun  holidays,  they 
united  a  greater  number  of  couples  than  had  been  married  at  any  ten 
churches  within  the  bills  of  mortality.  Keith  lived  till  he  was  eighty -nine 
years  of  age,  and  died  in  1735.  The  Rev.  Dr.  Gaynham,  another  infamous 
functionary,  was  familiarly  called  the  Bishop  of  Hell. 

'"■  Many  of  the  early  Fleet  weddings,"  observes  Mr.  Burn,  "  were  really 
performed  at  the  chapel  of  the  Fleet ;  but  as  the  practice  extended,  it  was 
found  more  convenient  to  have  other  places,  within  the  Rules  of  the  Fleet, 
(added  to  which,  the  Warden  was  forbidden,  by  act  of  parliament,  to  suffer 
them,)  and,  thereupon,  many  of  the  Fleet  parsons  and  tavern-keepers  in 
the  neighbourhood  fitted  up  a  room  in  their  respective  lodgings  or  houses 
as  a  chapel !  The  parsons  took  the  fees,  allowing  a  portion  to  the  plyers, 
&c. ;  and  the  tavern-keepers,  besides  sharing  in  the  money  paid,  derived  a 
profit  from  the  sale  of  liquors  which  the  wedding-party  drank.  In  some 
instances,  the  tavern-keepers  kept  a  parson  on  the  establishment^  at  a  weekly 
salary  of  twenty  shillings  !  Most  of  the  taverns  near  the  Fleet  kept  their 
own  registers,  in  which  (as  well  as  in  their  own  books)  the  parsons  entered 
the  weddings."  Some  of  these  scandalous  members  of  the  highest  of  all 
professions  were  in  the  habit  of  hanging  signs  out  of  their  windows  with 
the  words  "  Weddings  performed  cheap  here." 

Keith,  of  whom  we  have  already  spoken,  seems  to  have  been  a  bare- 
faced profligate  ;  but  there  is  something  exceedingly  affecting  in  the  stings 
of  conscience  and  forlorn  compunction  of  one  Walter  AVyatt,  a  Fleet 
parson,  in  one  of  whose  pocket-books  of  1716  are  the  following  secret  (as 
he  intended  them  to  be)  outpourings  of  remorse  : — 

"  Give  to  every  man  his  due,  and  learn  y^  way  of  Truth." 

"  Tliis  advice  cannot  be  taken  by  those  that  are  concerned  in  y*  Fleet 
marriages;  not  so  much  as  y"  Priest  can  do  y^  thing  y'  it  is  just  and  right 
there,  unless  he  designs  to  starve.  For  by  lying,  bullying,  and  swearing, 
to  extort  money  from  the  silly  and  unwary  people,  you  advance  your 
business  and  get  y^  pelf,  which  always  wastes  like  snow  in  sunshiney  day." 

"  The  fear  of  the  Lord  is  the  beginning  of  wisdom.  The  marrying  in 
the  Fleet  is  the  beginning  of  eternal  woe." 

"  If  a  clerk  or  plyer  tells  a  lye,  you  must  vouch  it  to  be  as  true  as  y^ 
Gospel,  and  if  disputed,  you  must  affirm  with  an  oath  to  y^  truth  of  a 
downriglit  damnable  falsehood. — Virtus  laudatur  &  algef."* 

"  May  God  forgive  me  what  is  past,  and  give  me  grace  to  forsake  such 
a  wicked  place,  where  truth  and  virtue  can't  take  place  unless  you  are 
resolved  to  starve." 

*  "  On  Saturdaj'  last  a  Fleet  parson  was  convicted  before  Sir  Ric.  Brocas  of  forty-three 
oatlis,  (on  the  information  of  a  plver  for  weddings  there,)  for  which  a  warrant  was  granted  to 
levy  Al.  6s.  on  the  goods  of  the  said  parson  ;  but,  upon  application  to  his  Worship,  he  was 
pleased  to  remit  1*.  pci  oith  ;  upon  which  tiie  plyer  swore  he  would  swear  no  more  against 
any  man  upon  the  lilie  occasion,  finding  he  could  get  nothing  bv  ii,'' — Grub-Street  Journal, 
20  Julj/,   1732. 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  161 

But  this  very  man,  whose  sense  of  his  own  disgrace  was  so  deep  and 
apparently  so  contrite,  was  one  of  tlie  most  notorious,  active,  and  money- 
making  of  all  the  Fleet  parsons.  Ilis  practice  was  cliiefly  in  taverns,  and 
he  has  been  known  to  earn  nearly  sixty  pounds  in  less  than  a  month. 

With  such  facilities  for  marriage,  and  such  unprincipled  ministers,  it 
may  easily  be  imagined  that  iniquitous  schemes  of  all  sorts  were  perpetrated 
under  the  name  of  Fleet  weddings.  The  parsons  were  ready,  for  a  bribe, 
to  make  false  entries  in  their  registers,  to  ante-date  weddings,  to  give 
fictitious  certificates,  and  to  marry  persons  who  would  declare  only  the 
initials  of  their  names.  Thus,  if  a  spinster  or  widow  in  debt  desired  to 
cheat  her  creditors  by  pi'etending  to  have  been  married  before  the  debt 
was  contracted,  she  had  only  to  present  herself  at  one  of  the  marriage- 
houses  in  the  Fleet,  and,  upon  payment  of  a  small  additional  fee  to  the 
clergyman,  a  man  could  instantly  be  found  on  the  spot  to  act  as  bridegroom 
for  a  few  shillings,  and  the  worthless  chaplain  could  find  a  blank  place  in 
his  Register  for  any  year  desired,  so  that  there  was  no  difficulty  in  making 
the  necessary  record.  They  would  also,  for  a  consideration,  obliterate  any 
given  entry.  The  sham  bridegrooms,  under  different  names,  were  married 
over  and  over  again,  with  the  full  knowledge  of  the  clerical  practitioners. 
If,  in  other  instances,  a  libertine  desired  to  possess  himself  of  any  young 
and  unsuspecting  woman,  who  would  not  yield  without  being  married, 
nothing  was  easier  than  to  get  the  service  performed  at  the  Fleet  without 
even  the  specification  of  names  ;  so  that  the  poor  girl  might  with  impunity 
be  shaken  off  at  pleasure.  Or  if  a  parent  found  it  necessary  to  legiti- 
matise  his  natural  children,  a  Fleet  parson  could  be  procured  to  give  a 
marriage-certificate  at  any  required  date.  In  fact,  all  manner  of  people 
presented  themselves  for  marriage  at  the  unholy  dens  in  the  Fleet  taverns, — 
runaway  sons  and  daughters  of  peers, — Irish  adventurers  and  foolish  rich 
widows, — clodhoppers  and  ladies  from  St.  Giles's, — footmen  and  decayed 
beauties, —  soldiers  and  servant-girls, — boys  in  their  teens  and  old  women 
of  seventy, — discarded  mistresses,  "  given  away"  by  their  former  admirers 
to  pitiable  and  sordid  bridegrooms, — night-wanderers  and  intoxicated 
apprentices, — men  and  women  having  already  wives  and  husbands, — young 
heiresses  conveyed  thither  by  force,  and  compelled,  in  terrorem^  to  be 
brides, — and  common  labourers  and  female  paupers  dragged  by  parish- 
officers  to  the  profane  altar,  stamed  by  the  relics  of  drunken  orgies,  and 
reeking  with  the  fumes  of  liquor  and  tobacco  !  Nay,  it  sometimes  hap- 
pened that  the  "  contracting  parties"  would  send  from  houses  of  vile  repute 
for  a  Fleet  parson,  who  could  readily  be  found  to  attend  even  in  such 
places  and  under  such  circumstances,  and  there  unite  the  couple  in 
matrimony  ! 

Of  what  were  called  the  "  Parish  Weddings"  it  is  impossible  to  speak 
in  terms  of  sufficient  reprobation.  Many  of  the  churchwardens  and  over- 
seers of  that  day  were  in  the  frequent  practice  of  "  getting  up"  marriages 
in  order  to  throw  their  paupers  on  neighbouring  parishes.  For  example, 
in  the  Daily  Post  of  the  4th  July,  1741,  is  the  following  paragraph  : — 

"  On  Saturday  last  the  churchwardens  for  a  certain  parish  in  the  city, 
in  order  to  remove  a  load  from  their  own  shoulders,  gave  forty  shillings, 
and  paid  the  expense  of  a  Fleet  marriage,  to  a  miserable  blind  youth, 
known  by  the  name  of  Ambrose  Tally,  wlio  plays  on  the  violin  in  IMoor- 
ficlds,  in  order  to  make  a  settlement  on  the  wife  and  future  family  in 

VOL.    I.  Y 


192  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Shorediich  parish.  To  secure  their  point  they  sent  a  parish-officer  to  see 
the  ceremony  performed.  One  cannot  but  admire  the  ungenerous  pro- 
ceeding of  this  city  parish,  as  well  as  their  unjustifiable  abetting  and 
encouraging  an  irregularity  so  much  and  so  justly  complained  of,  as  these 
Fleet  matches.  Invited  and  iminvited  were  a  great  number  of  poor 
wretclies,  in  order  to  spend  the  bride's  parish  fortune." 

In  the  G}'uh  Street  Journal  for  173.3,  is  the  following  letter,  faithfully 
describing,  says  Mr.  Burn,  the  treachery  and  low  habits  of  the  Fleet 
parsons : — 

"  Sir, — There  is  a  very  great  evil  in  this  town,  and  of  dangerous 
consequence  to  our  sex,  that  has  never  been  suppressed,  to  the  great 
prejudice  and  ruin  of  many  hundreds  of  young  people  every  year,  which  I 
beg  some  of  your  learned  heads  to  consider  of,  and  consult  of  proper  ways 
and  means  to  prevent  for  the  future.  I  mean  the  ruinous  marriages  that 
are  practised  in  the  liberty  of  the  Fleet  and  thereabouts,  by  a  set  of 
drunken  swearing  parsons,  with  their  myrmidons,  that  wear  black  coats, 
and  pretend  to  be  clerks  and  registers  to  the  Fleet.  These  ministers  of 
wickedness  ply  about  Ludgate-hill,  pulling  and  forcing  people  to  some 
pealing  ale-house  or  a  brandy-shop  to  be  married,  even  on  a  Sunday 
stopping  them  as  they  go  to  church,  and  almost  tearing  their  clothes  oft" 
their  backs.  To  confirm  the  truth  of  these  facts  I  will  give  you  a  case  or 
two  which  lately  happened. 

"  Since  Midsummer  last  a  young  lady  of  birth  and  fortune  was  deluded 
and  forced  from  her  friends,  and,  bj'^  the  assistance  of  a  wry-necked  swearing 
parson,  married  to  an  atheistical  wretch,  whose  life  is  a  continued  practice 
of  all  manner  of  vice  and  debauchery.  And  since  the  ruin  of  my  relation, 
another  lady  of  my  acquaintance  had  like  to  have  been  trepanned  in  the 
following  manner.  This  lady  had  appointed  to  meet  a  gentlewoman  at  the 
Old  Playhouse  in  Drury-lane,  but  extraordinary  business  prevented  her 
coming.  Being  alone  when  the  play  was  done,  she  bade  a  boy  call  a  coach 
for  the  city.  One  dressed  like  a  gentleman  helps  her  into  it,  and  jumps 
in  after  her.  '  Madam,'  says  he,  '  this  coach  was  called  for  me,  and  since 
the  weather  is  so  bad,  and  there  is  no  other,  I  beg  leave  to  bear  you 
company.  I  am  going  into  the  city,  and  will  set  you  down  wherever  you 
please.'  The  lady  begged  to  be  excused  ;  but  he  bade  the  coachman  drive 
on.  Being  come  to  Ludgate-hill,  he  told  her  his  sister,  who  waited  his 
coming  but  five  doors  up  the  court,  would  go  with  her  in  two  mir^utes. 
He  went,  and  returned  with  his  pretended  sister,  who  asked  her  to  stOj.  in 
one  minute,  and  she  would  wait  upon  her  in  the  coach.  Deluded  with 
the  assurance  of  having  his  sister's  company,  the  poor  lady  foolishly 
followed  her  into  the  house,  when  instantly  the  sister  vanished,  and  a 
tawny  fellow  in  a  black  coat  and  black  wig  appeared.  '  Madam,  you  are 
come  in  good  time ;  the  Doctor  was  just  a-going.' — '  The  Doctor  I'  says 
she,  horribly  frighted,  fearing  it  was  a  madhouse :  '  what  has  tlie  Doctor 
to  do  with  me  ?' — '  To  marry  you  to  that  gentleman.  The  Doctor  lias 
waited  for  you  these  three  hours,  and  will  be  payed  by  you  or  that  gentle- 
man before  you  go  !' — '  That  gentleman,'  says  she,  recovering  herself,  '  is 
worthy  a  better  fortune  than  mine,'  and  begged  hard  to  be  gone.  But 
Doctor  "Wryneck  swore  she  should  be  married,  or  if  she  would  not,  he 
would  still  have  his  fee,  and  register  the  marriage  from  that  night.  The 
lady,  finding  she  could  not  escape  without  money  or  a  pWp-y,  told  them 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  163 

she  liked  the  gentleman  so  well,  she  would  certainly  meet  him  to-morrovv 
night,  and  gave  tliem  a  ring  as  a  pledge,  which,  says  she,  '  was  my  mother's 
gift  on  her  death-bed,  enjoining  that  if  ever  I  married  it  should  be  my 
wedding-ring.'  By  which  cunning  contrivance  she  was  delivered  from  the 
black  Doctor  and  his  tawny  crew.  Some  time  after  this  I  went  with  tliis 
lady  and  her  brother  in  a  coach  to  Ludgate-hill  in  the  day-time,  to  see 
the  manner  of  their  picking  up  people  to  be  married.  As  soon  as  our 
coach  stopped  near  Fleet  Bridge, up  comes  one  of  the  myrmidons.  '  Madam,' 
says  he,  '  you  want  a  parson  ?' — '  Who  are  you  ?'  says  I. — '  I  am  the 
clerk  and  register  of  the  Fleet.' — '  Show  me  the  chapel.'  At  wliich  comes 
a  second,  desiring  me  to  go  along  with  him.  Says  he,  '  That  fellow  will 
carry  you  to  a  pedling  alehouse.'  Says  a  third,  '  Go  with  me ;  he  v/iiC 
carry  you  to  a  brandy-shop.'  In  the  interim  comes  the  Doctor.  '  Ma- 
dam,' says  he,  'I'll  do  your  job  for  you  presently!' — '  Well,  gentlemen,' 
says  I,  '  since  you  can't  agree,  and  I  cant  be  married  quietly,  I'll  put  it 
off  "till  another  time  :'  so  drove  away.  Learned  sirs,  I  wrote  this  in  regard 
to  the  honour  and  safety  of  my  own  sex  :  and  if  for  our  sakes  you  will  be 
60  good  as  to  publish  it,  correcting  the  errors  of  a  woman's  pen,  you  will 
oblige  our  whole  sex,  and  none  more  than,  sir, 

"  Your  constant  reader  and  admirer,  "  Virtuous." 

Such  are  but  a  few  of  the  iniquities  practised  by  the  ministers  of  the 
Fleet.  Similar  transactions  were  carried  on  at  the  Chapel  in  ]\Iay  Fair, 
the  Mint  in  the  Borough,  the  Savoy,  and  other  places  about  London ;  until 
the  public  scandal  became  so  great,  especially  in  consequence  of  the 
marriage  at  the  Fleet  of  the  Hon.  Henry  Fox  with  Georgiana  Caroline, 
eldest  daughter  of  the  Duke  of  Richmond,  that  at  length, — not,  however, 
without  much  and  zealous  opposition, — a  Marriage  Bill  was  passed,  enacting 
that  any  person  solemnising  matrimony  in  any  other  than  a  church  or 
public  chapel,  without  banns  or  license,  should,  on  conviction,  be  adjudged 
guilty  of  felony^  and  be  transported  for  fourteen  years,  and  that  all  such 
marriages  should  he  void.  This  act  was  to  take  effect  from  the  25th  of 
Marcli,  1734. 

Upon  the  passing  of  this  law,  Keith,  the  parson  who  has  already  been 
alluded  to,  published  a  pamphlet  entitled,  "  Observations  on  the  Act  for 
Preventing  Clandestine  Marriages."  To  this  he  prefixed  his  portrait.  The 
following  passages  are  highly  characteristic  of  the  man  : — 

"  '  Happy  is  the  wooing  that  is  not  long  a-doing,'  is  an  old  proverb,  and 
a  very  true  one ;  but  we  shall  have  no  occasion  for  it  after  the  25th  day 
of  March  next,  when  we  are  commanded  to  read  it  backwards,  and  from 
that  period  (fatal  indeed  to  Old  England  !)  we  must  date  the  declension  of 
the  numbers  of  tlie  inhabitants  of  England." — "  As  I  have  married  many 
thousands,  and  consequently  have  on  those  occasions  seen  the  humour  of 
the  lower  class  of  people,  I  have  often  asked  the  married  pair  how  long 
they  had  been  acquainted ;  they  would  reply,  som.e  more,  some  less,  but 
the  generality  did  not  exceed  the  acquaintance  of  a  week,  some  only  of  a 
day,  half  a  day,"  &c. — "  Another  inconveniency  which  will  arise  from  this 
act  will  be,  that  the  expense  of  being  married  will  be  so  great,  that  few  of 
the  lower  class  of  people  can  afford  ;  for  I  have  often  heard  a  Fleet-parson 
say,  that  many  have  come  to  be  married  when  they  have  but  had  half-a- 
crown  in  their  pockets,  and  sixpence  to  buy  a  pot  of  beer,  and  for  which 
they  have  pawned  some  of  their  clothes." — '•  I  remember  once  on  a  time, 


164  THE    XEW    NEWGATE    CALF.NDAR. 

I  was  at  a  public-house  at  Radcliff,  which  then  was  full  of  sailors  and 
their  girls ;  there  was  fiddling,  piping,  jigging,  and  eating :  at  length, 
one  of  the  tars  starts  up,  and  says,  '  D — n  j^e.  Jack,  I'll  be  married  just 

now ;  I  will  have  my  partner,  and '     The  joke  took,  and  in  less 

than  two  hours  ten  couple  set  out  for  the  Fleet.  I  staid  their  return. 
They  returned  in  coaches,  five  women  in  each  coach,  the  tars,  some 
running  before,  others  riding  on  the  coach-box,  and  others  behind.  The 
cavalcade  being  over,  the  couples  went  up  into  an  upper  room,  where  they 
concluded  the  evening  with  great  jollity.  The  next  time  I  went  that  way 
I  called  on  my  landlord  and  asked  him  concerning  this  marriage  adventure. 
He  at  first  stared  at  me,  but  recollecting,  he  said  those  things  were  so 
freqiient  that  he  hardly  took  any  notice  of  them ;  for,  added  he,  it  is  a 
common  thing  when  a  fleet  comes  in,  to  have  two  or  three  hundred 
marriages  in  a  week's  time,  among  the  sailors."  He  humorously  concludes, 
"  If  tlie  present  Act  in  the  form  it  now  stands  should  (which  I  am  sure  is 
impossible)  be  of  service  to  my  country,  I  shall  then  have  the  satisfaction 
of  having  been  the  occasion  of  it,  because  the  compilers  thereof  have  done 
it  with  a  pure  design  of  suppressing  my  Chapel^  which  makes  me  the 
mo^t  celebrated  man  in  this  kingdom,  though  not  the  greatest." 

The  passing  of  the  Marriage  Act  put  a  stop  to  the  marriages  at  May 
Fair;  but  the  day  before  the  Act  came  into  operation  (Lady-day  1754)* 
sixty-one  couple  were  married  there,  t 

It  would  exceed  the  limits  of  this  brief  sketch  were  we  to  give  the 
official  history  of  the  different  scandalous  ministers  who  thus  disgraced  them- 
selves, and  impiously  trifled  with  one  of  our  most  sacred  institvitions.  That 
some  of  these  wretched  adventurers  were  merely  pretended  clergymen  is 
certain  ;  but  it  cannot  be  denied  that  many  of  them  were  actually  in  holy 
orders. 

Of  this  latter  class  were  Grierson  and  "Wilkinson,  the  subjects  of  our 
present  notice ;  and  notwithstanding  the  heavy  penalties  imposed  by  the 
statute,  they  were  not  to  be  deterred  from  continuing  the  daugerous  and 
unlawful  trafilc  in  which  they  had  been  engaged.  Wilkinson,  who  was 
the  brother  of  a  celebrated  comedian  of  the  day,  it  would  appear,  was  the 
owner  of  a  chapel  in  the  Savoy,  and  Grierson  was  his  assistant ;  and  their 
proceedings-  having  at  length  become  too  notorious  to  be  passed  over,  pro- 
ceedings were  instituted  against  them.  Grierson  was  first  apprehended, 
and  his  employer  sought  safety  in  flight ;  but  supposing  that  he  could  not 
be  deemed  guilty  of  any  oft'ence,  as  he  had  not  actually  performed  the 
marriage  ceremony,  a  duty  which  he  left  to  his  journeyman,  he  returned  to 
his  former  haunts.  It  was  not  long  before  he  was  secured,  however,  and 
having  been  convicted  with  Grierson,  they  were  shipped  oif  as  convicts 
together  to  the  colonies,  in  the  year  1757. 

*  In  a  letter  to  George  Montagu,  Esq.  dated  July  17,  1753,  Horace  Walpole  says  : — 

"  Lady  Anne  Paulett's  daughter  is  eloped  with   a   country  clergyman.     The  Duchess  of 

Argyle  harangues  against  the  Marriage  Bill  not  taking  place  immediately,  and  is  persuaded 

that' all  the  girls  will  go  off  before  next  Lady-day." 

+  In  a  letter  to  George  Montagu,  Esq.  from  Horace  Walpole,  is  the   following  notice  of 

Keith: "  Slrawbeiry  Hill,  11th  June  1753. 

"  I  shall  only  tell  you  a  hon  mot  of  Keith's,  the  marriage-broker,  and  conclude: 

"  '  G— d  d-^n   the   Bishops  !'  said  he,   (I   beg   Miss   jMontagu's  pardon,)  '  so  they  •will 

hinder  my  marrying.     Well,  let  'em,   but  Til  be    revenged  :   I'll  buy  two  or  three  acres  of 

ground,  ind  by  G — d  I'll  under-bury  them  all.' " 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  165 


WILLIAM  PAGE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    HIGHWAY    ROBBERY. 

William  Page  was  the  son  of  a  respectable  farmer  at  Hampton,  and 
bcino-  a  lad  of  promising  parts  he  was  sent  to  London  to  be  educated  under 
the  care  of  his  cousin,  a  haberdasher.  His  early  life,  by  the  superstitious 
believers  of  old  sayings,  would  be  adduced  as  proof  positive  of  the  truth 
of  the  old  adage,  that  "  a  man  who  is  born  to  be  hanged  will  never  be 
drowned;"  and  although  w^e  cannot  put  much  faith  generally  in  such 
notions,  we  cannot  help  in  this  instance  pointing  out  some  peculiarities  in 
ihe  adventures  of  our  hero,  which  might  have  been  considered  by  him  as  a 
sufficient  indication  of  his  fate.  The  early  chronicler  of  his  life  says,  that, 
during  the  hard  frost  In  tlie  winter  of  1739,  Page  was  sliding  with  other 
boys  on  the  canal  in  St.  James's  Park,  when  the  ice  broke  under  him,  and 
he  sank  ;  and  the  ice  immediately  closing  over  him,  he  must  have  perished ; 
but  just  at  this  juncture  the  ice  again  broke  with  another  boy  near  him, 
and  Page  arose  precisely  at  the  vacancy  made  by  the  latter,  and  was  saved, 
although  his  companion  was  drowned.  The  second  instance  of  the  inter- 
vention of  his  good  fortune  occurred  in  the  summer  following  this  singular 
escape.  Page  was  then  trying  to  swim  with  corks  in  the  Thames,  when  they 
slipped  from  under  his  arms,  and  he  sank  ;  but  a  waterman  got  him  up,  and 
he  soon  recovered.  On  the  third  occasion  he  was  going  up  the  river  on  a 
party  of  pleasure,  about  five  years  afterwards,  with  several  other  young 
follows,  when  the  boat  overset  with  them  in  Chelsea  Reach,  and  every  one 
in  the  boat  was  drowned  except  Page.  But  his  fourth  and  last  escape  from 
a  watery  grave  was  even  more  miraculous  than  any  of  those  which  pre- 
ceded it.  About  eighteen  months  after  that  which  is  last  related  he  was 
on  a  voyage  to  Scotland.  The  ship  in  which  he  sailed  foundered  in 
Yarmouth  Roads,  and  most  of  the  people  on  board  perished  ;  but  another 
vessel,  observing  their  distress,  sent  out  a  long-boat,  by  the  help  of  which 
Page  and  a  few  others  saved  their  1'  ves. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  ordinary  events  of  his  life.  It  appears,  that  his 
cousin  having  given  him  employment  in  his  shop,  his  vanity  prevented  him 
from  bestowing  that  attention  on  liis  business  to  which  it  was  entitled  ;  and 
his  extravagance  being  checked  by  his  relation,  who  stopped  his  pocket- 
money  in  order  to  curb  his  refined  notions,  he  had  recourse  to  plunder  to 
supply  his  necessities.  Money  being  repeatedly  missed  from  the  till,  and 
all  attempts  to  discover  the  thief  among  the  servants  having  fai'ed,  suspi- 
cion at  length  rested  on  our  hero  ;  and  his  guilt  having  been  distinctly 
Droved  he  was  dismissed  from  his  situation  fortliwith.  An  effort  which  he 
made  to  conciliate  his  relation  after  this  proved  ineffectual ;  and  Kis  father, 
who  had  learned  the  nature  of  his  irregularities,  having  refused  to  render 
him  any  assistance,  he  at  length  journeyed  to  York,  and  there  joined  a 
company  of  strolling  players.  His  exertions  in  his  new  capacity  were  not 
unsuccessful  ;  but  at  length  attempting  to  play  Cato  while  in  a  state  of 
intoxication,  his  character  in  the  play  and  his  condition  of  pt  rson  were 
found  to  agree  so  badly,  that  he  was  compelled  to  be  carried  from  the 
stage,  and  was  dismissed  from  his  engagement.  He  afterwaras  went  to 
Scarborough,  where  his  necessities  compelled  him  to  accept  a  sil  nation  as 
livery-servant  with  a  gentleman  ;  but  his  master  having  been  ro>bed  on 


166  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

;iis  way  to  town,  he  formed  a  notion  that  highway  robbery  was  an  easY 
and  profitable  mode  of  Hving ;  and  determined  tliat  so  soon  as  he  should 
nave  the  means  of  starting  in  the  profession,  he  would  become  a  "  gentle- 
man of  the  road"  Quitting  his  master  at  the  end  of  twelve  months,  he 
oeeanie  acquainted  with  a  woman  of  abandoned  character,  in  conjunction 
with  whom  he  took  lodgings  near  Charing  Cross,  and  he  then  commenced 
nighwayman.  His  first  expedition  was  on  the  Kentish  road ;  and  meeting 
the  Canterbury  stage  near  Shooter's-hill,  he  robbed  the  passengers  of 
watches  and  money  to  the  amount  of  about  thirty  pounds  ;  and  then  riding 
through  great  part  of  Kent  to  take  an  observation  of  the  cross-roads,  he 
returned  to  London.  Ife  now  took  lodgings  near  Grosvenor-square,  and 
firequenting  billiard-tables  won  a  little  money,  which,  added  to  his  former 
stock,  prevented  his  having  recourse  to  the  highway  again  for  a  considerable 
time;  but  at  length  he  met  with  a  gambler  who  was  more  expert  than  him- 
self, and  stripped  him  of  all  his  money.  He  then  again  sought  the  road  as  a 
means  of  subsistence.  His  exertions  were  for  some  time  fruitless  ;  but  at 
length  meeting  with  a  handsome  booty,  he  was  emboldened  by  his  success  ; 
and  taking  handsome  lodgings  he  soon  gained  the  friendship  of  some  young 
men  of  fashion.  His  next  object  was  to  improve  his  mind  and  person  ; 
and  having  gained  some  knowledge,  by  dint  of  impudence  and  through  a 
pleasing  exterior  he  got  introduced  into  decent  society. 

By  this  time,  he  had  drawn,  from  his  own  observation  and  for  his  private 
Qse,  a  most  curious  map  of  the  roads  twenty  miles  round  London  ;  and, 
driving  in  a  phaeton  and  pair,  he  was  not  suspected  for  a  highwayman. 

In  his  excursions  for  robbery  he  used  to  dress  in  a  laced  or  embroidered 
frock,  and  wear  his  hair  tied  behind  ;  but  when  at  a  distance  from  London, 
he  would  turn  into  some  unfrequented  place,  and,  having  disguised  himself 
in  other  clothes,  with  a  grizzle  or  black  wig,  and  saddled  one  of  his  horses, 
he  would  ride  to  the  main  road,  and  commit  a  robbery.  This  done,  he 
hastened  back  to  the  carriage,  resumed  his  former  dress,  and  drove  to  town 
again.  He  was  frequently  ca\itioned  to  be  on  his  guard  against  a  high- 
wayman, who  might  meet  and  rob  hira :  "  No,  no,"  said  he,  "  he  cannot 
do  it  a  second  time,  unless  he  robs  me  of  my  coat  and  shirt,  for  he  hius 
taken  all  my  money  already." 

He  had  once  an  escape  of  a  very  remarkable  kind  : — Having  robbed  a 
gentleman  near  Putney,  some  persons  came  up  at  the  juncture,  and  pursued 
liim  so  closely  that  he  was  obliged  to  cross  the  Thames  for  his  security.  In 
the  interim,  some  haymakers  crossing  the  field  where  Page's  carriage  was 
left,  found  and  carried  oil*  his  gay  apparel ;  and  the  persons  who  had  pur- 
sued him,  meeting  them,  charged  them  with  being  accomplices  in  the 
robbery.  A  report  of  this  affair  being  soon  spread,  Paye  heard  of  it,  and 
throwing  his  clothes  into  a  well,  he  went  back  almost  naked,  claimed  the 
carriage  as  his  own,  and  declared  that  the  men  had  stripped  him,  and 
throAATi  him  into  a  ditch.  All  the  parties  now  went  before  a  justice  of  the 
peace ;  and  the  maker  of  the  carriage  appearing,  and  declaring  that  it  was 
the  property  of  Mr.  Page,  the  poor  haymakers  were  committed  for  trial  ; 
but  obtained  their  liberty  after  the  next  assizes,  as  Page  did  not  appear  to 
prosecute. 

After  this,  he  made  no  farther  use  of  the  phaeton  as  a  disguise  for  his 
robberies  ;  but  it  served  him  occasionally  on  parties  of  pleasure,  which  he 
sometimes  took  with  a  girl  whom  he  had  then  in  keeping. 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  167 

Pa'5'e  was  passionately  fond  of  play,  and  his  practice  this  way  was  occa- 
sionally attended  with  good  fortune.  One  night  he  went  to  the  masquerade 
with  only  ten  guineas,  but  joining  a  party  at  cards,  he  won  above  five 
hundred  pounds ;  but  this  money  was  no  sooner  in  his  possession,  than  a 
lady,  most  magnificently  dressed,  made  some  advances  to  him,  on  which  he 
put  the  most  favourable  construction.  After  some  conversation,  she  told 
him  tliat  her  mother  was  a  widow  who  would  not  admit  of  his  visits  ;  but 
tliat  possibl)^  he  might  prevail  on  her  attendant,  whose  husband  was  a 
reputable  tradesman,  to  give  them  admission  to  her  house. 

Pa^e,  who  had  repeatedly  heard  the  other  address  her  by  the  title  of 
"  My  lady,"  became  very  importunate  with  the  good  woman  to  grant  this 
favour ;  and  at  length,  all  parties  having  agreed,  the  servants  were  called. 
Page  handed  the  lady  and  her  attendant  into  a  coach,  on  which  was  the 
coronet  of  a  viscountess.  Two  footmen  with  flambeaux  got  up  behind,  and 
the  coachman  was  ordered  to  drive  home.  The  "  home "  which  they 
reached,  however,  was  a  brothel ;  and  on  the  lady  quitting  him  in  the 
morning,  he  found  that  she  had  been  dexterous  enough  to  rob  him  of  his 
pocket-book  and  its  contents,  which  no  doubt  more  than  compensated  her 
for  the  favour  which  she  had  bestowed  upon  him. 

The  road  and  the  gaming-table  were  now  his  only  means  of  support, 
and  he  found  a  fitting  companion  in  his  proceedings  in  the  person  of  an  old 
schoolfellow  named  Darwell,  in  conjunction  with  wliom,  in  the  course  of 
three  years,  he  committed  upwards  of  three  hundred  robberies.  At  length, 
however,  their  iniquitous  proceedings  caused  an  active  search  to  be  made 
for  them  ;  and  Darwell  being  apprehended,  ■•'  peached  "  upon  his  companion, 
and  disclosed  the  places  where  it  was  most  likely  that  he  would  be  found. 

The  consequence  was,  that  Page  was  apprehended  at  the  Golden  Lion, 
near  Hyde  Park,  when  three  loaded  pistols  were  found  on  him,  with 
powder,  balls,  a  wig  to  disguise  himself,  and  the  correct  map  of  the  roads 
round  London  which  we  have  already  mentioned. 

He  was  sent  to  Newgate,  and  an  advertisement  inserted  in  the  papers, 
requesting  such  persons  as  had  been  robbed  to  attend  liis  re-examinatiun 
but  he  denied  all  that  was  alleged  against  him  ;  and,  as  he  was  always 
disguised  when  he  committed  any  robbery,  no  person  present  could  identify 
his  person. 

He  was  tried  at  length  on  suspicion  of  robbing  Mr.  Webb  in  Belfourd 
Lane,  but  acquitted  for  want  of  evidence ;  and  after  this  he  was  tried  at 
Hertford,  but  again  acquitted  for  a  like  reason. 

From  Hertford  he  was  removed  to  Maidstone  jail,  and  being  tried  at 
Rochester  for  robbing  Captain  Farrington  on  Blackheath,  he  was  capitally 
convicted,  and  received  sentence  of  death.  After  conviction  he  acknow- 
ledged his  guilt,  yet  exerted  himself  in  the  most  strenuous  manner  to 
procure  a  pardon.  He  wrote  to  a  nobleman  with  this  view,  and  also  sent 
a  letter  to  a  gentleman  with  whom  he  had  lived  as  a  servant,  begging  his 
interest  that  he  might  be  sent  to  America  as  a  foot-soldier ;  bat  his  endea- 
vours proved  fruitless,  and  he  was  ordered  for  execution. 

This  extraordinary  malefactor  suffered  at  Maidstone  on  the  6th  o( 
April,  1758. 


168  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


EUGENE  ARAM. 

EXECUTED    rOR    MURDER. 

"We  are  now  arrived  at  that  period  which  brings  to  our  view  perhaps 
the  most  remarkable  trial  in  our  whole  Calendar  The  offender  was  a  man 
of  extraordinary  endowments  and  of  high  education,  and  therefore  little  to 
be  suspected  of  committing  so  foul  a  crime  as  that  proved  against  him. 

Much  has  been  written  upon  the  subject  of  this  murder,  and  attempts 
have  been  made,  even  of  late  years,  to  show  the  innocence  of  Aram.  The 
contents  of  the  publications  upon  tlie  subject  would  be  sufficient  of  themselves 
to  fill  our  volumes  ;  and  it  would  be  useless  to  republish  arguments,  which, 
havino-  had  due  circulation  and  due  consideration,  have  failed  in  their 
object,  which  was  to  convince  the  world  that  this  offender  was  the  victim 
of  prejudice,  and  fell  an  innocent  sacrifice  to  the  laws  of  his  country.  We 
?hall,  therefore,  abstain  from  giving  this  case  greater  space  in  our  Calendar 
■ban  that  to  which  it  is  entitled,  as  well  on  account  of  the  peculiarity  of 
its  nature,  as  of  the  great  interest  which  its  mention  has  always  excited. 
The  peculiarities  of  the  case  are  twofold ;  first,  the  great  talents  of  the 
offender,  and  secondly,  the  extraordinary  discovery  of  the  perpetration  of  the 
murder,  and  of  the  evidence  which  led  to  the  conviction  of  the  murderer. 
On  the  former  point,  indeed,  some  seem  to  have  entertained  a  doubt ;  for  about 
thirty  years  after  his  execution,  his  name  being  inserted  among  the  literary 
characters  of  the  country,  in  the  "  Biographia  Britannica,"  and  his  high 
erudition  being  mentioned,  a  pamphlet  was  put  forth,  complaining  of  this 
step  on  the  part  of  the  editors  of  that  work,  and  accusing  them  of  a  want  of 
impartiality  in  affording  their  meed  of  praise  to  Aram,  and  wnthholding  it 
from  Bishop  Atherton,  who  also  met  with  an  ignominious  death.  The 
charo-e  was,  however,  answered  more  ably  than  it  was  made  ;  and  as  it 
may  prove  interesting  to  our  readers,  we  shall  subjoin  the  refutation  to  the 
complaint,  which  appears  distinctly  to  support  Aram's  right  to  the 
character  which  was  originally  given  to  him.     It  is  said  : — 

"  Objections  are  made  to  the  admission  of  Eugene  Aram  into  the  Biogra- 
phia Britannica,  and  the  exclusion  of  Bishop  Atherton  ;  but  it  appears  to 
me  that  the  remarks  on  this  subject  are  far  from  being  just.  The  insertion 
of  Aram  is  objected  to  because  he  was  a  man  of  bad  principles,  and  termi- 
nated his  life  on  the  gallows  ;  but  it  should  be  remembered  that  it  was  never 
understood  that  in  the  Biographia  Britannica  the  fives  of  virtuous  men  only 
Avere  to  be  recorded.  In  the  old  edition  are  the  lives  of  several  persons  who 
ended  their  days  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner.  Bonner  was  not  a 
virtuous  man,  and  yet  was  very  properly  inserted,  as  well  as  Henry  Cuff, 
who  was  executed  at  Tyburn  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  As  to 
Eugene  Aram,  it  is  truly  said  of  him  in  the  Biographia  Britannica,  in  the 
article  objected  to,  that  the  progress  he  made  in  literature,  allowing  for  the 
little  instruction  he  had  received,  may  justly  be  considered  as  astonishing  ; 
and  that  his  powers  of  mind  were  uncommonly  great  cannot  reasonably  be 
questioned.  Eugene  Aram  possessed  talents  and  acquisitions  that  might 
have  classed  him  among  the  most  respectable  of  human  characters,  if  his 
moral  qualities  had  been  equal  to  his  intellectual.  It  was  certainly  the  extra- 
ordinary talents  and  acquirements  of  Eugene  Aram  which  occasioned  his 
introduction  into  the  Bi^  ^raphia ;  and  I  know  that  by  persons  of  undoubtea 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  10*9 

taste  and  judgment,  the  account  of  him  in  that  work  has  been  thou<^iit  a 
curious  and  interesting  article.  His  singular  defence  alone  was  well  worthy 
of  being  preserved  in  such  a  work. 

"  '\\'  ith  respect  to  Bishop  Atherton,  he  never  had  the  least  claim  to 
insertion  in  such  a  work  as  the  Biographia  Britannica,  and  was  therefore 
very  properly  omitted  in  the  new  edition.  He  was  not  in  the  least  distin- 
guished for  genius  or  learning ;  his  merely  being  a  bishop  could  give  him 
no  just  pretensions,  and  still  less  the  unnatural  crime  for  which  he  suffered. 
The  friends  of  Bishop  Atherton  say  that  his  reputation  was  suspected  to  have 
been  destroyed,  and  his  catastrophe  effected,  more  by  the  contrivance  of  a 
party  than  by  the  aggravated  guilt  with  which  he  was  charo-ed.  If  this 
were  perfectly  just,  which  however  may  be  reasonably  questioned,  it 
would  not  give  I3ishop  Atherton  the  least  claim  to  insertion  in  the  Bioora- 
phia  Britannica.  Aram  was  inserted  on  account  of  his  uncommon  talents 
and  learning ;  but  Atherton,  who  was  not  distinguished  for  either,  never 
iiad  the  least  pretension  to  be  recorded  in  such  a  work." 

The  talents  and  abilities  of  this  criminal,  therefore,  seem  to  be  un- 
doubted ;  but  that  a  man  possessing  powers  of  intellect  so  great  should 
have  been  guilty  of  such  a  crime  as  that  which  he  committed,  seems 
most  extraordinary. 

AVithin  the  second  peculiarity  of  the  case  Avill  very  properly  come  the 
narrative  of  the  life  of  its  hero,  as  well  as  the  circumstances  attendino-  the 
commission  of  the  crime  and  the  discovery  of  its  perpetrator.  A  succinct 
description  of  the  case  will  probably  be  more  intelligible  than  a  detail  of 
all  the  exceedingly  minute  circumstances  by  which  it  was  surrounded. 

Eugene  Aram  was  born  at  the  village  of  Netherdale,  in  Yorkshire,  in 
the  year  1704,  of  an  ancient  and  highly  respectable  family  ;  but  although 
it  is  shown  by  the  chronicles  that  one  of  his  ancestors  served  the  office  of 
high  sheriff  in  the  reign  of  Edward  the  Third,  it  appears  t!iat  at  the  time 
of  the  birth  of  Eugene,  the  vicissitudes  of  fortune  had  so  f^ir  reduced  its 
rank,  that  his  father  was  compelled  to  support  himself  and  his  children 
by  working  as  a  gardener  in  the  house  of  Sir  Edward  Blackett ;  although 
in  that  situation  he  was  well  employed  and  highly  respected.  In  his 
infancy,  Aram's  parents  removed  to  the  village  of  Shelton,  near  Newby,  in 
the  same  county ;  and  when  about  six  years  old,  his  father,  havino-  saved 
a  small  sum  of  money  out  of  his  weekly  earnings,  purchased  a  small 
cottage  at  Bondgate,  near  Rippon.  The  first  indications  of  that  singular 
genius  which  afterwards  displayed  itself  in  so  remarkable  a  manner  in  our 
hero,  were  given  while  his  father  was  in  the  service  of  Sir  Edward.  Euorene 
was  employed  as  an  attendant  upon  that  gentleman,  and  he  early  displayed 
a  taste  for  literature,  which  was  fostered  and  supported  by  his  indulgent 
master.  His  disposition  was  solitary,  and  every  leisure  hour  which 
presented  itself  to  him  was  devoted  to  retirement  and  study  ;  and  in  the 
employment  which  good  fortune  had  bestowed  upon  him,  ample  oppor- 
tunities were  afforded  hrm  of  following  the  bent  of  his  inclinations.  He 
applied  himself  chiefly  to  mathematics,  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he  had 
acquired  a  considerable  proficiency  in  them  ;  but  his  kind  and  indulgent 
master  dying  about  this  time,  he  was  employed  by  his  brother,  Mr. 
Christopher  Blackett,  a  merchant  in  London,  who  took  him  into  his 
service  as  book-keeper.  This  was  an  occupation  ill  suited  to  his  desires, 
and  au  attack  of  the  small  pox  having  rendered  liis  return  to  Yorkshire 


»70  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

necessary,  he  did  not  afterwards  resume  his  employment  in  London,  but 
at  the  invitation  of  his  father  he  remained  at  Newby,  to  pursue  his  studies. 
He  now  found  that  the  study  of  mathematics  possessed  but  few  charms  ; 
and  the  politer  subjects  of  poetry,  history,  and  antiquities,  next  engaged 
his  attention.  Every  day  served  to  increase  the  store  of  knowledge  which 
he  possessed,  and  his  fame  as  a  scholar  having  now  extended  to  his  native 
place,  he  was  invited  to  take  charge  of  a  school  there.  The  means  of 
study  and  of  profit  appeared  to  him  to  be  thvis  united,  and  he  immediately 
accepted  the  offer  which  was  made  ;  and  after  a  short  time  he  married  a 
young  woman  of  the  village,  to  whom  he  appeared  tenderly  attached.  To 
this  marriage,  however,  which  proved  unhappy,  he  attributed  all  his 
subsequent  misfortunes ;  but  whether  with  truth  or  not,  the  course  of  the 
narrative  does  not  distinctly  disclose.  His  deficiency  in  the  learned 
languages  now  struck  him,  and  he  immediately  set  about  conquering  the 
difficulties  which  presented  themselves  in  this  new  field  of  research;  and  so 
rapid  was  his  progress,  that  ere  a  year  had  passed,  he  was  able  to  read 
with  ease  the  less  difficult  of  the  Latin  and  Greek  historians  and  poets. 
In  the  year  1734  an  opportunity  was  afforded  him  of  adding  a  knowledge 
of  the  Hebrew  language  to  his  list  of  acquirements  ;  for  in  that  year  Mr. 
William  Norton,  of  Knaresborough,  a  gentleman  of  great  talents,  who  had 
conceived  a  strong  attachment  towards  him,  invited  him  to  his  house,  and 
afforded  him  the  means  necessary  for  pursuing  its  study.  He  continued 
in  his  situation  in  Yorkshire  until  the  year  1745,  when  he  again  visited 
London,  and  accepted  an  engagement  in  the  school  of  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Plainblanc,  in  Piccadilly,  as  usher  in  Latin  and  writing ;  and,  with  this 
gentleman's  assistance,  he  acquired  the  knowledge  of  the  French  language. 
He  was  afterwards  employed  as  an  usher  and  tutor  in  several  different 
parts  of  England ;  in  the  course  of  which,  through  his  own  exertions,  he 
became  acquainted  with  heraldry  and  botany ;  and  so  great  was  his 
perseverance,  that  he  also  learned  the  Chaldaic  and  Arabic  languages. 
His  next  step  was  to  investigate  the  Celtic  in  all  its  dialects ;  and,  having 
begun  to  form  collections,  and  make  comparisons  between  the  Celtic,  the 
English,  the  I^atin,  the  Greek,  and  the  Hebrew,  and  found  a  great  affinity 
between  them,  he  resolved  to  proceed  through  all  those  languages,  and  fo 
form  a  comparative  lexicon.  But,  amid  these  learned  labours  and 
inquiries,  it  appears  that  he  committed  a  crime  which  could  not  naturally 
have  been  expected  from  a  man  of  so  studious  a  turn,  as  the  inducement 
v/hich  led  him  to  it  was  merely  the  gain  of  wealth,  of  which  the  scholar 
is  seldom  covetous. 

On  the  8th  of  February  1745,  in  conjunction  with  a  man  named  Richard 
Houseman,  he  committed  the  murder  for  which  his  life  was  afterwards 
forfeited  to  the  laws  of  his  country.  The  object  of  this  diabolical  crime 
was  Daniel  Clarke,  a  shoemaker,  living  at  Knaresborough  ;  and  it  appears 
that  this  unfortunate  man,  having  lately  married  a  woman  of  a  good  family, 
industriously  circulated  a  rejiort  that  his  wife  was  entitled  to  a  considerable 
fortune,  which  he  should  soon  receive.  Aram  and  Houseman,  in  conse- 
quence, conceivinghopes  of  procuring  some  advantage  from  tliis  circumstance, 
persuaded  Clarke  to  make  an  ostentatious  show  of  his  own  riches,  in  order 
to  induce  his  wife's  relations  to  give  him  that  fortune  of  which  he  had 
boasted.  It  is  not  impossible  that  in  giving  their  subsequent  victim  this 
advice,   they  may  at  the  time  have  acted  from  a  spirit  of  friendship,  aud 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  171 

•wHKont  any  intention  of  committing  that  crime  for  which  they  afterwards 
received  their  reward ;  but  the  beUef  that  the  design  was  already  formed 
xereives  equal  confirmation  from  subsequent  events. 

Clarke,  it  seems,  was  easily  induced  to  comply  with  a  hint  so  agreeable 
ID  his  own  desires ;  and  he  borrowed,  and  bought  on  credit,  a  large 
quantity  of  silver  plate,  with  jewels,  watches,  rings,  &c.  He  told  the 
oersons  of  whom  he  purchased,  that  a  merchant  in  London  had  sent  him 
ap.  order  to  buy  such  plate  for  exportation  ;  and  no  doubt  was  entertained 
of  his  credit  till  his  sudden  disappearance  in  February  1745,  when  it  was 
imagined  that  lie  had  gone  abroad,  or  at  least  to  London,  to  dispose  of  his 
ill -acquired  property. 

Whatever  doubt  may  exist  as  to  the  original  intention  of  the  parties, 
their  object  at  this  time  is  perfectly  clear,  and  there  can  be  no  hesitation 
in  supposing  that  Aram  and  Houseman  had  at  this  time  determined  to 
murder  their  dupe,  in  order  to  share  the  booty.  On  the  night  of  the  8th 
February  1745,  they  persuaded  Clarke  to  take  a  walk  with  them,  in 
order  to  consult  upon  the  proper  method  to  dispose  of  the  eftects  ;  and, 
engaged  in  the  discussion  of  this  subject,  tliey  turned  into  a  field,  at  a 
small  distance  from  the  town,  well  known  by  the  name  of  St.  Robert's 
Cave.  On  their  arrival  there,  Aram  and  Clarke  went  over  a  hedge 
towards  the  cave  ;  and  when  they  had  got  within  six  or  seven  yards  of  it. 
Houseman  (by  the  light  of  the  moon)  saw  Aram  strike  Clarke  several 
times,  and  at  length  beheld  him  fall,  but  never  saw  him  afterwards.  These 
were  the  facts  immediately  connected  with  the  murder,  which  were  proved 
at  the  trial  by  Houseman,  who  was  admitted  King's  evidence  ;^and, 
whatever  Avere  the  subsequent  proceedings  of  the  parties  in  respect  of  the 
body,  they  must  remain  a  mystery. 

The  murderers,  going  home,  shared  Clarke's  ill-gotten  treasure,  the  half 
of  which  Houseman  concealed  in  his  garden  for  a  twelvemonth,  and  then 
took  it  to  Scotland,  where  he  sold  it.  In  the  mean  time  Aram  carried 
his  share  to  London,  where  he  sold  it  to  a  Jew,  and  then  returned  to  his 
engagement  with  Mr.  Plainblanc,  in  Piccadilly. 

Fourteen  years  afterwards  elapsed,  and  no  tidings  being  received  of  Aram, 
it  was  concluded  that  he  was  dead  ;  and  these  fourteen  years  had  also  elapsed 
without  any  clue  being  obtained  to  unravel  the  mystery  of  the  sudden 
disappearance  of  Clarke.  The  time  at  length  came,  however,  at  which  all 
the  doubts  which  existed  upon  both  subjects  were  to  be  solved.  In  the 
year  1758,  a  labourer  named  Jones  was  employed  to  dig  for  stone  in  St. 
Robert's  Cave,  in  order  to  supply  a  limekiln  at  a  place  called  Thistle  Hill, 
near  Knaresborough  ;  and  having  dug  about  two  feet  deep,  he  found  the 
bones  of  a  human  body,  still  knit  together  by  the  ligaments  of  the  joints. 
It  had  evidently  been  buried  double ;  and  there  were  indications  about  it 
which  could  not  but  lead  to  the  supposition  that  some  unfair  means  had 
been  resorted  to  in  order  to  deprive  the  living  bding  of  life.  The  incident 
afforded  good  grounds  for  general  curiosity  being  raised,  and  general 
inquiry  taking  place  ;  and  hints  were  soon  thrown  out  that  it  might  be  the 
body  of  Clarke,  whose  unexpected  disappearance  was  still  fresh  in  the 
memory  of  many,  and  whose  continued  absence  had  been  the  subject  of  so 
much  surprise.  Suggestions  of  his  murder  which  had  been  thrown  out  by 
Ai'am's  wife  were  called  to  mind,  and  a  coroner's  inquest  being  lield,  she 
was  summoned.  By  this  time  a  general  impression  prevailed  tliat  the 
remains  found  were  those  of  Clarke,and  the  testimony  of  Mrs.  Aram  greatly 


1 


172  THE    NEW    XEAVGATE    CALENDAR 

confirmed  thn  idea  ^Yllich  had  gone  abroad.  3he  deposed  that  she  belv3ved 
that  Clarke  had  been  murdered  by  Houseman  and  her  husband,  and  that  they 
liad  acquired  considerable  booty  for  the  crime  ;  but  she  was  unable  to  give 
any  account  of  her  husband,  or  to  state  whether  lie  still  was  in  existence  oi 
not.  Inquiries  being  made,  however.  Houseman  was  soon  found ;  and  on 
his  being  brought  forward  to  be  examined,  he  exliibited  the  utmost  confu- 
sion. The  coroner  desired  that  he  would  take  up  one  of  the  bones,  probably 
with  a  view  of  seeing  what  effect  such  a  proceeding  would  produce  ;  and 
upon  his  doing  so,  he  showed  still  further  terror,  and  exclaimed,  '•  This  is  no 
more  Daniel  Clarke's  bone  than  it  is  mine  !  "  The  suspicions  which  were 
already  entertained  of  his  guilt  were,  in  a  great  measure,  confirmed  by  this 
observation  ;  and  it  was  generally  believed  that  he  knew  the  precise  spot 
where  the  real  remains  of  the  murdered  man  were  deposited,  even  if  he  had  not 
been  a  partv  to  their  interment.  He  was  therefore  strictly  questioned  ;  and 
after  many  attempts  at  evasion,  he  said  that  Clarke  was  murdered  by 
Eugene  Aram,  and  that  his  body  was  buried  in  St.  Robert's  Cave,  but  that 
the  head  lay  further  to  the  right  in  the  turn  near  the  entrance  of  the  cavern 
than  the  spot  where  the  skeleton  produced  was  found.  Search  was  imme- 
diately made,  and  a  skeleton  was  found  in  a  situation  corresponding  exactly 
with  that  which  had  been  pointed  out.  In  consequence  of  this  confession 
an  inquiry  was  immediately  set  on  foot  for  Aram,  and  after  a  considerable 
time  he  was  discovered,  occupying  the  situation  of  usher  in  a  school  at 
Lynn  in  Norfolk. 

He  was  immediately  apprehended  and'  conveyed  in  custody  to  York 
Castle;  and  on  the  13th  of  August  1759,  he  was  brought  to  trial  at  the 
assizes  before  ]Mr.  -Justice  Noel.  The  testimony  of  Houseman  to  the  facts 
which  we  have  described,  and  of  the  other  witnesses  whose  evidence  was  of 
a  corroborative  character,  was  then  adduced  ;  and  from  the  proof  which 
was  given,  it  appeared  that  the  share  of  plunder  derived  by  the  prisoner 
did  not  exceed  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds. 

Aram's  defence  was  both  ingenious  and  able,  and  would  not  have 
disgraced  any  of  the  best  lawyers  of  the  day.  It  is  a  curious  and  interesting 
address,  and  we  subjoin  it  as  affording  the  best  criterion  of  the  talents 
of  the  prisoner  which  can  well  be  adduced.  He  thus  addressed  the 
court : — 

"  My  Lord, — I  know  not  whether  it  is  of  right  or  through  some  indul- 
gence of  your  lordship  that  I  am  allowed  the  liberty  at  this  bar,  and  at 
this  time,  to  attempt  a  defence^  incapable  and  uninstructed  as  I  am  to 
speak  ;  since,  while  I  see  so  many  eyes  upon  me,  so  numerous  and  awful  a 
concourse  fixed  with  attention  and  filled  with  I  know  not  what  expectancy, 
I  labour  not  with  guilt,  my  lord,  but  with  perplexity  ;  for  liaving  never 
seen  a  court  but  this,  being  wholly  unacquainted  with  law,  the  customs  of 
the  bar,  and  all  judiciary  proceedings,  I  fear  I  shall  be  so  little  capable  of 
speaking  with  propriety  in  this  place,  that  it  exceeds  my  hope  if  I  shall  be 
able  to  speak  at  all. 

"  I  have  heard,  my  lord,  the  indictment  read,  wherein  I  find  myself  charged 
with  the  highest  crime,  with  an  enormity  I  am  altogether  incapable  of ;  a 
fact,  to  the  commission  of  which  there  goes  far  more  insensibility  of  heart, 
more  profligacy  of  morals,  than  ever  fell  to  my  lot ;  and  nothing  possibly 
could  have  admitted  a  presumption  of  this  nature  but  a  depravity  not 
inferior  to  that  imputed  to  me.  However,  as  I  stand  indicted  at  your  lord- 
ship's bar,  and  liave  heard  what  is  called  evidence  adduced  in  support  of 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  ]  73 

such  a  charge,  I  very  humbly  solicit  your  lordship's  patience,  and  beg  the 
hearing  of  this  respectable  audience,  while  I,  single  and  unskilful,  destitute 
of  friends  and  unassisted  by  counsel,  say  something,  perhaps  like  argument, 
in  my  defence.  I  shall  consume  but  little  of  your  lordship's  time  :  what  I 
have  to  say  will  be  short ;  and  this  brevity,  probably,  will  be  the  best  part 
of  it :  however,  it  is  offered  with  all  possible  regard  and  the  greatest  sub- 
mission to  your  lordship's  consideration,  and  that  of  this  honourable  court. 

"  First,  my  lord,  the  whole  tenor  of  my  conduct  in  life  contradicts  every 
particular  of  the  indictment :  yet  had  I  never  said  this,  did  not  my  pitsent 
circumstances  extort  it  from  me,  and  seem  to  make  it  necessary.  Permit 
me  here,  my  lord,  to  call  upon  malignity  itself,  so  long  and  cruelly  busied 
in  this  pi'osecution,  to  charge  upon  me  any  immorality  of  which  prejudice 
was  not  the  author.  No,  my  lord,  I  concerted  no  schemes  of  fraud,  pro- 
jected no  violence,  injured  no  man's  person  or  property.  My  days  were 
honestly  laborious,  my  nights  intensely  studious;  and  I  humbly  conceive 
my  notice  of  this,  especially  at  this  time,  will  not  be  thought  impertinent 
or  unseasonable,  but,  at  least,  deserving  some  attention  ;  because,  my  lord, 
that  any  person,  after  a  temperate  use  of  life,  a  series  of  thinking  and 
acting  regularly,  and  without  one  single  deviation  from  sobriety,  should 
plunge  into  the  very  depth  of  profligacy  precipitately  and  at  once,  is 
altogether  improbable  and  imprecedented,  and  absolutely  inconsistent  with 
the  course  of  things.  Mankind  is  never  corrupted  at  once.  Villany  is 
always  progressive,  and  declines  from  right,  step  by  step,  till  every  regard 
of  probity  is  lost,  and  every  sense  of  all  moral  obligation  totally  perishes. 

"  Again,  my  lord,  a  suspicion  of  this  kind,  which  nothing  but  malevo- 
lence could  entertain  and  ignorance  propagate,  is  violently  opposed  by  my 
very  situation  at  that  time  with  respect  to  health  ;  for,  but  a  little  space 
before,  I  had  been  confined  to  my  bed,  and  suffered  under  a  very  long  and 
severe  disorder,  and  was  not  able,  for  half  a  year  together,  so  much  as  to 
walk.  The  distemper  left  me  indeed,  yet  slowly,  and  in  part — but  so 
macerated,  so  enfeebled,  that  I  was  reduced  to  crutches  ;  and  so  far  from 
being  well  about  the  time  I  am  charged  with  this  fact,  I  have  never,  to 
this  day,  perfectly  recovered.  Could  then  a  person  in  this  condition  take 
anything  into  his  head  so  unlikely,  so  extravagant  ? — I,  past  the  vigour 
of  my  age,  feeble  and  valetudinary,  with  no  inducement  to  engage,  no 
ability  to  accomplish,  no  weapon  wherewith  to  perpetrate  such  a  deed, 
without  interest,  without  power,  without  motive,  without  means.  Besides, 
it  must  needs  occur  to  every  one,  that  an  action  of  this  atrocious  nature  is 
never  heard  of,  but  when  its  springs  are  laid  open.  It  appears  that  it  was 
to  support  some  indolence,  or  supply  some  luxury  ;  to  satisfy  some  avarice, 
or  oblige  some  malice  ;  to  prevent  some  real  or  some  imaginary  want :  yet 
I  lay  not  under  the  influence  of  these.  Surely,  my  lord,  I  may,  consistently 
with  both  truth  and  modesty,  affirm  thus  much  ;  and  none  who  have  any 
veracity  and  knew  me,  will  ever  question  this. 

"  In  the  second  place,  the  disappearance  of  Clarke  is  suggested  as  an 
argument  of  his  being  dead  ;  but  the  uncertainty  of  such  an  inference  from 
that,  and  the  fallibility  of  all  conclusions  of  such  a  sort  from  such  a  circum- 
stance, are  too  obvious  and  too  notorious  to  require  instances  ;  yet  super- 
seding many,  permit  me  to  produce  a  very  recent  one,  and  that  afforded  by 
this  Castle. 

"In  June  1737,  "William  Thompson,  for  all  the  vigilance  of  this  place, 


174  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

in  open  daylight  and  double-ironed,  made  his  escape,  and,  notwithstanding 
an  immediate  inquiry  set  on  foot,  the  strictest  search,  and  all  advertise- 
ment, was  never  heard  of  since.  If,  then,  Thompson  got  off  unseen,  through 
all  these  difficulties,  how  very  easy  it  was  for  Clarke,  when  none  of  them 
opposed  him  !  But  what  would  be  thought  of  a  prosecution  commenced 
against  any  one  seen  last  with  Thompson  ? 

"  Permit  me  next,  my  lord,  to  observe  a  little  upon  the  bones  which 
have  been  discovered.  It  is  said  (which  perhaps  is  saying  very  far)  that 
these  are  the  skeleton  of  a  man.  It  is  possible,  indeed,  it  may ;  but  is 
there  any  certain  known  criterion  which  incontestably  distinguishes  the 
sex  in  human  bones  ?  Let  it  be  considered,  my  lord,  whether  the  ascer- 
taining of  this  point  ought  not  to  precede  any  attempt  to  identify  them  ? 

"  The  place  of  their  depositum,  too,  claims  much  more  attention  than  is 
commonly  bestowed  upon  it ;  for  of  all  places  in  the  world,  none  could 
have  mentioned  any  one  wherein  there  was  greater  certainty  of  finding 
human  bones  than  a  hermitage,  except  he  should  point  out  a  churchyard  ; 
hermitages,  in  time  past,  being  not  only  places  of  religious  retirement,  but 
of  burial  too  :  and  it  has  scarce  or  never  been  heard  of,  but  that  every 
cell  now  known  contains  or  contained  these  relics  of  humanity,  some 
mutilated  and  some  entire.  I  do  not  inform,  but  give  me  leave  to  remind 
your  lordship,  that  here  sat  solitary  Sanctity,  and  here  the  hermit  or  the 
anchoress  hoped  that  repose  for  their  bones  when  dead  they  here  enjoyed 
when  living. 

"  All  the  while,  my  lord,  I  am  sensible  this  is  known  to  your  lordship, 
and  many  in  this  Court,  better  than  to  me ;  but  it  seems  necessary  to  my 
case  that  others,  wlio  have  not  at  all,  perhaps,  adverted  to  things  of  this 
nature,  and  may  have  concern  in  my  trial,  should  be  made  acquainted  with 
it.  Suffer  me  then,  my  lord,  to  produce  a  few  of  many  evidences  that 
these  cells  were  used  as  repositories  of  the  dead,  and  to  enumerate  a  few 
in  which  human  bones  have  been  foimd,  as  it  happened  in  tliis  question  ; 
lest,  to  some,  that  accident  might  seem  extraordinary,  and,  consequently, 
occasion  prejudice. 

"  i.  Tlie  bones,  as  was  supposed,  of  the  Saxon  saint,  Dubritius,  were 
discovered  buried  in  his  cell  at  Guy's  Cliff,  near  Warwick  ;  as  appears  from 
the  autliority  of  Sir  William  Dugdale. 

"•  2.  The  bones  thought  to  be  those  of  the  anchoress  Rosia  were  but 
lately  discovered  in  a  cell  at  Royston,  entire,  fair,  and  undecayed,  though 
they  must  have  lain  interred  for  several  centuries ;  as  is  proved  by  Dr. 
Stukely. 

"3,  But  my  own  country — nay,  almost  this  neighbourhood — supplies 
another  instance  ;  for  in  January  1747,  were  found,  by  Mr.  Stovin,  accom- 
panied by  a  reverend  gentleman,  the  bones,  in  part,  of  some  recluse,  in  the 
cell  at  Lindholm,  near  Hatfield.  They  were  believed  to  be  those  of 
William  of  Lindholm,  a  hermit,  who  had  long  made  this  cave  his  habitation. 

"4.  In  February  1744,  part  of  Woburn  Abbey  being  pulled  down,  a 
large  portion  of  a  corpse  appeared,  even  with  the  flesh  on,  and  which  bore 
cutting  with  a  knife  ;  though  it  is  certain  this  had  lain  above  two  hundred 
years,  and  how  much  longer  is  doubtful ;  for  this  abbey  was  founded  in 
1145,  and  dissolved  in  1538  or  1539. 

"•  What  would  have  been  said,  what  believed,  if  this  liad  been  an  accident 
to  the  bones  in  question  ? 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  175 

"  Farther,  my  lord  : — it  is  not  yet  out  of  living  memory  that  at  a  little 
distance  :rom  Knaresborough,  in  a  field,  part  of  the  manor  of  the  worthy 
and  patriot  baronet  who  does  tliat  borough  the  honour  to  represent  it  in 
parliament,  were  found,  in  digging  for  gravel,  not  one  human  skeleton  only, 
but  five  or  six,  deposited  side  by  side,  with  each  an  urn  placed  at  its  head, 
as  your  lordship  knows  was  usual  in  ancient  mterments. 

"■  About  the  same  time,  and  in  another  field,  almost  close  to  this  borough, 
was  discovei-ed  also,  in  searcliing  for  gravel,  another  human  skeleton ;  but 
iae  piety  of  the  same  worthy  gentleman  ordered  botli  pits  to  be  filled  up 
again,  commendably  unwilling  to  disturb  tlie  dead. 

"  Is  the  invention  of  these  bones  forgotten,  then,  or  industriously  con- 
cealed, that  the  discovery  of  those  in  question  may  appear  the  more 
singular  and  extraordinary  ?  whereas,  in  fact,  there  is  nothing  extraordinary 
in  it.  My  lord,  almost  every  place  conceals  such  remains.  In  fields,  in 
hills,  in  highway  sides,  in  commons,  lie  frequent  and  unsuspected  bones ; 
and  our  present  allotments  for  rest  for  the  departed  are  but  of  some 
centuries. 

"  Another  particular  seems  not  to  claim  a  little  of  your  lordship's  notice, 
and  tliat  of  the  gentlemen  of  the  jury  ;  which  is,  that  perhaps  no  example 
occurs  of  more  than  one  skeleton  being  found  in  one  cell :  and  in  the  cell 
in  question  was  found  but  one ;  agreeable,  in  this,  to  the  peculiarity  of 
every  other  known  cell  in  Britain.  Not  the  invention  of  one  skeleton,  but 
of  two,  would  have  appeared  suspicious  and  uncommon.  But  it  seems 
another  skeleton  has  been  discovered  by  some  labourer,  which  was  full  as 
confidently  averred  to  be  Clarke's  as  this.  My  lord,  must  some  of  the 
living,  if  it  promotes  some  interest,  he  made  answerable  for  all  the  bones 
that  earth  has  concealed  and  chance  exposed  ?  and  might  not  a  place  where 
bones  lay  be  mentioned  by  a  person  by  chance  as  well  as  found  by  a 
labourer  by  chance  ?  or  is  it  more  criminal  accidentally  to  name  where 
bones  lie  than  accidentally  to  find  where  they  lie  ? 

"  Here  too  is  a  human  skull  produced,  which  is  fractured ;  but  was 
this  the  cause,  or  was  it  the  consequence,  of  death  ?  was  it  owing  to 
violence,  or  was  it  the  effect  of  natural  decay  ?  If  it  was  violence,  was 
that  violence  before  or  after  death  ?  My  lord,  in  May  1732,  the  remains 
of  William,  Lord  Archbishop  of  this  province,  were  taken  up,  by  per- 
mission, in  this  cathedral,  and  the  bones  of  the  skull  were  found  broken  ; 
yet  certainly  he  died  by  no  violence  offered  to  him  alive  that  could  occasion 
that  fracture  there. 

"  Let  it  be  considered,  my  lord,  that,  upon  the  dissolution  of  religious 
houses  and  the  commencement  of  the  Reformation,  the  ravages  of  those 
times  affected  both  the  living  and  the  dead.  In  search  after  imaginary 
treasures,  coffins  were  broken  up,  graves  and  vaults  dug  open,  monuments 
ransacked,  and  shrines  demolished ;  and  it  ceased  about  the  beginning  of 
the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabeth.  I  entreat  your  lordship,  suffer  not  the 
violence,  the  depredations,  and  the  iniquities  of  those  times,  to  be  imputed 
to  this. 

"  Moreover,  what  gentleman  here  is  ignorant  that  Knaresborough  had 
a  castle,  which,  though  now  a  ruin,  was  once  considerable  both  for  its 
strength  and  garrison  ?  All  know  it  was  vigorously  besieged  by  the  arms 
of  the  parliament ;  at  which  siege,  in  sallies,  conflicts,  flights,  pursuits, 
many  fell  in  all  the  places  round  it,  and,  where  they  fell,  were  buried,  fot 


i76  THK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

every  place,  my  lord,  is  burial-earth  in  war ;  and  many,  questionless,  of 
these  rest  yet  unknown,  whose  bones  futurity  shall  discover. 

"  I  hope,  with  all  imaginable  submission,  tliat  what  has  been  said  will 
not  be  thouglit  impertinent  to  this  indictment ;  and  tliat  it  will  be  far 
from  tlie  wisdom,  the  learning,  and  the  integrity  of  this  place,  to  impute 
to  tlie  living  what  zeal  in  its  fury  may  have  done — what  nature  may  have 
taken  off,  and  piety  interred — or  what  war  alone  may  have  destroyed, 
alone  deposited. 

"  As  to  the  circumstances  that  have  been  raked  together,  I  have  nothing 
to  observe  but  that  all  circumstances  whatever  are  precarious,  and  have 
been  but  too  frequently  found  lamentably  fallible ;  even  tlie  strongest  have 
failed.  They  may  rise  to  the  utmost  degree  of  probability,  yet  they  are 
but  probability  still.  AYhy  need  I  name  to  your  lordship  the  two 
Harrisons  recorded  by  Dr.  Howel,  who  both  suffered  upon  circumstances 
because  of  the  sudden  disappearance  of  their  lodger,  Avho  was  in  credit, 
had  contracted  debts,  boiTowed  money,  and  went  off  unseen,  and  returned 
a  great  many  years  after  their  execution  ?  Why  name  the  intricate  affair 
of  Jacques  de  Moulin,  under  King  Charles  II.  related  by  a  gentleman  who 
was  counsel  for  the  crown  ?  And  why  the  unhappy  Coleman,  who  suffered 
innocently,  though  convicted  upon  positive  evidence ;  and  whose  children 
perished  for  want,  because  the  Avorld  uncharitably  believed  the  father 
guilty?  Why  mention  the  perjury  of  Smith,  incautiously  admitted  king's 
evidence :  who,  to  sci'een  himself,  equally  accused  Faircloth  and  Loveday 
of  the  murder  of  Dun;  the  first  of  whom,  in  1749,  was  executed  at 
Winchester  ;  and  Loveday  was  about  to  suffer  at  Reading,  had  not  Smith 
been  proved  perjured,  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  Court,  by  the  governor  of 
Gosport  hospital  ? 

"  Now,  my  lord,  having  endeavoured  to  show  that  the  whole  of  this 
process  is  altogether  repugnant  to  every  part  of  my  life ;  that  it  is  incon- 
sistent with  my  condition  of  health  about  that  time  ;  that  no  rational 
inference  can  be  drawn  that  a  person  is  dead  who  suddenly  disappears ; 
that  hermitages  are  the  constant  depositaries  of  the  bones  of  a  recluse  ;  that 
the  proofs  of  this  are  well  authenticated  ;  that  the  revolutions  in  religion, 
or  the  fortunes  of  war,  have  mangled  or  buried  the  dead  ; — the  conclusion 
remains,  perhaps,  no  less  reasonable  than  impatiently  wished  for.  I,  at 
last,  after  a  year's  confinement,  equal  to  either  fortune,  put  myself  upon 
the  justice,  the  candour,  and  the  humanity  of  your  lordship ;  and  upon 
yours,  my  countrymen,  gentlemen  of  the  jury." 

The  delivery  of  this  address  created  a  very  considerable  impression  in 
court ;  but  the  learned  judge  having  calmly  and  with  great  perspicuity 
summed  up  the  evidence  which  had  been  produced,  and  having  observed 
iqion  the  prisoner's  defence,  which  he  declared  to  be  one  of  the  most 
ingenious  pieces  of  reasoning  that  had  ever  fallen  under  his  notice,  the  jury, 
with  little  hesitation,  returned  a  verdict  of  Guilty.  Sentence  of  death  was 
then  passed  upon  the  prisoner,  who  received  the  intimation  of  his  fate  with 
becomino'  resicnation.  After  his  conviction,  he  confessed  the  justice  of  his 
sentence  to  two  clergymen  who  were  directed  to  attend  him — a  sufficient 
proof  of  the  fruitlessness  of  the  efforts  to  prove  him  innocent,  which  the 
morbid  sentimentality  of  late  writers  has  induced  them  to  attempt.  Upon 
an  inquiry  being  made  of  him  as  to  his  reason  for  committing  the  crime, 
he  declared  that  he  had  reason  to  suspect  Clarke  of  having  had  unlawful 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  177 

uitercourse  with  his  wife ;  and  that  at  the  time  of  his  committing  tlie 
murder  he  had  thought  that  he  was  acting  rightly,  hut  that  he  liad  since 
thoucrht  that  his  crime  could  not  be  justified  or  excused.  In  the  hopes  of 
avoiding  the  ignominious  death  which  he  was  doomed  to  suffer,  on  the 
night  before  his  execution  he  attempted  to  commit  suicide  by  cutting  his 
arm  in  two  places  with  a  razor,  wliich  he  had  concealed  for  that  purpose. 
This  attempt  was  not  discovered  until  the  morning,  when  the  jailor  came 
to  lead  liim  forth  to  the  place  of  execution,  and  he  was  then  found  almost 
expiring  from  loss  of  blood.  A  surgeon  was  immediately  sent  for,  who 
found  that  he  had  wounded  himself  severely  on  the  left  arm,  above  the 
elbow  and  near  the  wrist,  but  he  had  missed  the  artery,  and  his  life  was 
prolonged  only  in  order  that  it  might  be  taken  away  on  the  scaifold. 
When  he  was  placed  on  the  drop,  he  was  perfectly  sensible,  but  was  too 
weak  to  be  able  to  join  in  devotion  with  the  clergyman  who  attended  him 

He  was  executed  at  York  on  the  I'ith  August  1759;  and  his  body 
was  afterwards  hung  in  chains  in  Knaresborough  Forest. 

The  following  papers  were  afterwards  found  in  his  handwriting  on  the 
table  in  his  cell.  The  first  contained  reasons  for  his  attempt  npon  his  life, 
and  was  as  follows  : — "  What  am  I  better  than  my  fathers  ?  To  die  is 
natural  and  necessary.  Perfectly  sensible  of  this,  I  fear  no  more  to  die 
than  I  did  to  be  born.  But  the  manner  of  it  is  something  which  should, 
in  my  opinion,  be  decent  and  manly.  I  think  I  have  regarded  both  these 
points.  Certainly  no  man  has  a  better  right  to  dispose  of  a  man's  life  than 
himself ;  and  he,  not  others,  should  determine  how.  As  for  any  indignities 
offered  to  my  body,  or  silly  reflections  on  my  faith  and  morals,  they  are, 
as  they  always  were,  things  indifferent  to  me.  I  think,  though  contrary 
to  the  common  way  of  thinking,  I  wrong  no  man  by  this,  and  hope  it 
is  not  offensive  to  that  eternal  Being  that  formed  me  and  the  world  :  and 
as  by  this  I  injure  no  man,  no  man  can  be  reasonably  off"ended.  I  soli- 
citously recommend  myself  to  that  eternal  and  almighty  Being,  the  God 
of  Nature,  if  I  have  done  amiss.  But  perhaps  I  have  not ;  and  I  hope 
this  thing  will  never  be  imputed  to  me.  Though  I  am  now  stained  by 
malevolence  and  suffer  by  prejudice,  I  hope  to  rise  fair  and  unblemished. 
My  life  was  not  polluted,  my  morals  irreproachable,  and  my  opinions 
orthodox.  I  slept  sound  till  three  o'clock,  awaked,  and  then  writ  these 
lines — 

Come,  pleasing  rest  !  eternal  slumbers,  fall ! 
Seal  mine,  that  once  must  seal  the  eyes  of  all. 
Calm  and  composed  my  soul  her  journey  takes; 
No  guilt  that  troubles,  and  no  heart  that  aches. 
Adieu,  thou  sun  !  all  bright,  like  her,  arise  ! 
Adieu,  fair  friends,  and  all  that's  good  and  wise!" 

The  second  was  in  the  form  of  a  letter,  addressed  to  a  former  companion, 
and  was  in  the  following  terms : 

"  My  dear  Friend, — Before  this  reaches  you,  I  shall  be  no  more  a 
living  man  in  this  world,  though  at  present  in  perfect  bodily  health  :  but 
who  can  describe  the  horrors  of  mind  which  I  suffer  at  this  instant  ? 
Guilt — the  guilt  of  blood  shed  without  any  provocation,  without  any  cause 
but  that  of  filthy  lucre — pierces  my  conscience  with  wounds  that  give  the 
most  poignant  pains !  'Tis  true  the  consciousness  of  my  horrid  guilt  has 
given  me  frequent  interruptions  in  the  midst  of  my  business  or  pleasures ; 
but  yet  I  have  found  means  to  stifle  its  clamours,  and  contrived  a  momentary 

VOL.  I.  A   A 


t78  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

remedy  for  the  disturbance  it  gave  me  by  applying  to  the  bottle  or  tlie 
bowl,  or  diversions,  or  company,  or  business  ;  sometimes  one,  and  some- 
times the  other,  as  opportunity  offered  :  but  now  all  these,  and  all  other 
amusements,  are  at  an  end,  and  I  am  left  forlorn,  helpless,  and  destitute  of 
every  comfort ;  for  I  have  nothing  now  in  view  but  the  certain  destruction 
both  of  my  soul  and  body.  My  conscience  will  now  no  longer  suffer 
itself  to  be  hoodwinked  or  browbeat :  it  has  now  got  the  mastery;  it  is 
my  accuser,  judge,  and  executioner:  and  the  sentence  it  pronounceth 
against  me  is  more  dreadful  than  that  I  heard  from  the  bench,  which  only 
condemned  my  body  to  the  pains  of  death,  which  are  soon  over ;  but 
conscience  tells  me  plainly  that  she  will  summon  me  before  another  tribunal, 
wliere  I  shall  have  neither  power  nor  means  to  stifle  the  evidence  she  will 
there  bring  against  me  ;  and  that  the  sentence  which  will  then  be  denounced 
will  not  only  be  irreversible,  but  will  condemn  my  soul  to  torments  that 
will  know  no  end. 

"  Oh  !  had  I  but  hearkened  to  the  advice  which  dear-bought  experience 
has  enabled  me  to  give,  I  should  not  now  have  been  plunged  into  that 
dreadful  gulf  of  despair  which  I  find  it  impossible  to  extricate  myself 
from  ;  and  therefore  my  soul  is  filled  with  horror  inconceivable.  I  see 
both  God  and  man  my  enemies,  and  in  a  few  hours  shall  be  exposed  a 
public  spectacle  for  the  world  to  gaze  at.  Can  you  conceive  any  condition 
more  horrible  than  mine  ?  O,  no  !  it  cannot  be !  I  am  determined,  there- 
fore, to  put  a  short  end  to  trouble  I  am  no  longer  able  to  bear,  and  prevent 
the  executioner  by  doing  his  business  with  my  own  hand,  and  shall  by  this 
means  at  least  prevent  the  shame  and  disgrace  of  a  public  exposure,  and 
leave  the  care  of  my  soul  in  the  hands  of  eternal  mercy.  AV^ishing  you  all 
health,  happiness,  and  prosperity,  I  am,  to  the  last  moment  of  my  life, 
yours,  with  the  sincerest  regard,  "  Eugene  Aram." 

It  is  impossible  to  view  the  circumstances  of  this  remarkable  case, 
without  being  struck  with  the  extraordinary  conduct  of  Aram.  It  is 
most  singular  that  a  man  of  his  talents  and  mind  should  have  leagued 
himself  with  a  person  like  Houseman,  who  appears  to  have  been  utterly 
uneducated,  in  the  commission  of  a  murder,  and  with  the  hope  only  of  gain  ; 
for  whatever  his  declarations  after  his  conviction  may  have  been,  as  to  his 
object  being  revenge  only  for  the  supposed  injury  which  had  been  done 
him  by  his  victim  in  the  seduction  of  his  wife,  his  ready  acquiescence  in 
the  plot  with  another,  and  his  willing  acceptance  of  the  plunder  which  was 
obtained,  distinctly  show  that  that  was  not  the  only  end  which  he  sought 
to  attain.  If,  indeed,  his  feelings  were  outraged,  as  he  suggested,  he  would 
have  selected  some  other  mode  of  obtaining  that  satisfaction  to  which  the 
inj  ury  alleged  would  have  entitled  him ;  and  it  is  hardly  to  be  supposed 
that  he  would  have  obtained  the  assistance  of  another  to  secure  the  object 
which  he  had  in  view,  more  particularly  when  it  appears  that  it  was  he 
who  absolutely  committed  the  foul  act,  without  the  immediate  aid  of 
Houseman, — a  circumstance  which  clearly  exemplifies  the  power  which  he 
possessed  to  dispose  of  his  victim,  and  which  would  seem  to  show  a  desire 
on  his  part  only  to  obtain  the  participation  of  another  in  a  preconceived 
act,  anticipating  doubtless  that  some  aid  would  be  necessary  in  appro- 
priating and  disposing  of  the  property  which  might  be  procured  from  the 
ileceased,  and  also  that  some  advice  would  be  requisite  in  the  event  of 
suspicion  attaching  to  him.     But  while  these  circumstances  cannot  but 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR  179 

surprise  us,  how  much  more  astonishing  is  the  Divine  power  of  Provi- 
dence, which  disclosed  to  human  eyes,  after  so  long  a  lapse  of  time,  such 
evidence  as  in  the  result  proved  the  commission  of  the  crime,  and  which 
secured  the  seizure  of  the  criminal,  who  had  up  to  that  time  remained 
unsuspected,  and  who  even  then  was  living  in  fancied  security,  free  from 
all  fear  of  discovery  and  apprehension  !   It  is  said  that 

"  Murder  !  though  it  have  no  tongue,  will  speak 

With  most  miraculous  organ  :" 

and  how  truly  is  this  observation  of  the  most  wonderful  of  poets  exem- 
plified by  nearly  every  page  of  these  records  of  crime  ! 


WILLIAM  ANDREW  HORNE,  ESQ. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  short  notice  which  we  give  of  this  man  exhibits  a  human  being 
reduced  far  below  the  level  of  a  beast. 

The  subject  of  the  memoir  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  gentleman  of  fortune  in 
Nottinghamshire,  who  in  vain  strove  to  instil  into  the  mind  of  his  son  any 
of  those  principles  of  rectitude,  without  which  man  cannot  be  considered  to 
be  humanised.  The  sports  of  the  field,  and  all  the  dissipation  whicli  a 
country  squire  could  at  that  time  obtain,  formed  the  amusements  of  this 
reckless  youth.  His  passion  for  women  was  unbounded ;  but  his  love  of 
gold  surpassed  all  the  other  bad  qualities  which  so  peculiarly  distin 
guished  him.  It  was  while  his  father  yet  lived  that  he  committed  that 
crime  for  which  his  life  was  eventually  forfeited;  and  it  appears  to  have 
occurred  in  the  following  manner : — 

His  passion  for  women  led  him  to  commit  the  most  disgusting  excesses  ; 
and  at  length  so  far  had  he  carried  his  crimes,  that  an  incestuous  connexion 
took  place  between  him  and  his  sister,  the  result  of  which  was  the  birth  of 
a  boy  in  the  month  of  February  1724  ;  Home  told  his  brother  Charles  of 
the  circumstance  three  days  afterwards,  and  at  ten  o'clock  at  night  said 
that  he  must  take  a  ride  with  him.  He  then  put  the  new-born  infant  in 
a  bag  ;  and,  mounting  their  horses,  they  rode  to  Anuesley,  in  Nottingham- 
shire, at  the  distance  of  five  miles,  carrying  the  child  alternately.  On  their 
arrival  near  the  village,  William  dismounted  and  inquired  if  the  child  was 
living  ;  and  being  answered  in  the  aflfi.rmative,  he  took  it  and  told  his 
brother  to  wait  till  he  came  back.  On  his  return,  Charles  demanded  to 
know  how  he  had  disposed  of  the  infant ;  to  which  he  said  that  he  had 
placed  it  behind  a  hay-stack,  and  covered  it  with  hay. 

They  then  returned  home  ;  and  it  was  afterwards  learned  that  the  child 
died  in  the  course  of  the  night  fi'om  exposure  to  the  cold  ;  but  in  a  short 
time  afterwards  a  quarrel  arising  between  the  brothers,  the  whole  trans- 
action was  communicated  by  Charles  to  his  father.  The  latter  enjoined 
him  to  the  strictest  secrecy  ;  and  this  injunction  was  obeyed  up  to  the  time 
of  the  old  man's  death,  which  occurred  in  the  year  1747,  in  the  102nd  year 
of  his  age.  The  real  estate  of  the  family,  being  entailed,  then  descended  to 
the  eldest  son  ;  but  the  father  had  previously  made  over  his  personal 
property  by  deed  of  gift  to  his  son  Charles.  No  sooner  had  the  new  squire 
assumed  tlie  government  of  the  estate  than  he  behaved  with  the  utmost 


180  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

Siverity  towards  his  brotlier  as  well  as  liis  tenants ;  and  at  length  the 
former,  rendered  miserable  by  his  participation  in  the  horrid  act,  having 
some  business  to  transact  with  Mr.  Cooke,  an  attorney  at  Derby,  told  him 
of  the  long-concealed  affair,  and  asked  his  advice.  The  lawyer  told  him  to 
go  to  a  justice  of  the  peace  and  make  a  full  discovery  of  the  whole  trans- 
action ;  and  he  accordingly  went  to  a  magistrate,  and  acquainted  him  with 
what  had  happened.  He  hesitated  to  take  cognizance  of  the  matter,  how- 
ever, saying  that  it  might  hang  half  the  family  ;  and  as  it  had  passed  so 
many  years  ago,  advised  that  it  might  remain  a  secret. 

No  further  notice  of  the  circumstance  Avas  then  taken  until  the  year 
1754,  when  Charles  being  suddenly  seized  with  a  severe  fit  of  illness,  called 
in  a  Mr.  White  of  Ripley,  to  whom,  in  anticipation  of  his  death,  he  disclo-tsed 
all  that  had  occurred.  Mr.  White  declined  to  interfere  ;  but  his  patient 
almost  immediately  recovered,  declaring  that  "  he  had  been  better  ever 
since  the  weight  of  the  transaction  had  been  taken  off  his  mind  by  his 
making  the  disclosure." 

The  discovery,  however,  soon  became  a  matter  of  notoriety ;  and 
William  Home  having  a  quarrel  with  a  publican  named  Roe,  the  latter 
called  'him  "  an  incestuous  old  dog."  A  suit  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  at 
Lichfield  was  the  consequence  ;  and  Roe  being  unsuccessful,  was  ordered  to 
pay  all  the  costs.  This  circumstance  inflamed  him  with  revenge;  and 
having  made  such  inquiries  as  persuaded  him  of  the  truth  of  the  report 
which  he  had  heard,  he  procured  a  warrant  to  be  issued  for  the  apprehension 
of  his  late  opponent.  A  constable  of  Annesley  and  he  in  consequence 
proceeded  to  the  house  of  the  squire  at  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening, 
and  after  having  experienced  considerable  difficulty,  succeeded  in  obtaining 
admittance.  A  strict  search  was  then  commenced ;  but  it  was  not  until  a 
long  time  had  elapsed  that  they  discovered  the  object  of  their  inquiry 
concealed  in  a  large  box,  which  had  been  described  as  containing  clean 
linen.  He  was  immediately  carried  before  two  justices,  who  committed 
him  to  take  his  trial  at  the  following  assizes. 

On  the  10th  of  August  17.59,  he  was  brought  to  trial  before  Lord  Chief 
Baron  Parker ;  and  after  a  hearing  of  about  nine  hours,  the  jury  found  him 
guilty,  and  sentence  of  death  passed  of  course. 

Home  being  convicted  on  a  Saturday,  was  sentenced  to  die  on  the 
Monday  following  ;  but  a  number  of  gentlemen  waited  on  the  judge,  inti- 
mating that  he  had  been  so  long  hardened  in  iniquity,  that  a  farther  time 
would  be  necessary  to  prepare  him  for  his  awful  change,  and  a  respite  of  a 
month  was  in  consequence  granted. 

When  this  time  was  nearly  expired,  he  received  a  reprieve  during  his 
majesty's  pleasure  ;  so  that  he  began  to  entertain  hopes  of  obtaining  a  free 
pardon  :  and  he  employed  a  considerable  part  of  his  time  in  writing  to  hi." 
friends  to  make  interest  to  secure  this  object.  He,  however,  confessed  the 
justice  of  his  conviction,  but  seemed  little  affected  by  the  enormity  ot 
his  crime,  and  frequently  said,  "  it  was  d—  d  hard  to  suffer  on  the 
evidence  of  a  brother  for  a  crime  committed  so  many  years  before." 

He  gave  the  following  account  of  the  transaction : — He  said  he  had  no 
iesign  of  destroying  the  infant,  but  put  it  in  a  bag  lined  with  wool,  and 
made  a  hole  in  the  bag  that  i  tmight  not  be  stifled.  He  added,  that  the 
child  was  handsomely  dressed,  and  he  had  intended  to  have  left  it  at  the 
door  of  Mr.  Chaworth,  of  Annesley  ;  but  the  dogs  barking,  and  there  beii  g 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  181 

a  light  in  the  house,  he  desisted  from  his  first  intention,  in  the  fear  of  a 
discovery.  After  some  hesitation,  he  said,  he  resolved  to  place  it  under  a 
warm  hay-stack,  in  the  hope  that,  when  the  servants  came  to  fodder  the 
cattle  in  the  morning,  it  would  be  found. 

He  acknowledged  to  a  clergyman  who  assisted  him  in  his  devotions 
that  he  forgave  all  his  enemies,  even  his  brother  Charles ;  but  made  the 
following  strange  addition  to  his  speech  :  "  that  if,  at  the  day  of  judgment, 
God  Almighty  should  ask  him  how  his  brother  behaved,  he  would  not  give 
him  a  good  character." 

The  hopes  of  a  pardon  which  he  had  entertained  soon  proved  unfounded  ; 
and  an  order  arrived  for  his  execution  on  the  11th  December  1759,  on 
which  day  he  completed  his  74th  year,  and  terminated  his  life  on  a  scaffold 
erected  at  Nottingham. 


LAURENCE,  EARL  FERRERS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

Laurence,  Earl  Ferrers,  was  a  man  of  singular  and  most  unhappy 
disposition.  Descended  of  an  ancient  and  noble  family,  he  was  doomed 
to  expiate  a  crime,  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  at  Tyburn. 

It  would  appear  that  the  royal  blood  of  the  Plantagenets  flowed  in  his 
veins,  and  the  earl  gained  his  title  in  the  following  manner  : — The  second 
baronet  of  the  family,  Sir  Henry  Shirley,  married  a  daughter  of  the 
celebrated  Earl  of  Essex,  who  was  beheaded  in  the  reign  of  Queen 
Elizabeth  ;  and  his  son.  Sir  Robert  Shirley,  died  in  the  Tower,  where  la- 
was  confined  during  the  Protectorate,  for  his  attachment  to  the  cause  of 
the  Stuarts.  Upon  the  Restoration,  the  second  son  of  Sir  Robert  succeeded 
to  the  title  and  estates ;  and  Charles,  an-xious  to  cement  the  bonds  which 
attached  his  friends  to  him,  summoned  him  to  the  Upper  House  of  Parlia- 
ment by  the  title  of  Lord  Ferrers  of  Chartley,  as  the  descendant  of  one  of 
the  CO  -heiresses  of  the  Earl  of  Essex ;  the  title,  which  had  existed  since 
the  reign  of  Edward  IIL,  having  been  in  a')eyance  siiiC3  t'le  death  of  that 
unfortunate  nobleman.  In  the  year  1711,  Robert,  Lord  Ferrers,  was 
created  by  Queen  Anne,  Viscount  Tamworth  and  Earl  Ferrers ;  and  it 
appears  that  although  the  estates  of  t'.ie  fa  nil/  were  very  great,  they  were 
vastly  diminished  by  the  provisions  which  the  Ea  1  thought  proper  to 
make  for  his  numerous  progeny,  consisting  of  fifteen  sons  and  twelve 
daughters,  born  to  him  by  his  two  wives.  At  the  death  of  the  first  earl, 
his  title  descended  to  his  second  son  ;  but  he  dying  without  issue,  it  went 
in  succession  to  the  ninth  son,  who  was  childless,  and  the  tenth  son,  who 
was  the  father  of  the  earl,  Laurence,  the  subject  of  the  present  sketch. 

This  nobleman  was  united  in  the  year  1 752  to  the  youngest  daughter  of 
Sir  William  ^leredith  ;  but  although  his  general  conduct  when  sober  was 
not  such  as  to  be  remarkable,  yet  his  faculties  were  so  much  impaired  by 
drink,  that  when  under  the  influence  of  intoxication,  he  acted  with  all  the 
wildness  and  brutality  of  a  madman.  For  a  time  his  wife  perceived 
nothing  which  induced  her  to  repent  the  step  she  had  taken  in  being  united 
to  him  ;  but  he  subsequently  behaved  to  her  with  such  unwarrantable 
cruelty,  that  she  was  compelled  to  quit  his  protection,  and  rejoining  her 
tather's  family,  to  apply  to  Parliament  for  redress.     An  act  was  in  ecu- 


182  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

sequence  passed,  allowing  her  a  separate  maintenance  to  be  raised  out  of 
her  husband's  estate  ;  and  trustees  being  appointed,  the  unfortunate  Mr. 
Johnson,  who  fell  a  sacrifice  to  the  ungovernable  passions  of  Lord  Ferrers, 
having  been  bred  up  in  the  family  from  his  youth,  and  being  distinguished 
for  the  regular  manner  in  which  he  kept  his  accounts,  and  his  fidelity  as 
a  steward,  was  proposed  as  receiver  of  the  rents  for  her  use.  He  at  first 
declined  the  office  ;  but  subsequently,  at  the  desire  of  the  Earl  himself,  he 
consented  to  act,  and  continued  in  this  employment  for  a  considerable  time. 

His  lordship  at  this  time  lived  at  Stanton,  a  seat  about  two  miles  from 
Ashby  de  la  Zouch,  in  Leicestershire ;  and  his  family  consisted  of  Mrs. 
Clifford,  a  lady  who  lived  with  him,  and  her  four  natural  daughters,  besides 
five  men-servants,  exclusive  of  an  old  man  and  a  boy,  and  three  maids. 

Mr.  Johnson  lived  at  the  house  belonging  to  the  farm,  which  he  held 
under  his  lordship,  called  the  Lount,  about  half  a  mile  distant  from  Stanton. 
It  appears  that  it  was  "his  custom  to  visit  his  noble  master  occasionally, 
to  settle  the  accounts  which  were  placed  under  his  care  ;  but  his  lordship 
gradually  conceived  a  dislike  for  him,  grounded  upon  the  prejudice  raised 
in  his  mind  on  account  of  his  being  the  receiver  of  the  countess'  portion, 
and  charged  him  with  having  combined  with  the  trustees  to  prevent  his 
receiving  a  coal  contract.  From  this  time  he  spoke  of  him  in  opprobrious 
terms,  and  said  he  had  conspired  with  his  enemies  to  injure  him,  and  that 
he  was  a  villain  ;  and  with  these  sentiments  he  gave  him  warning  to  quit 
an  advantageous  farm  which  he  held  under  his  lordship.  Finding,  how- 
ever, that  the  trustees  under  the  act  of  separation  had  already  granted  him 
a  lease  of  it,  it  having  been  promised  to  him  by  the  earl  or  his  relations,  he 
was  disappointed,  and  probably  from  that  time  he  meditated  a  more  cruel 
revenge. 

The  circumstances  immediately  attending  the  transaction,  which  termi- 
nated in  the  death  of  Johnson,  are  as  follow  :  — 

On  Sunday  the  13th  of  January  1760,  my  lord  went  to  the  Lount,  and 
after  some  discourse  with  Mr.  Johnson,  ordered  him  to  come  to  him  at 
Stanton  on  the  Friday  following,  the  18th,  at  three  o'clock  in  the  after- 
noon. His  lordship's  usual  dinner- hour  was  two  o'clock  ;  and  soon  after 
that  meal  was  disposed  of,  on  the  Friday,  he  went  to  j\Irs.  Cliflbrd,  who 
was  in  the  still-house,  and  desired  her  to  take  the  children  for  a  walk.  She 
accordingly  prepared  herself  and  her  daughters,  and  with  the  permission  of 
the  earl  went  to  her  father's,  at  a  short  distance,  being  directed  to  return  at 
half-past  five.  The  men-servants  were  next  despatched  on  errands  by  their 
master,  who  was  thus  left  in  the  house  with  the  three  females  only.  In  a 
short  time  afterwards  Mr.  Johnson  came  according  to  his  appointment,  and 
was  admitted  by  one  of  the  maid-servants,  named  Elizabeth  Burgeland. 
He  proceeded  at  once  to  his  lordship's  apartment,  but  was  desired  to  wait 
in  the  still-house  ;  and  then,  after  the  expiration  of  about  ten  minutes,  the 
earl  calling  him  into  his  own  room,  went  in  with  him  and  locked  tlie  door. 
Being  thus  together,  the  earl  requu-ed  him  first  to  settle  an  account,  and 
then  charging  him  with  the  villany  which  he  attributed  to  him,  ordered 
him  to  kneel  down.  The  unfortunate  man  went  down  on  one  knee  ;  upon 
which  the  earl,  in  a  tone  of  voice  loud  enough  to  be  heard  by  the  maid- 
servants without,  cried,  "  Down  on  your  other  knee ;  declare  that  you 
have  acted  against  Lord  Ferrers  ;  your  time  is  come — you  must  die  :"  and 
then  suddenly  drawing  a  pistol  from  his  pocket,  which  was  loaded,  he  pre- 


''iXi.<:/,y'e^t^e'Z^  ,^€>i?i^-^-a'  A<^)  ^.^^j^-w^^^ 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  183 

sented  it  and  immediately  fired.  The  ball  entered  the  body  of  the  unfor- 
tunate man  ;  but  he  rose  up,  and  entreated  that  no  farther  violence  might 
be  done  him  ;  and  the  female  servants  at  that  time  coming  to  the  door, 
being  alarmed  by  the  report,  his  lordship  quitted  the  room.  A  messenger 
was  immediately  despatched  for  Mr.  Kirkland,  a  surgeon,  who  lived  at 
Ashby  de  la  Zouch  ;  and  Johnson  being  put  to  bed,  his  lordship  went  to 
him  and  asked  him  how  he  felt  ?  He  answered  that  he  was  dying,  and 
desired  that  his  family  might  be  sent  for.  Miss  Johnson  soon  after  arrived, 
and  Lord  Ferrers  immediately  followed  her  into  the  room  where  her  father 
lay.  He  then  pulled  down  the  clothes,  and  applied  a  pledget,  dipped  in 
arquebusade  water,  to  the  wound,  and  soon  after  left  him. 

From  this  time  it  appears  that  his  lordship  applied  himself  to  his 
favourite  amusement,  drinking,  until  he  became  exceedingly  violent  (for  at 
the  time  of  the  commission  of  the  murder  he  is  reported  to  have  been  sober), 
and  on  the  arrival  of  Mr.  Kirkland  he  told  him  that  he  had  shot  Johnson, 
but  believed  he  was  more  frightened  than  hurt ;  that  he  had  intended  to 
shoot  him  dead,  for  that  he  was  a  villain  and  deserved  to  die ;  "  but,"  said 
he,  "  now  I  have  spared  his  life,  I  desire  you  would  do  what  you  can  for 
him."  His  lordship  at  the  same  time  desired  that  he  would  not  suffer  him 
to  be  seized,  and  declared,  that  if  any  one  should  attempt  it,  he  would  shoot 
him.  Mr.  Kirkland,  who  wisely  determined  to  say  whatever  might  keep 
Lord  Ferrers  from  any  further  outrages,  told  him  that  he  should  not  be 
seized,  and  directly  went  to  the  wounded  man. 

The  patient  complained  of  a  violent  pain  in  his  bowels ;  and  Mr. 
Kirkland  preparing  to  search  the  wound,  my  lord  informed  him  of  the 
direction  of  it,  by  showing  him  how  he  held  the  pistol  when  he  fired  it. 
Mr.  Kirkland  found  the  ball  had  lodged  in  the  body;  at  which  his  lordship 
expressed  great  surprise,  declaring  that  he  had  tried  that  pistol  a  few  days 
before,  and  that  it  then  carried  a  ball  through  a  deal  board  near  an  inch 
and  a  half  thick.  Mr.  Kirkland  then  went  down  stairs  to  prepare  some 
dressings,  and  my  lord  soon  after  left  the  room.  From  this  time,  in  pro- 
portion as  the  liquor  which  he  continued  to  drink  took  effect,  his  passions 
became  more  tumultuous,  and  the  transient  fit  of  compassion,  mixed  with 
fear  for  himself,  which  had  excited  him,  gave  way  to  starts  of  rage  and 
the  predominance  of  malice.  He  went  up  into  the  room  where  Johnson 
was  dpng,  and  pulled  him  by  the  wig,  calling  him  villain,  and  threatening 
to  shoot  him  through  the  head ;  and  the  last  time  he  went  to  him  he  was 
with  great  difficulty  prevented  from  tearing  the  clothes  off  the  bed,  that  he 
might  strike  him. 

A  proposal  was  made  to  him  in  the  evening  by  Mrs.  Clifford,  that  Mr. 
Johnson  should  be  removed  to  his  own  house  ;  but  he  replied,  "  He  shall 
not  be  removed ;  I  will  keep  him  here  to  plague  the  villain."  He  after- 
wards spoke  to  Miss  Johnson  about  her  father,  and  told  her  that  if  he 
died,  he  would  take  care  of  her  and  of  the  family,  provided  they  did  not 
prosecute. 

When  his  lordship  went  to  bed,  which  was  between  eleven  and  twelve, 
he  told  Mr.  Kirkland  that  he  knew  he  could,  if  he  would,  set  the  affair 
in  such  a  light  as  to  prevent  his  being  seized,  desiring  that  he  might  see 
him  before  he  went  away  in  the  morning,  and  declaring  that  he  would 
rise  at  any  hour. 

3Ir.  Kirkland,  however,  wa.s  very  solicitous  to  get  Mr.  Johnson  removed 


i84  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

and  as  soon  as  tlie  earl  was  gone,  he  set  about  carrying  his  object  iQt3 
ctfect.  He  in  consequence  went  to  Lount,  and  having  fitted  up  an  easy- 
chair  with  poles,  by  way  of  a  sedan,  and  procured  a  guard,  he  returned  at 
about  two  o'clock,  and  carried  Mr.  Johnson  to  his  house,  where  he  expired 
at  about  nine  o'clock  on  the  following  morning. 

The  neiohbours  now  began  to  take  measures  to  secure  the  murderer, 
and  a  few  of  them  having  armed  themselves,  set  out  for  Stanton ;  and  as 
they  entered  the  yard,  they  saw  his  lordship,  partly  undressed,  going 
towards  the  stable,  as  if  to  take  out  a  horse.  One  of  them,  named  Spring- 
tliorpe,  tlien  advancing  towards  his  lordship  with  a  pistol  in  his  hand, 
required  him  to  surrender  ;  but  the  latter,  putting  his  hand  towards  his 
pocket,  his  assailant,  imagining  that  he  was  feeling  for  some  weapon  of 
offence,  stopped  short  and  allowed  him  to  escape  into  the  house.  A  great 
concourse  of  people  by  this  time  had  come  to  the  spot,  and  they  cried  out 
loudly  that  the  earl  should  come  forth.  Two  hours  elapsed,  however, 
before  anything  was  seen  of  him,  and  then  he  came  to  the  garret  window 
and  called  out,  "  Hovp  is  Johnson?"  He  was  answered  that  he  was  dead; 
but  he  said  it  was  a  lie,  and  desired  that  the  people  should  disperse  ;  but 
then  he  gave  orders  that  they  should  be  let  in  and  be  furnished  with 
victuals  and  drink,  and  finally  he  w^ent  away  from  the  window  swearing 
that  no  man  should  take  him.  The  mob  still  remained  on  the  spot,  and 
in  about  two  hours  the  earl  was  descried  by  a  collier,  named  Curtis, 
walkino-  on  the  bowling-green,  armed  with  a  blunderbuss,  a  brace  of 
pistols,  and  a  dagger.  Curtis,  however,  so  far  from  being  intimidated  by 
his  bold  appearance,  walked  up  to  him ;  and  his  lordship,  struck  with  the 
resolution  he  displayed,  immediately  surrendered  himself,  and  gave  up  his 
arms,  but  directly  afterwards  declared  that  he  had  killed  the  villain,  and 
o-loried  in  the  act.  He  was  instantly  conveyed  in  custody  to  a  public- 
house  at  Ashby,  kept  by  a  man  named  Kinsey;  and  a  coroner's  jury 
havino-  brought  in  a  verdict  of  wilful  murder  against  him,  he  was  on  the 
foUowino-  Monday  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  keeper  of  the  jail  at 
Leicester.  Being  entitled,  however,  by  his  rank  to  be  tried  before  his 
peers,  he  was  in  about  a  fortnight  afterwards  conveyed  to  London,  in  his 
landau,  drawn  by  six  horses,  under  a  strong  guard ;  and  being  carried 
before  the  House  of  Lords,  he  was  committed  to  the  custody  of  the  Black 
Itod,  and  ordered  to  the  Tower,  where  he  arrived  at  about  six  o'clock  in 
the  evening  of  the  14th  February.  He  is  reported  to  have  behaved, 
durino-  the  whole  journey  and  at  his  commitment,  with  great  calmness 
and  propriety.  He  was  confined  in  the  Round  Tower,  near  the  draw  ■ 
bridge  :  two  wardens  were  constantly  in  tlie  room  with  him,  and  one  at 
the  door ;  two  sentinels  were  posted  at  the  bottom  of  the  stairs,  and  one 
upon  the  drawbridge,  with  their  bayonets  fixed ;  and  from  this  time  the 
"otes  were  orderedto  be  shut  an  hour  sooner  than  usual. 

During  his  confinement  he  was  moderate  both  in  eating  and  drinking  ; 
his  breakfast  was  a  half-pint  basin  of  tea,  with  a  small  spoonful  of  brandy 
in  it,  and  a  mutfin ;  with  his  dinner  he  generally  drank  a  pint  of  wine  and 
a  pint  of  water,  and  another  pint  of  each  with  his  supper.  In  general  his 
behaviour  was  decent  and  quiet,  except  that  he  would  sometimes  suddenly 
start,  tear  open  his  waistcoat,  and  use  other  gestures,  which  showed  that 
his  m.ind  was  disturbed. 

Mrs.  Clifford  and  the   four  young  ladies,  who  had  come  up   with  hiiu 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR  185 

from  Leicestorsliire,  took  a  lodging  in  Tower-street,  and  for  some  time  a 
servant  was  continually  passing  with  letters  between  them :  but  after- 
wards tliis  correspondence  was  permitted  only  once  a  day. 

Mrs.  Clifford  came  three  times  to  the  Tower  to  see  him,  but  was  not 
admitted ;  but  his  children  were  suffered  to  be  with  him  some  time. 

On  the  16th  of  April,  having  been  a  prisoner  in  the  Tower  two  months 
and  two  days,  he  was  brought  to  his  trial,  which  continued  till  the  1 8th, 
before  the  House  of  Lords,  assembled  for  that  purpose ;  Lord  Henley, 
keeper  of  the  grL'at  seal,  having  been  created  lord  high  steward  upon  the 
occasion. 

The  murder  was  easily  proved  to  have  been  committed  in  the  manner 
we  have  described ;  and  his  lordship  then  proceeded  to  enter  upon  his 
defence. 

He  called  several  witnesses,  the  object  of  whose  testimony  was  to  show 
that  the  earl  was  not  of  sound  mind,  but  none  of  them  proved  such  an 
insanity  as  made  him  not  accountable  for  his  conduct.  His  lordship 
managed  liis  defence  himself,  in  such  a  manner  as  showed  an  uncommon 
understanding  ;  he  mentioned  the  fact  of  his  being  reduced  to  the  necessity 
of  attempting  to  prove  himself  a  lunatic,  that  he  might  not  be  deemed  a 
murderer,  with  the  most  delicate  and  affecting  sensibility;  and,  when  he 
found  that  his  plea  could  not  avail  him,  he  confessed  that  he  made  it  only 
to  gratify  his  friends;  that  he  was  always  averse  to  it  himself;  and  that 
it  had  prevented  what  he  had  proposed,  and  what  perhaps  might  have 
taken  oft'  the  malignity  at  least  of  the  accusation. 

The  peers  having  in  the  usual  form  delivered  their  verdic^  of  Guilty,  his 
lordship  received  sentence  to  be  hanged  on  Monday  the  21st  of  April,  and 
then  to  be  anatomized ;  but,  in  consideration  of  his  rank,  the  execution  of 
this  sentence  was  respited  till  Monday  the  5th  of  May. 

During  this  interval  he  made  a  will,  by  which  he  left  one  thousand 
three  lumdred  pounds  to  Mr.  Johnson's  children  ;  one  thousand  pounds  to 
each  of  his  four  natural  daughters ;  and  sixty  pounds  a  year  to  INIrs. 
Clittbrd  for  her  life ;  but  this  disposition  of  his  property  being  made  after 
his  conviction,  was  not  valid  ;  although  it  was  said  that  the  same,  or  nearly 
the  same  provision  was  afterwards  made  for  the  parties  named. 

In  the  mean  time  a  scaffold  was  erected  under  the  sallows  at  Tyburn, 
and  part  of  it,  about  a  yard  square,  was  raised  about  eighteen  inches  above 
the  rest  of  the  floor,  with  a  contrivance  to  sink  down  upon  a  signal  given, 
in  accordance  with  the  plan  now  invariably  adopted ;  the  whole  being 
covered  with  black  baize. 

On  the  morning  of  the  5th  May,  at  about  nine  o'clock,  his  lordship's  body 
was  demanded  of  the  keeper  of  the  Tower,  by  the  sheriffs  of  London  and 
Middlesex,  and  his  lordship  being  informed  of  it,  sent  a  message  to  the 
sheriffs  requesting  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  be  conveyed  to  the 
scaffold  in  his  own  landau,  in  preference  to  the  mourning-coach  which  was 
provided  for  him.  This  being  granted,  his  landau,  drawn  by  six  horses, 
immediately  drew  up,  and  he  entered  it,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Humphries, 
the  chaplain  of  the  Tower,  who  had  been  admitted  to  him  on  that  morn- 
ing for  the  first  time.  On  the  carriage  reaching  the  outer  gate,  the  earl 
was  delivered  up  to  the  sheriffs,  and  Mr.  Sheriff  Vaillant  entered  the 
vehicle  with  him,  expressing  his  concern  at  having  so  melancholy  a  duty 
to  perform  ;  but  his  lordship  said  "  he  was  much  obliyed  to  him,  and  took 

VOL.  I.  B  B 


•186  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

it  kindly  that  he  accompanied  him."  The  earl  was  attired  in  a  white  snit, 
richly  embroidered  with  silver ;  and  when  he  put  it  on  he  said,  "  This  is 
the  suit  in  which  I  was  married,  and  in  which  I  will  die."  The  procession 
being  now  formed,  moved  forward  slowly,  the  landau  being  preceded  bv  a 
v^onsiderable  body  of  horse  grenadiers,  and  by  a  carriage  containing  Mr. 
Sheriff  Errington,  and  his  under  sheriff,  Mr.  Jackson,  and  being  followed 
by  the  carriage  of  Mr.  Sheriff'  Vaillant,  containing  Mr.  Nichols,  his 
under  sheriff,  a  mourning-coach  and  six,  containing  some  of  his  lordship's 
friends,  a  hearse  and  six  for  the  conveyance  of  his  body  to  Surgeon's  Hall 
after  execution,  and  another  body  of  military.  The  pace  at  whicii  they 
proceeded,  in  consequence  of  the  density  of  the  mob,  was  so  slow,  that  liis 
lordship  was  two  hours  and  three  quarters  in  his  landau,  but  during  that 
time  he  appeared  perfectly  easy  antl  composed,  thovigh  he  often  expressed 
his  anxiety  to  have  the  whole  affair  over,  saying  "  that  the  apparatus  of 
death,  and  the  passing  through  such  crowds,  were  worse  than  death  itself," 
and  "  that  he  supposed  so  large  a  mob  had  been  collected  because  the 
people  had  never  seen  a  lord  hanged  before,"  He  told  the  sheriff'  that  "  he 
had  written  to  the  king  to  beg  that  he  mJght  suffer  where  his  ancestor, 
the  Earl  of  Essex,  had  been  executed ;  and  that  he  was  in  the  greater  hopes 
of  obtaining  that  favour,  as  he  had  the  honour  of  quartering  part  of  the 
''ame  arms,  and  of  being  allied  to  his  majesty;  but  that  he  had  refused, 
and  he  thought  it  hard  that  he  must  die  at  the  place  appointed  for  the 
execution  of  common  felons." 

Mr.  Humphries  took  occasion  to  observe,  that  the  world  would  naturally 
be  very  inquisitive  concerning  the  religion  his  lordship  professed,  and 
asked  him  if  he  chose  to  say  anything  upon  that  subject ;  and  his  lordship 
answered  that  he  did  not  think  himself  accountable  to  the  world  for  his 
sentiments  on  religion  ;  but  that  he  had  always  believed  in  and  adored 
one  God,  the  maker  of  all  things ;  that  whatever  his  notions  were,  he  had 
never  propagated  them,  or  endeavoured  to  gain  any  persons  over  to  his 
persuasion ;  that  all  countries  and  nations  had  a  form  of  religion  by  which 
the  people  were  governed,  and  that  he  looked  upon  any  one  who  disturbed 
them  in  it  as  an  enemy  to  society.  That  he  blamed  very  much  my  Lord 
Bolingbroke  for  permitting  his  sentiments  on  religion  to  be  published  to 
the  world.  That  he  never  could  believe  what  some  sectaries  teach,  that 
faith  alone  will  save  mankind  ;  so  that  if  a  man,  just  before  he  dies,  should 
say  only  "■  I  believe,"  that  alone  will  save  him. 

As  to  the  crime  for  wliich  he  suffered,  he  declared  "  that  he  was  under 
particular  circumstances — that  he  had  met  with  so  many  crosses  and 
vexations,  he  scarce  knew  what  he  did :"  and  he  most  solemnly  protested 
"  that  he  had  not  the  least  malice  against  Mr.  Johnson." 

When  his  lordship  had  got  to  that  part  of  Holborn  which  is  near  Drury- 
lane,  he  said  "  he  was  thirsty,  and  should  be  glad  of  a  glass  o'  wine  and 
water ;"  upon  which  the  sheriffs  remonstrating  to  him,  *•'  that  a  stop  lor 
that  purpose  would  necessarily  draw  a  greater  crowd  about  him,  which 
uight  possibly  disturb  and  incommode  him,  yet,  if  his  lordship  still  desired 
it,  it  should  be  done,"  he  most  readily  answered,  "  That's  true — I  say  no 
more — let  us  by  no  means  stop." 

When  they  approached  near  the  place  of  execution,  his  lordship,  point- 
ing to  Mrs.  Clifford,  told  the  sheriff  "  that  there  was  a  person  waiting  in 
a  coach  near  there,  for  whom  he  had  a  very  sincei-e  regard,  and  of  whom 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  1G7 

he  should  1)0  Mad  to  tage  his  leave  before  he  died."  The  sheriff  answered 
that  "  if  his  lordship  insisted  upon  it,  it  should  be  so  ;  but  that  he  wislicd 
his  lordship,  for  his  own  sake,  would  decline  it,  lest  the  sight  of  a  person, 
for  whom  he  had  such  a  regard,  should  unman  him,  and  disann  him  of 
the  fortitude  he  possessed."  His  lordship,  without  the  least  hesitation, 
replied,  "  Sir,  if  you  think  I  am  wrong,  I  submit :"  and  upon  the  sheriff 
tellino-  his  lordship  that  if  he  had  anything  to  deliver  to  the  individual 
referred  to,  or  any  one  else,  he  would  faithfully  do  it,  his  lordship  delivered 
to  him  a  pocket-book,  in  which  were  a  bank-note  and  a  ring,  and  a  purse  with 
some  o-uineas,  which  were  afterwards  handed  over  to  the  unhappy  woman. 

The  landau  being  now  advanced  to  the  place  of  execution,  his  lordship 
alif^hted  from  it,  and  ascended  the  scaffold  with  the  same  composure  and 
fortitude  of  mind  he  had  exhibited  from  the  time  he  left  the  Tower.  Soon 
after  he  had  mounted  the  scaffold,  ]\Ir.  Humphries  asked  his  lordship  if  he 
chose  to  say  prayers,  which  he  declined ;  but,  upon  his  asking  him  "  if  he 
did  not  choose  to  join  with  him  in  the  Lord's  Prayer,"  he  readily  answered 
"  he  would,  for  he  always  thought  it  a  very  fine  prayer ;"  upon  which 
they  knelt  down  together  upon  two  cushions,  covered  with  black  baize 
and  his  lordship,  with  an  audible  voice,  very  devoutly  repeated  the  Lord's 
Prayer,  and  afterwards,  with  great  energy,  ejaculated,  "  O  God,  forgive 
me  all  my  errors — pardon  all  my  sins  !" 

His  lordship,  then  rising,  took  his  leave  of  the  sheriff  and  the  chaplain  ; 
and,  after  thanking  them  for  their  many  civilities,  presented  his  watch  to 
Mr.  Sheriff  Vaillant,  of  which  he  desired  his  acceptance  ;  and  requested 
that  his  body  might  be  buried  at  Breden  or  Stanton,  in  Leicestershire. 

The  executioner  now  proceeded  to  do  his  duty,  to  which  his  lordship, 
with  great  resignation,  submitted.  His  neckcloth  being  taken  off,  a  white 
cap,  which  he  had  brought  in  his  pocket,  being  put  ixpon  his  head,  his 
arms  secured  by  a  black  sash,  and  the  cord  put  round  his  neck,  he  advanced 
by  three  steps  to  the  elevated  part  of  the  scaffold,  and,  standing  under  the 
cross-beam  which  went  over  it,  which  was  also  covered  with  black  baize, 
he  asked  the  executioner  "  Am  I  right  ?"  Then  the  cap  was  drawn  over 
his  face,  and,  upon  a  signal  given  by  the  sheriff,  (for  his  lordship,  upon 
being  before  asked,  declined  to  give  one  himself,)  that  part  upon  which  ho 
stood  instantly  sunk  down  from  beneath  his  feet,  and  he  was  launched  into 
eternity  May  the  5th  1760. 

From  the  time  of  his  lordship's  ascending  upon  the  scaffold,  until  his 
execution,  was  about  eight  minutes ;  during  which  his  countenance  did  not 
change,  nor  his  tongue  falter. 

The  accustomed  time  of  one  hour  being  past,  the  coffin  was  raised  up, 
with  the  greatest  decency,  to  receive  the  body  ;  and,  being  deposited  in 
the  hearse,  was  conveyed  by  the  sheriffs,  with  the  same  procession,  to 
Surgeons'  Hall,  to  undergo  the  remainder  of  the  sentence.  A  large  incision 
was  then  made  from  the  neck  to  the  bottom  of  the  breast,  and  another 
across  the  throat ;  the  lower  part  of  the  belly  was  laid  open,  and  the 
bowels  taken  away.  It  was  afterwards  publicly  exposed  to  view  in  a 
room  up  one  pair  of  stairs  at  the  Hall ;  and  on  the  evening  of  Thursday, 
the  8th  of  May,  it  was  delivered  to  his  friends  for  interment. 

The  following  verse  is  said  to  have  been  found  in  his  apartment : — 
•'  In  doubt  Hived,  in  doubt  I  die, 

Yet  stand  prepared  the  vast  abyss  to  try, 
And,  undismay'd,  expect  eternity." 


168 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 


THEODORE  GARDELLE. 


EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 


This  delinquent  was  a  native  of  Geneva ;  and  besides  being  a  man  of 
good  general  education,  was  somewhat  celebrated  in  his  native  city  as  a 
painter  on  enamel.  Unhappy  in  his  domestic  concerns,  in  the  year  1760 
he  repaired  to  London,  and  took  lodgings  in  the  house  of  a  Mrs.  King,  who 
lived  in  Leicester-fields,  and  who  was  the  unfortunate  subject  of  his  crime 

The  circumstances  attending  the  murder  were  as  follow  : — On  Thursday, 
19th  February  1761,  the  servant-girl  got  up  at  about  seven  o'clock  in  the 
morning,  and  being  presently  called  by  Gardelle,  who  occupied  an  upper 
apartment,  was  desired  to  go  on  some  errands  for  him. 

The  girl  took  the  messages,  and  went  to  her  mistress,  who  was  still  in 
her  bedroom,  which  was  the  back  parlour,  telling  her  what  Gardelle  had 
desired  her  to  do  ;  to  which  her  mistress  replied,  "  Nanny,  you  can't  go, 
for  there's  nobody  to  answer  at  the  street  door."  The  girl  being  willing  to 
oblige  Gardelle,  answered  "  that  Mr.  Gardelle  would  come  down,  and  sit 
in  the  parlour  until  she  came  back ;  "  and  she  then  went  again  to  Gardelle, 
who,  in  obedience  to  her  wish,  proceeded  into  the  front  room  on  tlie 
ground  floor. 

The  girl  went  out,  taking  the  key  of  the  street-door  with  her  to  let  her- 
self in  again,  Gardelle  then  having  entered  the  room  next  to  Mrs.  King's 
apartment. 

Immediately  after  she  was  gone  out,  Mrs.  King,  hearing  the  tread  of 
somebody  in  the  parlour,  called  out,  "  Who  is  there  ?"  and  at  the  same  time 
opened  her  chamber  door,  and  saw  Gardelle  at  a  table  Very  near  the  door, 
who  had  just  then  taken  up  a  book  that  lay  upon  it.  He  had  sometime 
before  drawn  j\Irs.  King's  picture,  which  she  wanted  to  have  made  very 
handsome,  and  had  teased  him  so  much  about  it,  that  the  eftect  was  just 
contrary ;  and  it  happened  unfortunately,  that  the  first  thing  she  said  to 
him,  when  she  saw  him  walking  about  in  the  room,  was  something  reproach- 
ful about  this  picture.  Provoked  at  the  insult,  as  he  spoke  English  very 
imperfectly,  for  want  of  a  better  expression,  he  told  her,  with  some  warmth, 
"  that  she  was  an  impertinent  woman." 

The  detail  of  the  whole  of  the  circumstances  immediately  attending  this 
part  of  the  transaction  of  necessity  could  not  fall  within  the  knowledge  or 
observation  of  any  witness,  and  it  is  therefore  derived  from  a  statement 
drawn  up  by  Gardelle  while  in  custody ;  but  having  stated  the  facts 
already  mentioned,  he  says  that  this  insult  threw  I\Irs.  King  into  a  trans- 
port of  rage,  and  she  gave  him  a  blow  with  her  fist  on  the  breast,  so  violent 
that  he  could  not  have  thought  it  could  have  been  given  by  a  woman.  As 
soon  as  the  blow  was  struck  she  drew  a  little  back  ;  and  at  the  same 
instant  he  laid  his  hand  on  her  shoulder,  and  pushed  her  from  him,  rather 
in  contempt  than  anger,  or  with  a  design  to  liurt  her ;  but  her  foot  happening 
to  catch  in  tlie  flour-cloth,  she  fell  backwards,  and  her  head  came  with 
great  force  against  the  corner  of  the  bedstead.  The  blood  immediately 
gushed  from  her  moutlx,  not  in  a  continued  stream,  but  as  if  by  difierent 
strokes  of  a  pump,  and  he  instantly  ran  to  her,  expressing  his  concern  at 
the  accident ;  but  she  pushed  him  away, and  threatened,  though  m  a  feeblt 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  189 

and  interrupted  voice,  to  punish  him  for  what  he  had  done.  lie  was  terri- 
fied at  tlie  tiiought  of  being  condemned  for  a  criminal  act  upon  her  accusa- 
tion, and  again  attempted  to  assist  her  by  raising  her  up,  as  the  blood 
still  flowed  from  her  mouth  in  great  quantities ;  but  she  exerted  all  her 
strenffth  to  keep  him  off,  and  still  cried  out,  mixing  threats  with  her 
screams.  He  then  seized  an  ivory  comb,  with  a  sharp  taper  point  continued 
from  the  back  for  adjusting  the  curls  of  her  hair,  which  lay  upon  her  toilet, 
and  threatened  her  in  his  turn  to  prevent  her  crying  out ;  but  she  still 
continuing  to  scream,  though  with  a  voice  still  fainter  and  fiiinter,  he 
struck  her  with  this  instrument,  probably  in  the  throat,  upon  which  the 
blood  poured  from  her  mouth  in  yet  greater  quantities,  and  her  voice  was 
quite  stopped.  He  then  di'ew  the  bed-clothes  over  her  to  prevent  her 
blood  from  spreading  on  the  floor,  and  to  hide  her  from  his  sight ;  and  he 
stood  some  time  motionless  by  her,  and  then  fell  down  by  her  side  in  a 
swoon.  When  he  came  to  himself  he  perceived  the  maid  was  come  in, 
and  he  therefore  went  out  of  the  room  without  examining  the  body  to  see 
if  the  unhappy  woman  was  quite  dead ;  and  his  confusion  was  then  so 
great  that  he  staggered  against  the  wainscot,  and  hit  his  head  so  as  to 
ra'se  a  bump  over  his  eye. 

It  appears  that  he  subsequently  sent  the  girl  away,  informing  her  that 
he  had  her  mistress's  orders  to  dismiss  her,  and  paid  ten  shillings  for  her 
wages ;  and  the  latter  having  been  unable  to  find  either  her  mistress  or 
Gardelie  on  her  first  returning  to  the  house,  and  knowing  the  former  to  be 
a  woman  of  light  character,  concluded  that  they  must  have  been  in  bed 
together,  and  that  her  mistress  being  ashamed  to  meet  her,  determined  to 
get  rid  of  her.  Her  suspicions  were  not  at  all  raised  therefore,  and  she 
went  away,  informing  Gardelie  that  ^Ir.  Wright,  who  lodged  in  the  house, 
but  had  been  out  of  town,  would  return  that  evening  with  his  servant.  On 
her  departure,  the  first  thing  that  Gardelie  did  was  to  go  into  the  cliamber 
to  Mrs.  King,  whom,  upon  examination,  he  found  quite  dead.  He  there- 
fore took  off  the  blankets  and  sheets  with  which  he  had  covered  her,  stripped 
off  the  shift,  and  laid  the  body  quite  naked  upon  the  bed.  Before  this,  he 
said,  his  linen  was  not  stained  ;  but  it  was  much  discoloured  by  his 
removing  the  body.  He  then  took  the  two  blankets,  the  sheets,  the 
coverlet,  and  one  of  the  curtains,  and  jiut  them  into  the  water-tub  in  the 
back  wash-house  to  soak,  they  being  all  much  stained  with  blood.  Her 
shift  he  carried  up  stairs,  and  putting  it  into  a  bag,  concealed  it  under  his 
bed.  His  own  shirt,  now  bloody,  he  pulled  off',  and  locked  it  up  in  a 
drawer  of  his  bureau. 

When  all  this  was  done,  he  went  and  sat  down  in  the  parlour,  and  soon 
after,  it  being  about  nine  o'clock,  Mr.  Wright's  servant,  whose  name  was 
Pelsey,  came  in  without  his  master,  who  had  changed  his  mind,  and  was 
gone  to  a  gentleman's  house  in  Castle-street.  He  went  up  into  his  room, 
the  garret,  and  sat  there  till  about  eleven  o'clock,  when  he  came  down,  and 
finding  Gardelie  still  in  the  parlour,  he  asked  if  Mrs.  King  was  come  home, 
and  who  must  sit  up  for  her  ?  Gardelie  said  she  was  not  come  home,  but 
that  he  would  sit  up  for  her.  In  the  morning,  Friday,  when  Pelsey  came 
down  stairs,  he  again  asked  if  Mrs.  King  was  come  home,  and  Gardelie 
told  him  that  she  had  been  at  home,  but  was  gone  again ;  and  he  subse- 
quently said  that  she  was  gone  to  Bath  or  Bristol.  The  demeanour  of 
(iardelle  was  soon  observed  by  Pelsey  to  be  much  changed,  and  fancying; 


190  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

that  it  was  in  consequence  of  tlie  absence  of  Mrs.  King,  he  went  into  tlic 
Haymarket,  and  procured  a  girl  of  unfortunate  character  named  Walker 
to  go  and  stay  in  the  house  with  him.  A  iirs-  Pritchard  was  also  engaged 
as  charwoman,  and  still,  no  suspicions  being  entertained,  all  the  parties 
continued  to  live  in  the  house.  On  the  Saturday  morning,  Gardelle  first 
took  steps  to  dispose  of  the  body  of  the  deceased  woman,  and  no  plan  struck 
him  as  being  so  readily  to  be  carried  out  as  that  of  a  gradual  destruction 
of  its  members  by  Sre.  He  accordingly  proceeded  to  light  a  fire  in  the 
garret,  whither  he  carried  the  bones,  from  which  he  had  previously  scraped 
the  flesh,  and  burned  them.  All  went  on  well  until  the  Tuesday  morning, 
■when  Pelsey,  who  was  going  up  to  his  master's  room,  smelt  something 
ofi"ensive,  and  asked  Gardelle,  who  was  pushing  up  the  sash  of  the  window 
on  the  staircase,  what  it  was  ?  Gardelle  replied,  somebody  had  put  a  bone 
in  the  fire.  At  night  Pelsey  renewed  his  inquiries  after  Mrs.  King,  and 
Gardelle  answered,  with  a  seeming  impatience,  "  Me  know  not  of  Mrs. 
King ;  she  give  me  a  great  deal  of  trouble,  but  me  shall  hear  of  her  on 
Wednesday  or  Thursday." 

On  Tuesday  night  he  told  Walker  he  would  sit  up  till  Mrs.  King  came 
home,  though  he  had  before  told  her  she  was  out  of  town,  and  desired  her 
to  go  to  bed  ;  and  as  soon  as  she  was  gone,  he  renewed  his  horrid  employ- 
ment of  cutting  the  body  to  pieces,  and  disposing  of  it  in  different  places. 
The  bowels  he  threw  down  the  necessary  ;  and  the  flesh  of  the  body  and 
limbs,  cut  to  pieces,  he  scattered  about  in  the  cock-loft,  where  he  supposed 
they  would  dry  and  perish  without  putrefaction. 

Wednesday  passed  like  the  preceding  days ;  and  on  Thursday  he  told  his 
female  companion  that  he  expected  Mrs.  King  home  in  the  evening,  and 
therefore  desired  that  she  would  provide  herself  a  lodging,  giving  her  at 
the  same  time  two  of  Mrs.  King's  shifts;  and  being  thus  dismissed,  she 
went  away. 

Pritchard,  the  charwoman,  still  continued  in  her  office,  and  through  her 
means  the  murder  was  discovered.  The  water  having  failed  in  the  cistern 
on  the  Tuesday,  she  had  recourse  to  that  in  the  water-tub  in  the  back 
kitchen.  Upon  pulling  out  the  spigot  a  little  water  ran  out ;  but,  as  there 
appeared  to  be  more  in,  she  got  upon  a  ledge,  and  putting  her  hand  in,  she 
felt  sometiiing  soft.  She  then  fetched  a  poker,  and  pressing  down  the 
contents  of  the  tub,  she  got  water  in  a  pail.  She  informed  Pelsey  of  the 
circumstance,  and  they  agreed  the  first  opportunity  to  see  what  the  things 
in  the  water-tub  were ;  yet  so  languid  was  their  curiosity,  and  so  careless 
were  they  of  the  event,  that  it  was  Thursday  before  the  tub  was  examined. 
They  found  in  it  the  blankets,  sheets,  and  coverlet,  tliat  Gardelle  had  put 
in  to  soak  ;  and  after  spreading,  shaking,  and  looking  at  them,  they  put 
them  again  into  the  tub  ;  and  the  next  morning,  when  Pelsey  came  down, 
he  saw  the  curtain  hanging  on  the  banisters  of  the  kitchen  stairs.  Upon 
looking  down,  he  saw  Gardelle  just  come  out  at  the  wash-house  door, 
where  the  tub  stood.  When  Pritchard  the  charwoman  came,  he  asked 
her  if  she  had  been  taking  the  curtain  out  of  the  tub,  and  she  said  "  No." 
She  then  went  and  looked  in  the  tub,  and  found  the  sheets  had  been  wrung 
out.  Upon  this  the  first  step  was  taken  towards  inquiring  after  the 
unhappy  woman,  who  had  now  lain  dead  more  than  a  week  in  the  house. 
Pelsey  found  out  the  maid  whom  Gardelle  had  disniissod,  and  suspiciona 
being  excited  that  Mrs.  King  had  been  unfairly  dealt  with,  the  aid  of  the 


rUE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  19  i 

police  was  obtained.  Gardelle  was  then  apprehended,  and  his  answers  to 
the  questions  put  to  him  being  of  a  very  equivocal  nature,  a  search  was 
made  in  the  house,  and  the  remains  of  the  body  being  discovered,  disposed 
of  as  we  have  already  mentioned,  as  well  as  the  linen  of  the  deceased,  and 
of  the  prisoner,  stained  with  blood,  his  guilt  was  considered  to  be  fully  esta- 
blished, and  he  was  committed  to  Newgate  for  trial.  While  in  that  prison 
he  made  two  attempts  to  destroy  himself  by  taking  laudanum,  and  by 
swjiUowing  halfpence  to  the  number  of  twelve  ;  but  although  he  was  con- 
siderably injured  by  the  latter  attempt,  he  failed  in  securing  his  object. 
He  afterwards  showed  strong  marks  of  penitence  and  contrition,  and 
behaved  with  great  humility,  openness,  and  courtesy,  to  those  who 
visited  him. 

On  Thursday,  the  2d  of  April,  he  was  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey ;  and,  in 
his  defence,  he  insisted  only  that  he  had  no  malice  to  the  deceased,  and  that 
her  death  was  the  consequence  of  the  fall.  He  was  convicted,  and  sentenced 
to  be  executed  on  Saturday,  the  4th  of  the  same  month.  The  account 
which  he  wrote  in  prison,  and  which  is  mentioned  in  this  narrative,  is 
dated  the  28th  of  March,  though  he  did  not  communicate  it  till  after  his 
trial.  The  night  after  his  condemnation,  his  behaviour  was  extravagant 
and  outrageous ;  but  the  next  morning  he  was  composed  and  quiet,  and 
said  he  had  slept  three  or  four  hours  in  the  night.  When  he  was  asked 
why  he  did  not  make  his  escape,  he  answered  that  he  feared  some  innocent 
person  might  then  suffer  in  his  stead. 

He  was  executed  April  the  4th  1761,  amidst  the  shouts  and  hisses  of  an 
indignant  populace,  in  the  Haymarket,  near  Panton-street,  to  which  he 
was  led  by  Mrs.  King's  house,  where  the  cart  made  a  stop.  His  body  was 
hung  in  chains  upon  Hounslow  Heath. 


JOHN  M'NAUGHTON,  ESQ. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

John  M'Naughton,  Esq.  was  the  son  of  a  merchant  at  Derry,  whose 
father  had  been  an  alderman  of  Dublin.  He  was  educated  at  Trinity 
College,  Dublin  ;  and  on  his  coming  of  age  he  entered  into  a  landed  estate 
of  six  hundred  pounds  a  year,  in  the  county  of  Tyrone,  which  was  left 
him  by  Dr.  M'Naughton,  his  uncle.  The  first  vice  he  fell  into  was  that 
of  gaming,  by  which  he  very  soon  did  great  injury  to  his  fortune  ;  and 
though  he  continued  (as  most  novices  do  who  play  with  sharpers)  in  a 
constant  run  of  ill  luck,  and  was  soon  obliged  to  mortgage  bis  property,  yet 
his  losses  made  no  visible  alteration  in  his  temper.  Although  he  was  of  a 
most  passionate  disposition,  his  pride  kept  him  within  due  bounds  there.  All 
was  placid  with  the  polite  M'Naughton  ;  and  he  lost  his  money  to  the  very 
last  with  that  graceful  composure  that  became  the  man  who  had  a  plentiful 
fortune  to  support  it.  But  strong  as  his  passion  this  way  might  be,  it  was 
not  powerful  enough  to  secure  him  against  the  attacks  of  love  ,  and  becoming 
attached  to  a  young  lady  he  very  speedily  married  her.  The  reader  may 
well  suppose  that  the  expenses  of  a  wife  and  family  in  Dublin  must  soon 
increase  his  difficulties,  and  introduce  a  new  scene  of  troubles  ;  and  it  did 
so  in  a  m&nner  and  with  an  effect  which  was  most  unhappy  for  Mr. 


192  THE    XEV\'    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

M'Naughton.  It  appears  that  a  writ  having  been  issued  against  him  ut 
the  suit  of  one  of  his  creditors,  the  sherift"s  officer  obtained  access  to  his 
house  by  a  stratagem,  on  which  he  flew  into  a  rage,  and  calling  out  for 
pistols,  he  frighted  his  poor  listening  wife  to  sucli  a  degree  that  premature 
labour  followed,  and  she  died  in  childbed. 

The  feelings  of  the  unfortunate  husband  upon  the  occurrence  of  this 
melancholy  event  were  most  distressing,  and  he  made  repeated  attempts 
upon  his  life  ;  but  a  change  of  scene  being  recommended,  he  was  conveyed 
to  the  country,  where  every  attention  was  paid  to  his  health,  while  his 
fortune  also  was  nursed  with  equal  care.  On  his  return  to  the  gaiety  of 
tlip  Irish  metropolis,  he  soon  resumed  that  worst  of  passions — gaming, 
and  again  became  the  dupe  of  others,  while  his  property  was  once  more 
seriously  diminished.  At  this  time  he  made  secret  advances  to  Miss 
Knox,  the  beautiful  and  accomplished  daughter  of  Richard  Knox,  Esq.  of 
Prohen  in  the  county  of  DeiTy,  who  was  possessed  of  a  handsome  fortune, 
and  whose  promise  of  marriage  he  obtained,  in  the  event  of  her  father's 
consent  being  given.  On  that  consent  being  requested,  however,  it  was  at 
once  refused,  on  account  of  the  youth  of  the  young  lady,  whose  age  did  not 
exceed  sixteen  years ;  and  ]Mr.  Knox  was  so  resolute  in  liis  refusal,  that  he 
forbade  the  suitor  for  his  daughter's  hand  ever  to  enter  the  house  again. 
Mr.  ^I'Xaughton  begged  that  this  latter  injunction  might  be  withdrawn, 
urging  that  .it  would  appear  strange  to  the  world  that  his  friendship  with 
i  family,  with  which  he  had  been  so  intimate,  should  be  so  suddenly 
broken  oft';  and  upon  his  promising  upon  his  honour,  that  the  subject  of  the 
marriao-e  should  not  be  aoain  mentioned,  and  declaring;  that  he  had  not 
previously  spoken  of  it  to  the  young  lady  herself,  his  visits  were  allowed 
to  be  repeated.  In  the  mean  time  he  continued  his  addresses  to  the  young 
lady,  and  informed  her  that  he  had  obtained  the  consent  of  her  father,  but 
ihat  the  marriage  must  be  postponed  for  a  year  or  two,  when  some  material 
business  would  be  settled,  which  was  required  to  be  decided  first ;  and 
under  this  assurance  she  no  longer  withheld  the  confession  that  the  passion 
of  her  admirer  was  returned,  and  appeared  to  delight  most  in  the  com- 
pany of  the  man  whom  she  looked  upon  as  her  future  husband. 

All  her  hopes  were,  however,  soon  doomed  to  be  blasted.  One  day  being 
in  company  with  M'Xaughton  and  a  little  boy  in  a  retired  room  in  the 
house,  he  pressed  her  to  marry  him,  protesting  he  never  could  be  happy  till 
he  was  sure  of  her ;  and  with  an  air  of  sprightly  raillery,  pulling  out  a 
prayer-book,  he  began  to  read  the  marriage  service,  and  insisted  on  the 
young  lady  making  the  responses,  which  she  did  ;  but  to  everj'  one  she 
always  added,  "  provided  her  father  consented." 

Some  short  time  after  this,  Miss  Knox  going  to  a  friend's  house  on  a 
week's  visit,  ]Mr.  M'Xaughton,  being  also  an  intimate  there,  soon  followed 
her ;  and  here  he  fixed  his  scene  for  action.  After  a  day  or  two  he  claimed 
her,  and,  calling  her  his  wife,  insisted  on  consummation ;  but  the  young 
lady  absolutely  refused  to  comply,  and  leaving  the  house,  went  directly  am! 
informed  her  uncle  of  the  whole  aftair.  On  tliis  ]\Ir.  Knox  wTote  a  letter 
to  M'Xaughton,  telling  him  what  a  base  dishonourable  villain  he  was,  and 
bade  him  avoid  his  sight  for  ever ;  but  upon  the  receipt  of  this  letter 
M'Xaughton  advertised  his  marriage  in  tlie  public  newsjiapers,  cautioning 
every  other  man  not  to  marry  his  lawful  wife.  This  vile  attack  was 
answered  by  a  very  spirited  and  proper  advertisement  from  the  father,  with 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  193 

Hn  affidavit  of  the  whole  affair  from  the  daughter  annexed  ;  and  Mr.  Knox 
having  commenced  a  suit  in  the  Prerogative  Court,  the  marriage  was 
dochired  invalid.  Mr.  M'Naughton  liaving  absconded  to  avoid  his  debts, 
could  not  now  appeal  to  the  Court  of  Delegates,  and  the  original  decree 
was  confirmed.  Judge  Scott  in  consequence  issued  his  warrant  for  the  appre- 
hension of  the  defendant,  who  was  liable  to  pay  costs  ;  and  IM'Naughton, 
hearing  of  this,  vsrote  a  most  impudent  threatening  letter  to  the  judge, 
and,  it  is  said,  lay  in  wait  to  have  him  murdered,  but  missed  him  by  the 
judge's  taking  another  road.  Upon  this  the  judge  applied  to  the  lord  chief 
justice,  who  issued  another  writ  against  him,  which  drove  him  to  England. 

In  the  summer  of  1761,  Mr.  M'Naughton  returned  to  Ireland,  and  by 
constantly  hovering  round  jNIr.  Knox's  house,  obliged  the  family  to  be  upon 
their  guard,  and  the  young  lady  to  live  like  a  recluse. 

About  the  middle  of  the  summer,  however,  she  ventured  to  a  place  called 
Swaddling  Bar  to  drink  the  mineral  waters  there  for  her  health ;  but  even 
thither  this  unhappy  man  followed  her,  and  he  was  seen  in  a  beggar's  habit 
dogging  her  footsteps.  Thus  disguised  he  was  detected  ;  and  when  warned 
never  to  appear  there  again,  he  swore,  in  the  presence  of  several,  that  he 
would  murder  the  wlioTe  family  if  he  did  not  get  possession  of  his  wife — a 
threat  which  he  subsequently  attempted  to  cany  out.  Notwithstanding 
his  violence,  it  appears  that  he  was  permitted  again  to  escape  to  London  ; 
and  he  remained  there  until  the  month  of  October  in  the  same  year.  At 
the  beginning  of  November  he  was  again  seen  in  Ireland  ;  and  having 
approached  the  residence  of  the  Knoxes,  he  was  known  to  sleep  with  three 
of  liis  accomplices,  at  the  house  of  a  hearth-  money  collector,  very  nearly 
adjoining  the  abode  of  his  intended  victim.  The  10th  was  the  day  fixed 
upon  by  him  for  the  attack ;  and  on  that  morning  M'Naughton,  with  his 
companions,  went  to  a  cabin  on  the  road-side  with  a  sack  full  of  fire- 
arms, in  order  to  await  the  passing  of  'Mr.  Knox's  coach,  in  which  it  was 
known  the  family  were  about  to  proceed  to  Dublin.  One  of  the  men  was 
despatched  to  ascertain  the  moment  of  the  coming  of  the  vehicle  ;  and  when 
it  appeared  in  sight,  having  obtained  the  information  requisite  for  its 
identification,  he  hurried  back  to  desire  the  projector  of  the  scheme  to 
prepare.  It  appears  that  the  only  persons  in  the  carriage  were  Mr.  Knox 
and  his  wife,  their  daughter  and  a  maid-servant ;  and  they  were  attended 
only  by  one  livery-servant,  and  a  faithful  fellow,  a  smith,  who  was  foster- 
father  to  Miss  Knox,  and  whom  no  bribe  could  ever  purchase,  although 
most  of  the  other  servants  had  been  tampered  with.  As  soon  as  the  coach 
came  near  the  cabin,  two  of  the  villains,  armed  with  gims,  presented  them- 
selves to  the  postilion  and  coachman,  and  stopped  the  horses,  while 
M'Naughton  fired  at  the  smith  with  a  blunderbuss.  The  latter  escaped 
being  wounded,  and  presented  his  piece  in  return,  but  it  unfortunately 
missed  fire,  and  M'Naughton  and  one  of  his  companions  seizing  the  oppor- 
tunity, again  fired,  and  both  of  them  wounded  him.  Mr.  Knox  at  this 
time  drew  up  the  blinds  of  the  carriage,  and  M'Naughton  observing  this, 
ran  round  to  the  other  side,  and  firing  in  at  the  window  obliquely,  with  a 
gun  loaded  with  five  balls,  shot  Miss  Knox,  all  the  balls  taking  effect  in 
her  body.  The  maid -servant  now  let  down  the  window,  screaming  that 
her  mistress  was  murdered  ;  and  the  livery-servant  on  hearing  this  came 
from  behind  a  peat-stack,  where  he  had  concealed  himself  for  safety,  and 
firing  at  M'Naughton,  wounded  him  in  the  back ;  and  about  the  same 

VOL.  I.  C  C 


194  THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

time  ]Mr.  Knox  from  the  coach  discharged  a  pistol,  which  was  the  last  of 
eight  shots  fired  on  this  strange  and  dreadful  occasion. 

The  murderer  and  his  accomplices  now  immediately  fled ;  and  jNIiss  Knox 
being  carried  into  the  cabin,  died  in  about  three  hours.  An  attack  so  bold  and 
so  diabolical  in  its  nature  excited  the  greatest  degree  of  interest ;  and  large 
rewards  were  instantly  offered  for  the  apprehension  of  the  perpetrator  of 
the  murder.  For  a  considerable  time  all  search  proved  fruitless ;  but  at 
length  a  corporal  of  Sir  James  Caldwell's  company  of  Light  Horse  secured 
him  under  the  following  circumstances  : — It  appears  that  the  corporal  had 
received  instructions  to  search  the  house  and  offices  of  one  Wenslow,  a 
farmer,  and  had  examined  every  place  without  success,  when  he  bethought 
himself  of  a  stratagem,  by  which  to  obtain  the  requisite  information  of  the 
murderer's  hiding-place.  Observing  a  fellow  digging  potatoes  in  a  piece  of 
ground  behind  the  stables,  he  remarked  in  his  hearing  that  it  was  a  great 
pity  that  M'Naughion  could  not  be  found,  for  that  the  person  who  disco- 
vered his  retreat  would  be  sure  of  a  reward  of  300/.  The  bait  took,  and 
the  peasant  pointed  to  a  barn,  and  thither  the  corporal  and  his  assistants 
immediately  proceeded.  The  door  was  fast,  but  they  at  length  forced  it 
open,  and  then  they  foimd  the  object  of  their  search  standing  with  a  gun 
at  his  shoulder,  apparently  determined  to  resist  all  efforts  made  to  secure 
him.  On  the  appearance  of  the  corporal  he  fired  at  him,  but  without 
wounding  him ;  and  a  shot  from  the  corporal's  gun  striking  him  on  the 
vsrist,  he  was  compelled  to  surrender. 

He  was  immediately  secured  and  carried  to  Lifibrd  jail,  where  he 
remained  in  the  closest  confinement  until  the  8th  December,  1761,  when 
he  was  put  upon  his  trial,  with  an  accomplice  named  Dunlap  before  Mr. 
Baron  IMountney  and  Mr.  Justice  Scott,  on  a  special  commission. 

M'Xaughton,  still  suffering  from  the  effects  of  the  wounds  which  he  had 
received,  was  brought  into  court  on  a  bier,  rolled  in  a  blanket,  and  wearing 
the  shirt  in  which  he  was  taken,  still  smeared  with  blood.  His  beard  had 
gro\vTi  to  an  enormous  length,  and  his  head  was  wrapped  in  a  greasy 
woollen  night-cap.  In  that  condition  he  made  a  long  speech,  pointedly 
and  sensibly ;  and  complained  in  the  most  pathetic  manner  of  the  hard 
usage  he  had  met  with  since  his  confinement.  He  said  "  they  had  treated 
him  like  a  man  under  sentence,  and  not  like  a  man  that  was  to  be  tried." 
He  declared,  with  tears  in  his  eyes,  that  he  never  intended  to  kill  his  dear 
wife,  but  that  he  only  designed  to  take  her  away. 

The  case  lasted  five  days,  a  considerable  portion  of  the  first  day  being 
occupied  in  pleadings  to  postpone  the  trial,  and  the  reply  of  the  counsel 
for  the  crown.  During  these  debates  M'Xaughton  often  spoke  with  most 
amazing  spirit  and  judgment ;  but  the  result  was,  that  he  was  ordered  to 
prepare  his  affidavit,  which  the  Court  would  take  into  consideration. 
Accordingly,  on  the  9th,  he  was  brought  into  Court  again,  and  his  affidavit 
read,  in  which  he  swore  that  some  material  witnesses  for  him  were  not  to 
be  had,  particulai-ly  one  Owens,  who,  he  said,  was  present  all  the  time  ; 
but  the  Court  were  of  opinion  that  no  sufficient  reason  for  the  application 
was  shown,  and  the  trial  in  consequence  proceeded.  During  the  whole 
proceedings  M'Xaughton  took  his  notes  as  regularly  as  any  of  the  lawyers, 
and  cross-examined  all  the  witnesses  with  the  greatest  accuracy,  and  he 
was  observed  to  behave  with  uncommon  resolution. 

His  chief  defence  was  founded  on  a  letter  he  produced,  as  written  to  hin\ 
by  Miss  Knox,  in  which  she  desired  him  to  intercept  her  on  the  road  to 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  195 

Dublin,  and  take  her  away ;  but  this  letter  was  proved  a  forgery  of  his 
own,  which  after  condemnation  he  confessed.  He  took  great  pains  to 
exculpate  himself  from  the  least  design  to  murder  any  one,  much  less  his 
dear  wife  (as  he  always  called  her) ;  he  declared  solemnly  that  his  intent 
was  only  to  take  her  out  of  the  coach,  and  carry  her  off ;  but  as  he  I'eceived 
the  first  wound,  from  the  first  shot  that  was  fired,  the  anguish  of  that 
wound,  and  the  prospect  of  his  ill  success  in  his  design,  so  distracted  him 
that,  being  wholly  involved  in  confusion  and  despair,  he  fired  he  knew  not 
at  what  or  whom,  and  had  the  misfortune  to  kill  the  only  person  in  the 
world  that  was  dear  to  him ;  that  he  gave  the  Court  tliat  trouble,  and 
laboured  thus,  not  to  save  his  life, — for  death  was  now  his  choice, — but  to 
clear  his  character  from  such  horrid  guilt  as  that  which  was  ascribed  to 
liim.  The  jury,  however,  found  both  prisoners  guilty  ;  and  M'Naughton 
received  tlie  intimation  without  any  concern,  declaring  that  "  they  had 
acquitted  themselves  with  justice  to  the  country."  Mr.  Baron  Mountney 
then  pronounced  upon  both  prisoners  the  awful  sentence  which  the  law 
directed ;  and  although  the  Court  were  visibly  affected  by  the  manner  in 
which  this  painful  duty  was  performed,  M'Naughton  remained  unconcerned. 
He  prayed  the  Court  to  have  mercy  upon  Dunlap,  alleging  that  he  was 
his  tenant,  and  had  been  compelled  by  him  to  participate  with  him  in  the 
transaction,  under  pain  of  losing  a  lease,  which  he  hoped  to  be  renewed  ; 
but  he  declared  that  life  was  not  worth  asking  for  himself,  for  that  his 
wife  being  dead,  the  better  half  of  himself  was  gone,  and  he  had  nothing  to 
remain  for  in  this  world. 

Tuesday  the  15th  December,  1761,  was  fixed  upon  for  the  execution  of 
these  criminals ;  but  it  appears  that  some  difficulty  was  experienced  in 
carrying  tlie  sentence  into  effect.  For  a  long  time  no  carpenter  could  be 
found  to  make  tlie  gallows,  and  the  sheriff  looked  out  for  a  tree  proper  for 
the  purpose,  and  the  execution  must  have  been  performed  on  it,  had  not 
the  uncle  of  the  young  lady,  and  some  other  gentlemen,  made  the  gallows, 
and  put  it  up.  The  sheriff  was  afterwards  obliged  to  take  a  party  of 
soldiers,  and  force  a  smith  to  take  off  the  prisoners'  bolts,  otherwise  be 
must  have  been  obliged,  contrary  to  law,  to  execute  them  with  their  bolts 
on.  The  time  for  the  execution  having  arrived,  M'Naughton,  attended  by 
his  fellow  prisoner,  walked  to  the  place  of  execution,  but,  being  weak  of 
his  wounds,  was  supported  between  two  men.  The  former  was  dressed  in 
a  white  flannel  waistcoat  trimmed  with  black  buttons  and  holes,  a  diaper 
night-cap  tied  with  a  black  riband,  white  stockings,  mourning-buckles, 
and  a  crape  tied  on  his  arm.  He  desired  the  executioner  to  be  speedy ; 
and  the  fellow  pointing  to  the  ladder,  he  mounted  with  great  spirit.  The 
moment  he  was  tied  up  he  jumped  from  it  with  such  vehemence  as  snapped 
the  rope,  and  he  fell  to  the  ground,  but  without  dislocating  his  neck,  or 
doing  himself  much  injury.  When  they  had  raised  him  on  his  legs  again, 
he  soon  recovered  his  senses  ;  and  the  executioner  borrowing  the  rope  from 
Dunlap,  and  fixing  it  round  M'Naughton's  neck,  be  went  up  the  ladder  a 
second  time,  and  tying  the  rope  himself  to  the  gallows,  he  jumped  from  it 
again  with  the  same  force,  and  appeared  dead  in  a  minute. 

The  spectators,  who  saw  him  drop  when  the  rope  broke,  looked  upon  it 
.IS  some  contrivance  for  his  escape,  which  they  favoured  all  they  could  by 
running  away  from  tlie  place,  and  leaving  it  open. 

Dunlap  was  afterwards  turned  off'  in  the  usual  manner,  in  sight  of  the 
dangling  body  of  his  accomplice  and  master. 


196  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

JOHN  SMITH  AND  ROBERT  MAYNE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    A    MUTINY    OK    BOARD    THE    KING    GEORGE. 

On  the  trial  of  these  men,  with  five  more  of  the  crew,  it  appeared  that 
disputes  arose  on  board  the  King  George,  a  fine  privateer,  of  thirty-two 
guns  and  two  hundred  men,  commanded  by  Captain  Reed,  and  cruising 
against  the  enemies  of  the  country,  concerning  some  prize  wine,  which  was 
stowed  in  the  hold,  some  of  the  crew  insisting  on  its  being  hoisted  up  to 
be  used  for  the  whole  ship's  company.  This  would  have  been  attended,  in 
their  situation,  with  both  difficulty  and  danger,  and  was  consequently 
opposed  by  Captain  Reed  and  his  officers ;  and  being  disappointed,  a 
factious  discontented  set  endeavoured  to  corrupt  the  remainder,  and  soon 
o-ained  over  so  formidable  a  party,  that  they  determined  to  seize  the  ship, 
and  turn  pirates  in  the  Indian  seas.  In  order  to  effect  this,  oft'  Cape 
Ortucral,  the  mutineers  demanded  the  keys  of  the  arm-chests,  and  on  the 
refusal  of  their  request,  they  drove  the  captain  and  officers  into  the  cabin. 

They  then  placed  a  guard  at  the  door,  and  brought  a  nine- pounder 
carriacre-ffun,  loaded  with  round  and  grape  shot,  to  fire  among  the  officers  ; 
but  were  prevailed  upon  to  desist  by  the  entreaties  of  Mr.  Gardener,  the 
sailing  master. 

They  then  offered  the  latter  the  command  of  the  ship,  acquainting  him 
with  their  intention  of  steering  for  the  East  Indies ;  but  on  his  refusal 
they  put  him  under  a  guard,  and  took  the  ship  into  their  own  care,  until 
they  had,  for  want  of  skill,  nearly  lost  her.  They  then  released  Mr. 
Gardener,  and  gave  him  the  helm ;  when  he  steered  into  Camarinas,  in 
Spain,  where  most  of  the  mutineers  took  to  the  boats,  and  made  their 
escape. 

Such  as  were  apprehended  were  brought  to  trial ;  and  though  two 
more,  viz.  Thomas  Baldwin  and  Laurence  Tierman,  were  found  guilty, 
vet  Smith  and  JMayne,  who  were  the  ringleaders  of  the  mutiny,  only  were 
hanged.      They  suffered  at  Execution  Dock,  May  the  10th,  1762. 

They  were  both  Irishmen,  and  Roman  Catholics,  and  were  attended  by 
a  priest  of  that  religion. 

A  few  years  after  this  affair  a  mutiny  broke  out  among  the  crew  of  the 
Namur,  of  ninety  guns.  Fifteen  were  tried,  found  guilty,  and  ordered  to 
be  hanged  ;  and  they  were  taken  for  execution  on  board  the  Royal  Ann, 
with  halters  round  their  necks.  While  waiting  for  the  fatal  gun  being 
fired,  however,  they  were  told  that  his  majesty  had  pardoned  fourteen  of 
them,  but  one  of  them  must  die ;  and  they  were  ordered  to  cast  lots. 

How  exquisite  must  have  been  the  feelings  of  these  miserable  men  at 
the  awful  moment  of  deciding  on  the  fate  of  one  !  The  fatal  lot  fell  upon 
the  second  man  that  drew,  Matthew  M'Can,  who  was  soon  run  up  to  the 
yard-arm,  where  the  body  hung  nearly  an  hour. 

The  pardoned  seamen  were  turned  over  to  the  Grafton  and  the  Sunder 
land,  under  sailing  orders  for  the  East  Indies. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  197 

HANNAH    DAGOE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

TnERE  is  so  much  eccentricity  in  the  mode  in  wliich  this  unhappy 
wretch  terminated  lier  existence,  that,  although  the  circumstances  of  the 
robbery  for  which  she  was  convicted  are  not  of  an  interesting  nature,  we 
cannot  forbear  mentioning  her  case. 

We  have  adduced  many  instances  of  hardness  of  heart,  and  contempt 
of  the  commandments  of  God,  in  men  who  have  undergone  the  last  sentence 
of  the  law ;  but  we  are  of  opinion  that  in  this  woman  will  be  found  a 
more  relentless  heart,  in  her  last  moments,  than  any  criminal  whom  v>'e 
have  yet  recorded. 

Hannah  Dagoe  was  born  in  Ireland,  and  was  one  of  that  numerous  cl£^ss 
of  women  who  ply  at  Covent  Garden  market  as  basket- women.  In  the 
pursuit  of  her  vocation,  she  became  acquainted  with  a  poor  and  industrious 
woman  of  the  name  of  Eleanor  Hussey,  who  lived  by  herself  in  a  small 
apartment,  in  which  was  some  creditable  household  furniture,  the  remains 
of  the  worldly  goods  of  her  deceased  husband.  Seizing  an  opportunity, 
when  the  owner  was  from  home,  this  daring  woman  broke  into  Hussey's 
room,  and  stripped  it  of  every  article  which  it  contained. 

For  this  burglary  and  robbery  she  was  brought  to  trial  at  the  Old 
Bailey,  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  death. 

She  was  a  strong  masculine  woman,  the  terror  of  her  fellow  prisoners, 
and  actually  stabbed  one  of  the  men  who  had  given  evidence  against  her  ; 
but  the  wound  happened  not  to  prove  dangerous. 

On  the  road  to  Tyburn  she  showed  little  concern  at  her  miserable  state, 
and  paid  no  attention  to  the  exhortations  of  the  Romish  priest  who  attended 
her.  When  the  cart,  in  which  she  was  bound,  was  drawn  under  the 
gallow^s,  she  got  her  hands  and  arms  loose,  seized  the  executioner,  struggled 
with  him,  and  gave  him  so  violent  a  blow  on  the  breast  as  nearly  knocked 
him  down.  She  dared  him  to  hang  her ;  and  in  order  to  revenge  herself 
upon  him,  and  cheat  him  of  his  dues,  she  took  off  her  hat,  cloak,  and  other 
parts  of  her  dress,  and  disposed  of  them  among  the  crowd.  After  much 
resistance  he  got  the  rope  about  her  neck,  which  she  had  no  sooner  found 
accomplished,  than,  pulling  out  a  handkerchief,  she  bound  it  round  her 
head,  over  her  face,  and  threw  herself  out  of  the  cart,  before  the  signal 
given,  with  such  violence,  that  she  broke  her  neck  and  died  instantly. 

This  extraordinary  and  unprecedented  scene  occurred  on  the  4th 
May,  1763. 

BARNEY  CARROL  AND  WILLIAM  KING. 

EXECUTED    FOR    CUTTING    AND    MAIMING. 

These  men  had  served  their  country  as  soldiers,  and  it  is  remarkable 
that  having  in  that  capacity  conducted  themselves  with  great  bravery,  and 
earned  for  themselves  well-merited  rewards,  they  should  afterwards  have 
resorted  to  such  atrocious  means  of  procuring  a  livelihood,  as  from  this 
case  it  will  appear  they  adopted.  Having  returned  to  England  from  the 
Havacnah,  where  their  regiment  had  been  stationed,  they  obtained  their 


198  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

discharge,  and  dotcrmincd  to  commence  robbers  on  a  plan  of  the  most  infa- 
mous cruelty.  This  consisted  in  their  procuring  two  young  thieves,  named 
By  field  and  Mathews,  to  go  before  them  and  to  pick  pockets ;  and  in  case 
of  their  being  detected  and  seized,  their  villanous  employers  would  run 
up,  and  by  maiming  the  person  holding  tlie  boys,  generally  by  cutting  him 
across  the  eyes,  would  procure  their  release.  The  oft'ence  for  which  they 
were  executed,  was  committed  on  the  17th  June,  1763  ;  and  it  appears 
that  a  gentleman  named  Kirby  was  selected  by  the  gang  as  a  fit  object 
for  attack.  "  31r.  Kirl)y,  however,  detected  Byfield  in  picking  his  pocket, 
and  before  he  could  withdraw  his  hand,  he  seized  him  and  threatened  to 
carry  him  before  the  magistrates.  His  intention  was  not  to  pursue 
this  threat,  but  in  order  to  terrify  the  boy,  he  dragged  him  a  consi- 
derable distance  through  the  Strand,  where  the  circumstance  had  occurred. 
Carrol  soon  came  up  to  him,  and  demanded  the  boy's  release ;  but  Byfield 
guessing  that  he  would  be  permitted  to  escape,  told  him  to  keep  off,  for 
that  the  gentleman  would  let  him  go.  The  answer  given  by  tlie  ruffian 
was  "  Damn  him,  but  I  will  cut  him,"  and  instantly  drawing  liis  knife,  he 
gave  Mr.  Kii'by  a  severe  cut  over  the  face.  A  Mr.  Carr  at  the  moment 
came  up  to  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Kirby,  and  seized  Carrol's  arm,  and  at 
this  instant  Kirby,  letting  go  the  boy,  struck  at  Carrol ;  but  the  blow 
happening  to  fall  on  Mr.  Carr's  hand,  the  villain  made  his  escape.  The 
rocrues  then  ran  off  towards  St.  Clement's  church,  and  escaped  through  an 
alley  into  Wych  Street,  though  closely  pursued  by  the  gentleman. 

Mr.  Kirby  now  felt  great  pain,  but  had  no  idea  that  he  had  been  wounded 
by  any  sharp  instrument ;  but,  putting  his  hand  to  his  face,  he  found  that 
it  streamed  with  blood.  Going  to  the  Crown  and  Anchor  Tavern  in  the 
Strand,  JNIr.  Inc^ram,  a  surgeon  of  eminence,  almost  immediately  attended 
him ;  and  although  the  utmost  expedition  was  used  in  calling  in  the 
assistance  of  that  gentleman,  Mr.  Kirby  had  lost  near  two  quarts  of  blood 
in  the  short  interval. 

On  examination,  it  appeared  that  the  wound  was  given  in  a  transverse 
direction,  from  the  right  eye  to  the  left  temple  ;  that  two  large  vessels 
were  divided  by  it ;  that  there  was  a  cut  across  the  nose,  which  left  the 
bone  visible  ;  and  that  the  eye-balls  must  have  been  divided  by  the  slightest 
deviation  from  the  stroke. 

The  abominable  assassins  were  very  soon  apprehended,  and  found  guilty 
under  the  Coventry  Act,  and  hanged  at  Tyburn,  July  31,  1765,  amid  the 
execrations  of  an  enraged  multitude. 

The  "  Coventry  Act"  is  a  statute  of  the  22d  and  23d  Charles  TI. ;  its 
provision  in  respect  of  this  crime  is  to  the  following  effect : — "  If  any 
person,  on  purpose,  and  by  mahce  aforethought,  and  by  laying  in  wait, 
shall  unlawfully  cut  or  disable  the  tongue,  put  out  an  eye,  slit  the  nose, 
cut  oft'  a  nose  or  lip,  or  cut  off  or  disable  any  limb  or  member  of  any 
subject,  with  intention,  in  so  doing,  to  maim  or  disfigure  him,  the  person 
so  offending,  his  counsellors,  aiders,  abettors  (knowing  of,  and  privy  to, 
the  offence),  shall  be  guilty  of  felony,  without  benefit  of  clergy."  It  is 
called  the  Coventry  Act  because  it  was  passed  on  Sir  John  Coventry  being 
assaulted,  and  having  his  nose  slit  in  the  street ;  and  the  following  anecdote 
is  related  of  the  circumstances  under  which  this  outrage  was  committed. 

In  the  committee  of  ways  and  means,  in  the  House  of  Commons,  it  had 
been  resolved  that,  towards  the  supply,  every  one  that  resorts  to  any  of 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  199 

the  playhouses,  who  sits  in  the  boxes,  shall  pay  one  shilling ;  every  one 
who  sits  in  the  pit  shall  pay  sixpence  ;  and  every  other  person  threepence. 
This  resolution  (to  which  the  House  disagreed  upon  the  report)  was 
opposed  in  tlie  committee  by  the  courtiers,  who  gave  for  a  reason  "  That 
the  players  were  the  king's  servants,  and  a  part  of  his  pleasure."  To  this 
Sir  John  Coventry,  one  of  the  members,  by  way  of  reply,  asked  "  "Whether 
the  king's  pleasure  lay  among  the  men  or  among  the  women  players  ? " 
This  being  reported  at  court,  it  was  highly  resented  ;  and  a  resolution  was 
privately  taken  to  set  a  mark  on  Sir  John,  to  prevent  others  from  taking 
the  like  liberties. 

December  the  20th  was  the  night  that  the  House  of  Commons  adjourned 
for  the  Cliristmas  holidays.  On  the  25th,  one  of  the  Duke  of  Monmouth's 
troop  of  life-guards  and  some  few  foot,  lay  in  wait  from  ten  at  night  till 
two  in  the  morning,  by  Suffolk  Street ;  and  as  Sir  John  returned  from  the 
tavern,  where  he  supped,  to  his  own  house,  they  threw  him  down,  and,  with 
a  knife,  cut  the  end  of  his  nose  almost  off;  but  company  coming  made  them 
fearful  to  finish  it. 

The  debates  which  this  affair  occasioned  in  the  House  of  Commons  ran 
very  high,  and  one  of  the  members  emphatically  called  the  attack  on 
Coventry  "  A  horrid  un-English  act." 

The  result  was  that  the  statute  in  question  was  passed. 


PETER  M'KINLIE,  GEORGE  GIDLEY,  ANDREW  ZEKER- 
MAN,  AND  RICHARD  ST.  QUINTIN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

This  case  exhibits  a  remarkable  series  of  adventures  which  occurred  to 
the  unfortunate  man,  who,  after  having  survived  many  engagements  and 
imprisonments,  was  doomed  to  become  one  of  the  victims  of  a  horrid  and 
piratical  scheme. 

The  unfortunate  Captain  Glass  was  the  son  of  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  Scotland,  who  obtained  some  notice  from  his  writings,  in  which  he 
opposed  the  practice  of  religion  according  to  particular  forms,  and  was 
founder  of  a  sect  called  Glassites.  At  an  early  period  of  his  life,  young 
Glass  exhibited  talents  of  no  ordinary  character;  and  having  taken  a 
degree  of  Master  of  Arts  at  one  of  the  Scotch  universities,  he  applied  him- 
self to  the  study  of  medicine.  He  made  rapid  progress  in  this  new  line  of 
learning ;  and  after  he  had  taken  the  necessary  degrees,  was  employed  as 
a  surgeon  on  board  a  trading  vessel  bound  for  the  coast  of  Guinea,  and  in 
that  capacity  he  afterwards  made  several  voyages  to  America.  His  supe- 
rior qualifications  gained  him  a  distinguished  place  in  the  esteem  of  several 
merchants,  who  entrusted  to  him  the  command  of  a  vessel  in  the  Guinea 
trade  ;  and  his  conduct  proved  highly  to  the  advantage  of  his  owners,  and 
equally  honourable  to  himself. 

When  the  war  against  France  was  declared.  Captain  Glass  found  him- 
self in  possession  of  a  very  considerable  sum,  a  great  part  of  which  he 
determined  to  venture  on  board  a  privateer  ;  and  he,  in  consequence,  caused 
a  vessel  to  be  fitted  out  with  all  possible  expedition,  and  took  the  command 
on  himself. 


200  THE    NEW    NEWr.ATE    CALENDAR. 

In  about  ten  days  after  they  had  commenced  this  voyage,  they  made 
prize  of  a  ship,  richly  Liden,  belonging  to  France,  which  they  carried  into 
a  port  in  the  West  Indies ;  but  soon  afterwards,  being  obliged  to  engage 
two  vessels  of  war,  after  an  obstinate  contest  they  were  compelled  to 
submit  to  the  superior  power  of  the  enemy  and  strike,  but  not  until 
Captain  Glass  had  been  severely  wounded  and  most  of  his  men  slain.  The 
captain  being  conveyed  to  France,  was  there  consigned  to  a  prison  ;  but  an 
interchange  of  prisoners  taking  place,  he  once  more  trod  on  British  ground. 
Nothing  daunted  by  the  unsuccessful  termination  of  his  first  venture,  he 
tried  a  second  expedition  of  a  similar  character,  in  which  he  was  equally 
unfortunate,  and  was  once  again  consigned  to  the  keeping  of  a  French 
jailor,  in  whose  custody  he  remained  until  the  termination  of  the  war.  He 
next  conceived  a  design  of  sailing  in  search  of  discoveries  ;  and  in  pursuance 
of  this  plan  he  purchased  a  vessel  adapted  to  his  purpose ;  and  having 
carefully  made  every  necessary  preparation  for  the  prosecution  of  his  object, 
he  directed  his  course  towards  the  coast  of  Africa.  Between  the  river 
Seneo-al  and  Cape  de  Verd  he  discovered  a  commodious  harbour,  from 
which  he  entertained  the  reasonable  expectation  that  very  great  commercial 
advantages  might  be  derived  ;  and  he  returned  to  England,  and  communi- 
cated his  discovery  to  government,  who  granted  him  an  exclusive  trade  to 
the  harbour  for  the  space  of  twenty  years. 

That  he  might  be  able  to  pursue  his  project  with  the  greater  advan- 
tage, he  now  engaged  in  partnership  with  two  or  three  gentlemen  of 
fortune  ;  and  a  vessel  furnished  with  all  necessary  articles  being  again  pre- 
pared, he  sailed  for  the  newly  discovered  harbour,  and  arrived  at  it  in 
safety.  He  soon  found,  however,  that  the  habits  of  the  natives  would  not 
permit  any  friendly  intercourse  to  be  maintained  between  them  ;  and  being 
in  great  distress  for  provisions,  the  captain  and  three  men  proceeded  in  an 
open  boat  to  the  Canary  Isles.  During  their  absence  the  natives  made  an 
attack  upon  the  vessel,  but  were  repulsed  ;  and  the  first  mate,  who  had 
been  left  in  command  of  her,  thought  fit  to  sheer  ofi",  and  having  in  vain  sought 
his  captain,  at  length  returned  to  England.  Glass  and  his  companions  mean- 
while  had  arrived  at  one  of  the  Canary  islands,  and  having  landed,  with  a 
view  of  petitionino-  to  be  allo^'^'ed  to  purchase  provisions,  was  instantly 
seized  by  order  of  the  governor,  and  conveyed  to  a  dungeon  as  a  spy.  In 
this  situation  he  remained  for  six  months  ;  but  at  length  he  made  one  of 
his  countrymen,  a  sailor,  acquainted  with  his  condition  by  WTiting  his  name 
and  the  nature  of  his  miseries  on  a  biscuit  with  a  piece  of  charcoal,  and 
throwincT  it  to  him  through  his  prison  window  when  he  was  passing 
beneath.  The  sailor  immediately  conveyed  it  to  his  commander ;  but  the 
latter  on  making  application  for  his  release  was  himself  seized  and  subjected 
to  treatment  of  similar  severity.  The  news  of  this  circumstance  was, 
however,  directly  carried  to  England  by  a  vessel,  which  was  on  the 
point  of  sailing  ;  and  speedy  complaint  being  made  to  the  Spanish  govern- 
ment, the  liberty  of  the  two  captains  was  soon  obtained.  At  about  this 
time  the  wife  and  daughter  of  Captain  Glass  had  arrived  at  the  Canaries, 
in  consequence  of  the  reports  which  had  reached  them  of  his  captivity,  and 
the  first  joy  of  again  meeting  being  passed,  they  all  embarked  on  board  a 
ship  bound  for  London,  commanded  by  a  Captain  Cockeran.  ]\Iiss  Glass 
at  this  time  was  a  young  lady  about  twelve  years  of  age,  and  ill  deserving 
the  fate  which  awaited  her,  as  well  as  her  parents.  It  appears  that  while  the 


THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR.  201 

ship  lay  at  the  Canaries,  a  plot  was  concerted  between  Peter  M'Kinlie,  the 
boatswain,  a  native  of  Ireland  ;  George  Gidley  the  cook,  born  in  the  west  of 
Yorkshire  ;  Richard  St.  Quintin,  a  native  of  the  same  county  ;  and  Andrew 
Zekerman  a  Dutchman — for  murdering  all  the  other  persons  on  board,  and 
seizino-  the  treasure,  which,  including  what  Captain  Glass  had  shipped  in 
behalf  of  himself  and  his  partners,  amounted  to  a  hundred  thousand  pounds 
in  dollars.  The  villains  made  three  attempts  on  different  nights  to  carry 
their  horrid  plan  into  execution,  but  were  prevented  through  the  circum- 
spection of  tlieir  commander. 

At  length,  however,  the  conspirators  were  appointed  to  the  night-watcli 
on  the  1 3th  of  November,  when  the  ship  had  reached  the  British  Channel ; 
and  about  midniglit  the  captain  going  upon  the  quarter-deck  to  see  that  all 
things  were  disposed  in  proper  order,  upon  his  return  he  was  seized  by  the 
boatswain,  who  held  him  while  Gidley  struck  him  with  an  iron  bar,  and 
fractured  his  skull.  Two  of  the  seamen  who  Avere  not  concerned  in  the 
conspiracy,  hearing  the  captain's  groans,  came  upon  deck,  and  were  imme- 
diately murdered,  and,  with  their  captain,  were  thrown  overboard. 

Captain  Glass,  being  alarmed,  went  up  the  gangway,  and  judging  that  a 
mutiny  had  arisen,  returned  to  fetch  his  sword.  M'Kinlie,  guessing  his 
design,  followed  him  down  the  steps  leading  to  the  cabin,  and  waited  in  the 
dark  till  he  returned  with  a  drawn  sword  in  his  hand,  when  getting  unper- 
ceived  behind  him,  he  seized  both  his  arms,  and  then  called  to  his  accom- 
plices to  murder  him.  Captain  Glass,  being  a  very  powerful  man,  had 
nearly  disengaged  himself  from  the  ruffian,  wlien  Zekerman  came  up  and 
attacked  him.  The  captain  wounded  him  in  the  arm  ;  but  before  he  could 
recover  his  sword  he  was  overpowered,  and  the  other  villains  soon  joined 
their  associates.  The  unhappy  man  was  no  sooner  disarmed  than  he  was 
many  times  run  through  the  body,  and  he  was  then  immediately  thrown 
overboard.  Mrs.  Glass  and  her  daughter,  terrified  by  tlie  outcry,  now 
came  on  deck,  and  falling  on  their  knees,  supplicated  for  mercy  ;  but 
they  found  the  villains  utterly  destitute  of  the  tender  feelings  of  humanity  ; 
and  Zekerman  telling  them  to  prepare  for  death,  they  embraced  each  other 
in  a  most  affectionate  manner,  and  were  then  forced  from  each  other's  arms, 
and  thrown  into  the  sea. 

Having  now  put  all  the  crew  to  death,  excepting  a  boy  who  attended 
Captain  Glass,  and  another  boy  who  was  an  ap2>rentice  on  board  the  ship, 
the  murderers  steei-ed  towards  the  Irish  coast,  and  on  the  3rd  of  December 
found  themselves  within  ten  leagues  of  the  harbour  of  Ross.  They  then 
hoisted  out  the  long-boat,  and  put  into  it  dollars  to  the  amount  of  two  tons; 
and  after  knocking  out  the  windows  of  the  ballast  ports,  rowed  towards 
shore,  leaving  the  two  boys  to  sink  with  the  vessel.  Captain  Glass's  boy 
could  not  swim,  and  he  was  therefore  soon  drowned ;  but  the  other  lad 
swam  to  the  boat,  when  Zekerman  struck  him  a  violent  blow  on  the  breast, 
which  caused  him  immediately  to  sink. 

Having  thus  massacred  eight  innocent  persons,  the  villains  proceeded  to  the 
mouth  of  the  river  Ross ;  but  thinking  it  would  be  dangerous  to  go  up  tlie 
river  with  so  much  riches,  they  buried  two  hundred  and  fifty  bags  of  dollars 
in  the  sand, and  conveyed  as  much  treasure  as  they  could  possibly  bear  about 
their  persons  to  a  village  called  Fishertown,  where  they  stopped  for  refresn- 
ment.  On  the  following  day  they  went  to  Ross,  and  there  sold  twelve  hundred 
dollars  ;  and,  having  purchased  each  a  pair  of  pistols,  and  hired  horses  foi 

VOL.  I.  D   D 


202  THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

themselves  and  two  guides,  they  rode  to  Dublin,  and  took  up  their  residence 
at  the  Black  Bull  in  Thomas-street. 

The  wreck  of  the  ship  was  driven  on  shore  on  the  day  of  their  leaving 
Ross  ;  and  the  manner  in  which  the  villains  had  lived  at  Fishertown  and 
Koss,  their  general  behaviour,  and  other  circumstances,  being  understood 
as  grounds  for  suspicion  of  their  being  pirates,  an  express  was  despatched 
by  two  gentlemen  to  the  lords  of  the  regency  at  Dublin,  exhibiting  the 
several  causes  of  suspicion,  and  giving  a  particular  description  of  the 
supposed  delinquents. 

On  examining  the  wreck  a  sampler  worked  by  Miss  Glass  was  found,  from 
which  it  appeared  that  a  part  of  the  work  was  done  on  her  birthday,  which 
afterwards  turned  out  to  be  the  day  preceding  that  on  which  the  murders 
were  perpetrated ;  and  the  sampler  proved  a  principal  means  of  leading 
to  a  discovery  of  the  guilt  of  these  abominable  villains. 

The  gentlemen  who  were  commissioned  to  attend  the  lords  of  the  regency 
had  no  sooner  communicated  their  business  tlian  the  lord  mayor  and 
sheriffs  were  sent  for  ;  and  proper  instructions  being  given  them,  they  on 
the  same  night  caused  M'Kinlie  and  Zekerman  to  be  taken  into  custody. 
The  prisoners  were  separately  examined ;  an  1  they  both  confessed  the  parti- 
culars of  their  guilt,  and  that  their  accomplices  had  that  morning  hired  a 
post-chaise  for  Cork,  where  they  meant  to  embark  on  board  a  vessel 
bound  for  England.  Gidley  and  St.  Quintin  were  then  on  the  next  day 
secured  at  an  inn  on  the  road  to  Cork  ;  and  they  followed  the  example  of 
the  other  prisoners  in  acknowledging  themselves  guilty  The  sheriff  of  Ross 
took  possession  of  the  effects  found  in  the  wreck,  and  the  bags  of  dollars 
that  the  villains  had  buried  in  the  sand,  and  deposited  the  whole  in  the 
treasury  of  Dublin  for  the  benefit  of  the  proprietors. 

The  jjrisoners  being  brought  to  trial,  they  confessed  themselves  guilty  of 
the  charges  alleged  in  the  indictment ;  and  they  were  condemned,  and 
suffered  death  on  the  19th  of  December,  1765,  after  which  their  bodies 
were  hung  in  chains  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Dublin. 


FATHER  SHEEBY,  JAMES  BUXTON,  AND  JAMES  FARRELL, 
OTHERWISE  CALLED  BUCK  FARRELL. 


EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 


About  the  year  1766  Ireland  was  first  visited  by  an  atrocious  gang, 
calling  themselves  White  Boys,  who  committed  numerous  atrocities  in 
armed  bodies,  but  whose  deeds  of  blood  at  this  time  were  only  a  prelude  to 
those  scenes  of  horror  Avhich  have  continued  to  be  enacted  even  up  to  the 
present  day.  They  were  encouraged,  it  was  reported,  by  a  number  of  dis- 
affected Roman  Catholic  priests,  who  seduced  various  misguided  men  of 
property  of  their  persuasion  to  connive  at  and  assist  them  in  their  nefarious 
practices. 

In  the  present  instance.  Father  Sheeby,  a  Romish  priest,  persuaded  Mr. 
Buxton,  a  gentleman  of  great  property,  and  JMr.  Farrell,  a  gay,  thoughtless 
youth,  of  good  family,  and  many  others,  to  murder  several  Protestants 
who  opposed  the  depredations  of  the  AVhite  Boys.  On  the  28th  of 
October,  1764,  this  gang  of  murderers  met  on  tlie  lauds  of  Shanhally, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  203 

wlici-e  they  were  sworn  by  Father  Sheeby  to  murder  J.  BriJge,  Esq., 
J.  Baonall,  Esq.,  the  Rev,  Dr.  llewitson ;  and  in  fine,  every  person  who 
mi<Tht  oppose  them.  He  also  swore  them  to  be  true  to  the  French  king, 
and  to  assist  him  to  conquer  Ireland,  whereby  they  might  completely 
establish  the  Roman  Catholic  Religion.  Thus  prepared,  these  enthusiasts 
sallied  out  in  pursuit  of  the  blood  of  their  fellow-creatures.  They  soon 
seized  Mr.  Bridge,  accused  him  of  giving  information  against  the  White 
Boys,  and  insisted  that  he  should  contradict  upon  oath  all  that  he  had  said 
in  his  information ;  and  on  his  refusing  to  do  so,  Edward  ]\Iecham,  one  of 
the  gang  (whom,  however,  we  do  not  find  brought  to  punishment),  cleft 
nis  skull  in  two  with  a  bill -hook,  and  he  instantly  expired  in  the  presence 
of  the  remainder  of  the  gang. 

The  persons  whose  names  are  mentioned  above,  having  been  apprehended 
on  suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  this  cruel  murder,  were  tried  at  Clonmel, 
and  being  found  guilty,  were  executed  in  1766. 


WILLIAM  GUEST. 

EXECUTED    FOR    DIMINISHING    THE    COIN    OF    THE    REALM. 

Guest  was  the  son  of  a  clergyman  of  unblemished  character,  of  the  city 
of  Worcester,  who  placed  him  apprentice  to  a  genteel  business.  He  passed 
the  term  of  apprenticeship  to  the  satisfaction  of  his  master,  and  then  came 
to  London,  and  took  a  shop  in  Holborn,  where  he  carried  on  business  some 
years  with  the  usual  success  of  trade.  His  father's  good  name  assisted  him 
in  procuring  a  clerkship  in  the  Bank  of  England ;  and  there  he  pursued  a 
system  of  fraud  which  procured  his  execution  for  a  crime  amounting  to 
high  treason — that  of  diminishing  the  gold  coin  of  the  realm. 

He  took  a  house  in  Broad-street  Buildings,  in  a  room  in  the  upper  part 
of  which  he  used  to  work.  Having  procured  a  curious  luachine  for  milling 
guineas,  not  unlike  that  made  use  of  by  mathematical  instrument-makers, 
he  used  to  take  guineas  from  his  drawer  at  the  Bank,  file  them,  and  return 
them  to  the  Bank,  and  take  out  guineas  of  full  weight  in  their  stead.  Of 
the  filings  he  made  ingots,  which  he  sold  to  an  assayer,  who,  on  his  trial, 
deposed  that  they  were  of  the  same  standard  as  our  guineas. 

About  three  years  before  his  conviction  he  became  a  teller  at  the  Bank, 
and  3Ir.  Leach,  who  was  also  a  teller  there,  observing  him  picking  out  new 
guineas  from  the  old  ones,  and  having  some  suspicion,  watched  him,  to 
discover  whether  this  was  a  frequent  practice ;  and  finding  that  it  was,  he 
communicated  his  suspicions  to  some  others.  On  the  4th  of  July  1766, 
Mr.  Guest  paid  thirty  guineas  to  Richard  Still,  a  servant  to  I\Ir.  Corner,  a 
dyer,  at  Bankside,  Southwark ;  and  Leach  observing  him  take  some  gold 
out  of  a  bag  in  the  drawer,  and  put  it  among  the  rest  on  the  table,  went 
after  Still,  asked  him  if  his  monev  was  rioht,  and  beoored  he  would  walk 
with  him  into  the  Pay-ofiice,  and  let  him  tell  it  over.  The  man  consented, 
and  Leach  found  three  guineas  that  apix?ared  to  have  been  newly  filed, 
which  he  took  away,  giving  Still  other  guineas  for  them.  He  then  carried 
the  light  guineas  into  the  hall,  and  showed  them  to  Mr.  Robert  Bell, 
another  teller,  who  carried  them  to  ]\Ir.  Race,  the  principal  cashier.  The 
latter  weighed  them,  and  found  that  they  wanted  from  ten  pence  to  about 


204  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

fourteen  pence  of  weight  each  ;  and  he  then,  having  examined  the  edwes, 
deUvered  them  to  Leach. 

It  is  a  custom  at  the  Bank  for  the  cashier  in  waiting  to  take  the  tellers' 
hags  every  niglit,  and  lock  them  up  ;  and  Mr.  Race,  after  these  suspicious 
circumstances  had  appeared  against  Guest,  ordered  his  bags  to  be  examined 
after  they  were  taken  away.  This  was  done  by  Mr.  Thompson,  one  of 
the  under  cashiers,  and  Kemp  and  Lucas,  two  in-door  tellers,  who  found 
the  whole  sum  they  contained  to  be  1,800/.  16*\  6d. ;  and  they  found  in 
one  bag  forty  guineas,  which  appeared  to  have  been  filed  on  the  edges,  and 
each  of  whicli  was  found  to  be  deficient  in  weight,  from  eight  pence  to 
fourteen  pence. 

In  consequence  of  this  disclosure,  Mr.  Sewallls  and  Mr.  Humberton, 
servants  to  the  Bank,  went  with  proper  officers  to  search  ]Mr.  Guest's 
house  in  Broad-street  Buildings,  and  in  a  room  up  two  pair  of  stairs,  they 
found  a  mahogany  nest  of  drawers,  which,  being  broken  open,  was  dis- 
covered to  contain  a  vice,  files,  an  instrument  proper  for  milling  the  edges 
of  guineas,  two  bags  of  gold  fihngs,  and  one  hundred  guineas.  The  nest  of 
drawers  had  a  flap  before,  to  let  down  ;  and  a  skin  was  found  lying  at  the 
bottom,  fastened  to  the  back  part  of  the  flap,  with  a  hole  in  the  front 
part,  to  fasten  to  a  button  on  the  waistcoat,  in  the  manner  used  by  jewellers. 

jNIr.  Guest  was  then  apprehended,  and  being  brought  to  trial,  was  found 
guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be  executed.  He  subsequently  zealously  applied 
himself  to  the  only  duty  which  remained  for  him  in  this  life  to  perform — 
that  of  making  his  pease  with  God,  and  was  hanged  on  the  14th  of 
October,  1767. 


ELIZABETH  BROWNRIGG. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  most  notorious  criminal  is  too  well  remembered  to 
render  any  introduction  to  it  necessary.  The  long  scene  of  torture  in  which 
the  inhuman  wretch  kept  the  innocent  object  of  her  remorseless  cruelty  ere 
she  completed  the  long  premeditated  murder,  requires  no  comment,  engag- 
ing as  it  did  the  interest,  and  exciting  the  horror  of  all  ranks  of  people,  and 
rousing  tlie  indignation  of  the  populace  more  than  the  case  of  any  criminal 
whose  offences  it  is  our  duty  to  record,  in  the  whole  course  of  our  melan- 
choly narratives. 

The  wretched  subject  of  this  memoir  passed  the  early  part  of  her  life  in 
the  service  of  many  respectable  families  in  London  ;  but  at  length,  being 
addressed  by  James  Brownrlgg,  a  plumber  at  Greenwich,  she  consented  to 
marry  him  ;  and  they  were  accordingly  imited  in  that  town.  After  having 
resided  at  Greenwich  during  about  seven  years,  they  determined  to  remove 
to  London,  and  they,  in  consequence,  rented  a  house  in  Flower-de-Luce 
(Fleur-de-Lys)  Court,  Fleet-street,  where  Brownrlgg  carried  on  his  trade 
with  so  much  success,  that  he  was  enabled  to  hire  a  small  house  at 
Islington  as  a  summer  retreat.  Their  means,  however,  declining  as  their 
family  increased  to  the  number  of  sixteen,  Mrs.  Brownrlgg  applied  to  the 
overseers  of  the  parish  of  St.  Dunstan  to  be  employed  in  the  capacity  of 
midwife  to  the  workhouse  ;  and  testimonials  having  been  produced  of  her 
ability — for  she  had  already  practised  midwifery  to  a  considerable  extent — 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  205 

sbe  was  duly  appointed.  Her  services  were  found  to  give  entire  satisfac- 
tion to  the  parish-officers,  and  she  now  hit  upon  a  new  mode  of  adding  to 
her  income.  She,  in  the  year  1765,  opened  a  house  in  which  she  adver- 
tised her  readiness  to  receive  women  to  lie-in  privately ;  but  finding  that 
the  expense  of  keeping  servants  would  be  very  great,  slie  applied  to  the 
officers  of  the  precinct  of  Whitefriars  and  of  the  Foundling  Hospital  for 
girls  to  be  apprenticed  to  her,  to  learn  the  duties  of  household  servants. 
Two  girls,  named  Mary  jNIitchell  and  Mary  Jones,  were  immediately  placed 
with  her,  the  former  from  Whitefriars,  and  the  latter  from  the  Foundling 
Hospital ;  and  it  would  appear,  that  at  first  the  poor  orphans  were  treated 
with  some  degree  of  consideration  and  attention,  but  as  soon  as  they  became 
familiar  with  their  mistress  and  their  situation,  the  slightest  inattention 
was  sufficient  to  call  down  upon  them  the  most  severe  chastisement.  The 
first  girl  who  experienced  this  brutal  treatment  was  Jones ;  and  it  appears 
that  her  mistress  would  frequently,  upon  the  smallest  possible  provocation, 
lay  her  down  across  two  chairs  in  the  kitchen,  and  there  whip  her  until 
she  was  compelled,  from  mere  weariness,  to  desist.  The  usual  termination 
of  this  scene  of  disgusting  inhumanity  was,  that  the  mistress  would  throw 
water  over  her  victim,  or  dip  her  head  into  a  bucket  of  water,  and  then 
dismiss  her  to  her  own  apartment.  The  room  appointed  for  the  girl  to 
sleep  in  adjoined  the  passage  leading  to  the  street-door ;  and,  after  she  had 
suffered  this  maltreatment  for  a  considerable  time,  as  she  had  received 
many  wounds  on  her  head,  shoulders,  and  various  parts  of  her  body,  she 
determined  not  to  bear  such  usage  any  longer,  if  she  could  secure  her  liberty. 
Observing  that  the  key  was  left  in  the  street-door  when  the  family  went 
to  bed,  therefore,  she  opened  it  cautiously  one  morning,  and  escaped  into 
the  street.  Thus  freed  from  her  horrid  confinement,  she  repeatedly 
inquired  her  way  to  tlie  Foundling  Hospital  until  she  found  it,  and  was 
admitted  after  describing  in  what  manner  she  had  been  treated,  and  show- 
ing the  bmises  she  had  received. 

The  child  having  been  examined  by  a  surgeon,  (who  found  her  wounds 
to  be  of  a  most  alarming  nature,)  the  governors  of  the  hospital  ordered  Mr. 
Plumbtree,  their  solicitor,  to  write  to  James  Brownrigg,  threatening  a 
prosecution,  if  he  did  not  give  a  proper  reason  for  the  severities  exercised 
toward  tlie  child ;  but  no  notice  of  this  having  been  taken,  the  governors 
of  the  hospital  thinking  it  imprudent  to  indict  at  common  law,  the  girl  was 
discharged,  in  consequence  of  an  application  to  the  chamberlain  of  London. 
The  other  girl,  Mary  INIitchell,  continued  with  her  mistress  for  the  space 
of  a  year,  during  which  she  was  treated  with  equal  cruelty,  and  she  also 
at  length  resolved  to  quit  her  service.  An  opportunity  soon  presented 
itself  which  favoured  her  design  ;  but  having  escaped  from  the  house,  she 
was  met  in  the  street  by  the  younger  son  of  Brownrigg,  who  forced  her  to 
return  home,  where  her  sufferings  were  greatly  aggravated  on  account  of 
her  elopement.  In  the  interim  Mrs.  Brownrigg  found  it  necessary  to  fill 
up  the  place  occupied  by  her  late  apprentice,  Mary  Jones ;  and  she 
applied  again  to  the  overseers  of  tlie  precinct  of  Whitefriars,  who,  having 
learned  nothing  of  the  ill-behaviour  of  the  woman,  bound  a  girl  named 
Mary  Clifford  to  her,  who  was  doomed  to  fall  a  victim  to  her  brutality, 
and  to  be  the  cause  of  her  eventual  execution.  It  was  not  long  before  the 
new  apprentice  experienced  equal  if  not  greater  cruelties  than  those  inflicted 
upon  the  other  unfortunate  girls.     She  was  frequently  tied  up  naked  and 


206  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

beaten  with  a  hearth-broom,  a  horsewhip,  or  a  cane,  till  she  was  abso- 
lutely speechless ;  and  the  poor  girl  having  a  natural  infirmity,  her 
mistress  would  not  permit  her  to  lie  in  a  bed,  but  placed  her  on  a  mat  in 
a  coal-hole  that  was  remarkably  cold.  After  some  time,  however,  a  sack 
and  a  quantity  of  straw  formed  her  bed,  instead  of  the  mat ;  but  during 
her  confinement  in  this  wretched  situation,  she  had  nothing  to  subsist  on 
but  bread  and  water  ;  and  her  covering,  during  the  night,  consisted  only 
of  her  own  clothes,  so  that  she  sometimes  lay  almost  perished  with  cold. 

On  a  particular  occasion,  when  she  was  almost  starving  with  hunger, 
she  broke  open  a  cupboard  in  search  of  food,  but  found  it  empty  ;  and  on 
another  day,  being  parched  with  thirst,  she  tore  down  some  boards  in  order 
to  procure  a  draught  of  water.  These  acts  of  what  were  deemed  daring 
atrocity  by  her  inhuman  mistress,  immediately  pointed  her  out  as  a  proper 
mark  for  the  most  rigorous  treatment ;  and,  having  been  stripped  to  the 
skin,  she  was  kept  naked  during  the  whole  day,  and  repeatedly  beaten 
with  the  but-end  of  a  whip.  In  the  course  of  this  barbarous  conduct 
Mrs.  Brownrigg  fastened  a  jack-chain  round  her  neck  so  tight  as  almost  to 
strangle  her,  and  confined  her  by  its  means  to  the  yard-door,  in  order  to 
prevent  her  escape,  in  case  of  her  mistress'  strength  reviving,  so  as  to 
enable  her  to  renew  the  severities  which  she  was  inflicting  on  her ;  and  a 
day  having  passed  in  the  exercise  of  these  most  atrocious  cruelties,  the 
miserable  girl  was  remanded  to  her  cellar,  her  hands  being  tied  behind  her, 
and  the  chain  being  still  round  her  neck,  to  be  ready  for  a  renewal  of  the 
cruelties  on  the  following  day.  Determined  then  upon  pursuing  the 
wretched  girl  still  further,  Mrs.  Brownrigg  tied  her  hands  together  with 
a  cord,  and  fixing  a  rope  to  her  wrists,  she  drew  her  up  to  a  water-pipe, 
which  ran  across  the  kitchen  ceiling,  and  commenced  a  most  unmerciful 
castigation,  but  the  pipe  giving  way  in  the  midst  of  it,  she  caused  her 
husband  to  fix  a  hook  in  the  beam,  and  then  again  hoisting  up  her  miser- 
able victim,  she  horsewhipped  her  until  she  was  weary,  the  blood  flowing 
at  nearly  every  stroke.  Nor  was  Mrs.  Brownrigg  the  only  tormentor  of 
this  wretched  being,  for  her  elder  son  having  one  day  ordered  her  to  put 
up  a  half-tester  bedstead,  her  strength  was  so  far  gone  that  she  was  unable 
to  obey  him,  on  which  he  whipped  her  until  she  sunk  insensible  under 
the  lash. 

At  length  the  unhappy  girl,  being  unable  any  longer  to  bear  these 
unheard-of  cruelties,  complained  to  a  French  lady  who  lodged  in  the 
house,  and  entreated  her  interference  to  procure  some  remission  of  the 
frightful  barbarities  which  had  been  practised  upon  her.  The  good- 
natured  foreigner  appealed  to  Mrs.  Brownrigg,  showing  to  her  the 
inhumanity  of  her  behaviour  ;  but  the  only  effect  produced  was  a  volley  of 
abuse  levelled  at  the  person  who  interposed,  and  an  attempt,  on  the  part 
of  the  monster,  to  cut  out  the  tongue  of  her  apprentice  with  a  pair  of 
scissors,  in  the  course  of  which  she  wounded  her  in  two  places. 

The  close  of  this  prolonged  tragedy,  however,  now  approached,  when 
the  disgusting  barbarity  of  Mrs.  Brownrigg,  at  which  the  heart  recoiU 
and  sickens,  was  to  be  discovered  and  punished.  In  the  month  of  July, 
the  step-mother  of  Clifford,  who  had  been  living  out  of  town,  came  to 
London  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  after  her  daughter  ;  and,  learning  from 
the  parish-officers  that  she  was  in  the  service  of  jMrs.  Brownrigg,  she 
immediately  proceeded  to  her  house,  and  requested  to  be  allowed  to  see 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  207 

her.  She  was,  however,  refused  admittance  by  Mr.  Brownrigg,  who  even 
threatened  to  carry  her  before  the  lord  mayor  if  she  came  there  to  make 
further  disturbances  ;  and  upon  this  she  was  going  away,  when  Mrs. 
Deacon,  wif»>  of  Mr.  Deacon,  baker,  at  the  adjoining  house,  called  her  iu, 
and  informed  her  that  she  and  her  family  had  often  heard  moanings  and 
froans  issue  from  Brownrigg's  house,  and  that  she  suspected  the  apprentices 
were  treated  with  unwarrantable  severity. 

The  suspicions  of  the  neighbourhood  having  thus  been  raised,  every 
means  was  employed  to  procure  the  unravelment  of  the  truth,  and  the; 
proceedings  of  the  guilty  parties  themselves  obtained  the  discovery  of  all 
their  wickedness. 

At  this  juncture  jNIr.  Brownrigg,  going  to  Hampstead  on  business, 
bought  a  hog,  which  he  sent  home  ;  and  the  animal  heur^  put  into  a  covered 
yard,  having  a  skylight,  it  was  thought  necessary  to  remove  the  window, 
in  order  to  give  to  it  air. 

As  soon  as  it  was  known  that  the  sky-light  was  removed,  Mr.  Deacon 
ordered  his  servants  to  watch,  in  order,  if  possible,  to  discover  the  girls : 
accordingly  one  of  the  maids,  looking  from  a  window,  saw  one  of  them 
stooping  down.  She  immediately  called  her  mistress,  who  procured  the 
attendance  of  some  of  the  neighbours,  and  having  all  of  them  been  witnesses 
to  the  shocking  scene  which  presented  itself,  some  men  got  upon  the  leads, 
and  dropped  bits  of  dirt,  in  order  to  induce  the  girl  to  speak  to  them  ; 
but  she  seemed  wholly  incapable.  Mrs.  Deacon  then  sent  to  Clifford's 
mother-in-law,  who  immediately  called  upon  Mr.  Grundy,  one  of  the 
overseers  of  St.  Dunstan's,  and  represented  the  case.  Mr.  Grundy  and  the 
rest  of  the  overseers,  with  the  women,  went  and  demanded  a  sight  of  Mary 
Clifford ;  but  Brownrigg,  who  had  nicknamed  her  Nan,  told  them  that  he 
knew  no  such  person ;  but,  if  they  wanted  to  see  jNIary  (meaning  Mary 
Mitchell),  they  might,  and  she  accordingly  produced  her.  Upon  this  Mr. 
Deacon's  servant  declared  that  ]Mary  Mitchell  was  not  the  girl  they  wanted, 
and  Mr.  Grundy  now  sent  for  a  constable  to  search  the  house.  An 
examination  took  place,  but,  the  girl  being  concealed,  she  was  not  found ; 
and  the  officers,  notwithstanding  the  threats  of  Brownrigg,  took  Mitchell 
away.  On  their  arriving  at  the  workhouse,  she  was  found  to  be  in  a  most 
wretched  state.  Her  body  was  covered  with  vilcerated  sores  ;  and  on  her 
taking  off  her  leathern  boddice,  it  stuck  so  fast  to  her  wounds  that  she 
shrieked  with  the  pain  ;  but,  on  being  treated  with  great  humanity,  and 
told  that  she  should  not  be  sent  back  to  Brownrigg's,  she  gave  an  account 
of  the  cruelties  which  she  had  undergone,  which  she  described  as  even  more 
terrible  than  we  have  ventured  to  paint  them.  She  also  stated  that  she 
had  met  her  fellow-apprentice  on  the  stairs  immediately  before  the  parish 
officers  entered  the  house,  and  added  that  Mrs.  Brownrigg  had  concealed 
her,  so  that  she  should  not  be  found.  Upon  this  Mr.  Grundy  and  the 
others  went  back  to  Brownrigg's,  and  in  spite  of  his  threats  of  prosecution, 
proceeded  to  take  him  into  custody.  He  then  promised  to  produce  the 
girl  if  he  were  allowed  his  liberty,  and  this  being  consented  to,  she  was 
brought  out  of  a  cupboard,  under  a  beaufet  in  the  dining-room. 

Words  cannot  adequately  describe  the  condition  of  misery  in  which  the 
unfortunate  girl  was  found  to  be  on  her  being  examined.  Medical 
assistance  was  immediately  obtained,  and  she  was  pronounced  to  be  in 
considerable  danger ;  and  Brownrigg  was  in  consequence  taken  into 
custody,   and   conveyed  to   Wood-street  Compter.      His    wife   and   son. 


208  THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

alarmed  at  this  proceeding,  absconded,  carrying  with  them  some  articles  of 
value  for  their  support ;  and  Brownrigg  subsequently  being  carried  before 
Mr.  Alderman  Crossby,  was  fully  committed  for  trial,  upon  the  charge  of 
having  been  guilty  of  violent  assaults.  The  melancholy  death  of  the  girl 
Clifford,  however,  which  took  place  in  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  a  few 
days  afterwards,  altered  the  complexion  of  the  offence  ;  and  a  Coroner's 
Inquest  having  been  summoned,  a  verdict  of  wilful  murder  was  returned 
against  the  three  Brownriggs,  father,  mother,  and  son. 

The  two  latter,  in  the  meantime,  had  shifted  about  from  place  to  place 
in  London,  and  had  taken  every  means  in  their  power  to  disguise  them- 
selves ;  but  at  length  they  removed  to  Wandsworth,  determined  to  await 
there  the  result  of  the  trial  of  their  relation.  It  so  happened,  however, 
that  they  took  lodging  in  the  house  of  a  j\Ir.  Dunbar,  a  chandler,  and  that 
person  having  some  suspicion  of  his  guests,  watched  them  narrowly;  and 
seeinof  an  advertisement  which  described  their  persons  exactly,  as  being 
participators  in  the  murder  wlUch  had  been  committed,  he  caused  their 
apprehension. 

At  the  ensuing  session  at  the  Old  Bailey  the  three  prisoners  were  brougiit 
to  trial ;  and,  after  an  investigation  of  eleven  hours'  duration,  Mrs.  Brown- 
rigg  was  capitally  convicted ;  but  her  husband  and  son  were  found  not 
guilty  of  the  offence  imputed  to  them.  ]\Irs.  Brownrigg  was  immediately 
sentenced  to  undergo  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law,  while  the  partici- 
pators in  her  guilt  were  detained  for  trial  on  the  minor  charge  of  misde- 
meanor, of  which  they  were  eventually  convicted,  and  were  sentenced  to 
six  months'  imprisonment. 

After  sentence  had  been  pronounced,  the  unfortunate  woman  addressed 
herself  to  the  Almighty  ;  and,  being  attended  by  the  ordinary  of  the  jail, 
she  confessed  to  him  the  enormity  of  her  guilt,  and  that  the  punishment 
which  awaited  her  was  a  just  one.  The  parting  between  her  and  her 
husband  and  son  is  described  to  have  been  one  which  exhibited  the 
strongest  affection  to  exist,  and  which  appeared  to  call  up  all  those  better 
feelings  of  the  heart  in  the  breast  of  this  wretched  woman,  which  must 
have  lain  dormant  during  the  whole  course  of  the  maltreatment  to  which 
she  subjected  her  wretched  apprentices.  On  her  way  to  the  scaffold  she 
was  assailed  by  the  mob,  who  expressed  the  most  immitigated  disgust  for 
her  crime  ;  and,  before  the  termination  of  her  existence,  she  appeared  to  be 
fully  sensible  of  the  awful  situation  in  which  she  stood,  and  prayed  the 
ordinary  to  acquaint  the  people  that  she  confessed  her  crime,  and  acknow- 
ledged the  justice  of  her  sentence. 

After  her  execution,  which  took  place  at  Tyburn,  September  the  14th, 
1767,  her  body  was  put  into  a  hackney-coach,  and  conveyed  to  Surgeons' 
Hall,  where  it  was  dissected,  and  her  skeleton  hung  up. 


JOHN    WILLIAxMSON. 

EXECUTED    FOR    Ml'RDER. 

The  case  of  this  criminal  is  a  fit  companion  for  that  of  the  wretched 
being  whose  fate  we  last  described. 

Williamson  was  the  son  of  people  in  but  indifferent  circumstances,  who 
put  him  apprentice  to  a  shoemaker.  When  he  came  to  be  a  journeyman 
he  pursued  his  business  with  industry;  and  in  a  short  time  he  married  an 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  209 

honest  and  sober  woman,  by  whom  he  had  three  children.  His  wife 
dvinw,  he  continued  some  time  a  widower,  maintaining  himself  and  his 
children  in  a  decent  manner. 

At  lenofth  he  contracted  an  acquaintance  with  a  young  woman  deficient 
in  point  of  intellect,  to  whom  he  made  proposals  of  marriage,  in  the  anti- 
cipation of  receiving  a  small  sum  of  money,  which  her  relations  had  left 
her  for  her  maintenance.  The  woman  was  nothing  loth,  and  notwith- 
standing the  opposition  of  her  guardians,  Williamson  having  procured  a 
licence,  the  marriage  was  solemnized ;  and  he  in  consequence  received  the 
money  which  he  expected. 

Within  three  weeks  after  the  marriage,  his  ill-treatment  of  his  unhappy 
wife  commenced  ;  and  having  frequently  beaten  her  in  the  most  barbarous 
manner,  he  at  length  fastened  the  mi3erable  creature's  hands  behind  her  with 
handcuffs  ;  and,  by  means  of  a  rope  passed  through  a  staple  in  the  ceiling 
of  a  closet  where  she  was  confined,  drew  them  so  tight  above  her  head, 
that  only  the  tips  of  her  toes  touched  the  ground.  On  one  side  of  the 
closet  was  now  and  then  put  a  small  piece  of  bread-and-butter,  so  that  she 
could  just  touch  it  with  her  mouth  ;  and  she  was  daily  allowed  a  small 
portion  of  water.  She  once  remained  a  whole  month  Avithout  being  released 
from  this  miserable  condition ;  but  during  that  time  she  occasionally  re- 
ceived assistance  from  a  female  lodger  in  the  house,  and  a  little  girl, 
Williamson's  daughter  by  his  former  wife.  The  girl  having  once  released 
the  poor  sufferer,  the  inhuman  villain  beat  her  with  great  severity ;  but 
when  the  father  was  abroad,  the  child  frequently  gave  the  unhappy  woman 
a  stool  to  stand  upon,  by  which  means  her  pain  was  in  some  degree  abated. 

On  the  Sunday  preceding  the  day  on  which  she  died,  Williamson  released 
his  wife ;  and  at  dinner-time  cut  her  some  meat,  of  which,  however,  she 
ate  only  a  very  small  quantity.  Her  hands  being  greatly  swelled  through 
the  coldness  of  the  weather  and  the  pain  occasioned  by  the  handcuffs,  she 
begged  to  be  permitted  to  go  near  the  fire  ;  and  the  daughter  joining  in 
her  request,,  Williamson  complied  ;  but  tchen  she  had  sat  a  few  minutes, 
her  husband,  observing  her  throwing  the  vermin  that  swarmed  upon 
her  clothes  into  the  fire,  ordered  her  to  "  return  to  her  kennel."  She 
immediately  went  back  to  the  closet,  the  door  of  which  was  locked  till  the 
next  day,  and  she  was  then  found  to  be  in  a  delirious  state,  in  which  she 
continued  till  the  time  of  her  death,  which  happened  about  two  o'clock  on 
the  Tuesday  morning. 

The  coroner's  jury  being  summoned  to  sit  on  the  body,  ]\[r.  Barton,  a 
surgeon,  of  Redcross- street,  who  had  opened  it,  declared  that  he  was  of 
opinion  that  the  deceased  had  perished  through  the  want  of  the  common 
necessaries  of  life  ;  and  other  evidence  being  adduced  to  criminate  William- 
son, he  was  committed  to  Newgate. 

At  the  ensuing  sessions  at  the  Old  Bailey  he  was  brought  to  trial  before 
Lord  Chief  Baron  Parker  ;  and  the  principal  witnesses  against  him  were 
his  daughter,  Jlrs.  Cole,  and  Mr.  Barton,  the  surgeon  who  opened  the 
body  of  the  deceased. 

The  prisonei-'s  defence  was  exceedingly  frivolous.  He  said  his  wife  had 
provoked  him  by  treading  upon  a  kitten,  and  killing  it,  and  then  turning 
up  the  whites  of  her  eyes.  He  had  the  effrontery  also  to  declare  to  the 
Court  that  he  had  not  abridged  his  wife  of  any  of  the  necessaries  of  life ; 

VOL.  1.  E  E 


210 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 


and  after  sentence  of  death  was  pronounced,  he  reflected  upon  his  daughter 
as  being  the  cause  of  his  destruction. 

Being  put  into  the  cells,  he  sent  for  a  clergyman,  and  acknowledged  that 
he  had  treated  his  wife  in  the  cruel  manner  represented  upon  the  trial ; 
adding,  however,  that  he  had  no  design  of  depriving  her  of  life :  and  he 
afterwards  behaved  in  a  decent  and  penitent  manner. 

He  was  conveyed  to  the  place  of  execution  in  a  cart,  attended  by  two 
clergymen  and  a  methodist  preacher.  The  gallows  was  placed  on  the 
rising  ground  opposite  Chiswell-street,  in  Moorfields ;  and  after  he  had 
sung  a  psalm,  and  prayed  some  time  with  an  appearance  of  great  devotion, 
he  vtas  turned  off,  January  19th,  1767.  amidst  an  amazing  concoui-se  of  people. 

His  body  was  conveyed  to  Surgeons'  Hall  for  dissection,  and  his  children 
were  placed  in  Cripplegate  workhouse. 


SARAH  METYARD  AND  SARAH  ]\rORGAxN  METYARD. 

EXECUTED    FOK   THE    MURDERS    OF    PARISH    APPRENTICES. 

A  SINGLE  year  had  not  elapsed  since  the  public  example  made  of 
Elizabeth  Brownrigg,  to  which  the  public  indignation  was  yet  alive,  when 
these  two,  if  possible,  more  cruel  women,  were  found  guilty  of  torturing 
their  apprentices  to  death. 

Sarah  ]Metyard  was  a  milliner,  and  her  daughter  her  assistant,  in  Bniton- 
street,  Hanover-square,  London. 

In  the  year  1758  the  mother  had  five  apprentice  girls  bound  to  her  from 
different  pari^^h  workhouses,  among  whom  were  Anne  Naylor  and  her  sister, 

Anne  Xavlor,  beino-  of  a  sickly  constitution,  was  not  able  to  do  so  much 
work  as  the  other  apprentices,  and  she  therefore  became  the  more  immediate 
object  of  the  fury  of  her  mistress.  The  ill-treatment  which  she  experienced 
at  length  induced  the  unhappy  girl  to  abscond  ;  but  being  pursued,  she 
was  brought  back  and  confined  in  an  upper  apartment,  where  her  food 
consisted  ^f  a  small  piece  of  bread  and  a  draught  of  water  only  each  day. 
Seizincr  an  opportunity,  she  again  attempted  to  escape  ;  but  her  young 
mistress  was  in  time  to  see  her  run  out,  and,  following  her  and  seizing  her 
by  the  neck,  she  brought  her  back,  and  with  great  violence  thrust  her  into 
an  upper  room.  The  old  woman  then  interfered,  and  catching  the  girl,  she 
threw  her  on  the  bed,  while  her  daughter  beat  her  unmercifully  with  a 
hearth-brush.  This  done,  they  put  her  into  a  back  room,  and  fixing  a 
cord  round  her  waist,  they  tied  her  hands  behind  her,  and  fastened  her  to 
the  handle  of  the  door  so  as  to  prevent  her  sitting  or  lying  down ;  and  in 
order  that  the  example  of  her  punishment  might  intimidate  her  fellow- 
apprentices,  thev  were  ordered  to  work  in  the  adjoining  apartment,  strict 
injunctions,  however,  being  given  to  them  to  afford  the  prisoner  no  relief 
whatever. 

In  this  condition,  without  the  smallest  nourishment  of  any  kind,  the 
WTCtched  girl  remained  for  three  days  and  two  nights,  when  having  been 
let  loose,  in  order  that  she  might  go  to  bed,  she  crept  up  to  the  garret  in  a 
state  of  the  greatest  exhaustion.  On  the  fourth  day  she  Altered  in  her 
speech,  but  was  nevertheless  again  conveyed  to  what  was  worse  than  her 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  211 

condemned  cell,  and  there,  in  the  course  of  a  very  short  time,  she  expired^ 
her  body  being  suspended  by  the  cords  which  had  been  again  placed  round 
her  person.  The  other  girls,  seeing  that  her  whole  weight  was  thus  sup- 
ported, cried  out  that  she  did  not  move  ;  and  the  younger  Metyard  coming 
up,  said,  "  If  she  does  not  move  soon,  I'll  make  her,''  and  immediately  beat 
her  on  the  head  with  the  heel  of  a  shoe ;  but  finding  that  in  trutli  she  was 
senseless,  she  sent  for  her  mother  to  come  and  assist  her.  The  body  was 
then  released  from  its  bonds,  and  efforts  were  made  to  restore  animation,  but 
without  effect ;  and  Mrs.  Metyard  being  convinced  that  the  child  was  dead, 
removed  her  remains  into  the  garret.  On  tlie  return  of  the  other  children, 
who  had  been  sent  out  of  the  way,  they  were  informed  that  the  girl  had 
been  in  a  fit,  but  was  perfectly  recovered  ;  and  it  was  added  tliat  she  was 
now  locked  in  a  garret,  in  order  that  slie  should  not  run  away  :  and  to 
strengthen  the  effect  of  this  story,  a  plate  of  meat  was  sent  up  to  the  room 
where  the  body  lay  in  tlie  middle  of  the  day  for  her  dinner. 

On  the  fourth  day,  a  design  was  formed  to  follow  up  the  tale  which  had 
been  related ;  and  the  body  of  the  deceased  having  been  locked  in  a  box, 
the  garret-door  and  the  street-door  were  left  open,  and  one  of  the  appren- 
tices was  desired  to  call  Nanny  down  to  dinner,  and  to  tell  her  that  if  she 
would  promise  to  behave  well  in  future,  she  would  be  no  longer  confined. 
Upon  the  return  of  the  child,  she  said  Nanny  was  not  above  stairs  ;  and 
after  a  great  parade  in  searching  every  part  of  the  house,  the  Metyards 
reflected  upon  her  as  being  of  an  untractable  disposition,  and  pretended  that 
she  had  run  away. 

The  sister  of  the  deceased,  who  was  apprenticed  to  the  same  mistress, 
mentioned  to  a  lodger  in  the  house  that  she  was  persuaded  her  sister  was 
dead ;  observing,  that  it  was  not  probable  she  had  gone  away,  since  her 
shoes,  shift,  and  other  parts  of  her  apparel  still  remained  in  the  garret  ; 
and  the  suspicions  of  this  girl  coming  to  the  knowledge  of  the  inhuman 
wretches,  they,  with  a  view  of  preventing  a  discovery,  »3ruelly  murdered 
her,  and  secreted  the  body. 

The  body  of  Anne  remained  in  the  box  two  months,  during  which  time 
the  garret-door  was  kept  locked,  lest  the  offensive  smell  should  lead  to  a 
discovery ;  but  the  stench  at  length  becoming  very  powerful,  they  judged 
it  prudent  to  remove  the  remains  of  the  unhappy  victim  of  their  barbarity  ; 
and,  therefore,  in  the  evening  of  the  25th  of  December,  they  cut  the  body 
in  pieces,  and  tied  the  head  and  trunk  up  in  one  cloth,  and  the  limbs  in 
another,  excepting  one  hand,  a  finger  belonging  to  which  had  been  ampu- 
tated before  death,  which  they  resolved  to  burn. 

When  the  apprentices  were  gone  to  bed,  the  old  woman  put  the  hand 
into  the  fire,  saying,  "  The  fire  tells  no  tales;"  but  fearing  that  the  con- 
sumption of  the  whole  body  would  create  an  unpleasant  smell,  they  deter- 
mined to  dispose  of  its  parts  by  throwing  them  into  the  common  sewer  in 
Chick -lane.  Being  unable  to  effect  this,  however,  they  left  them  among 
the  mud  and  water  that  was  collected  before  the  grate  of  the  sewer  ;  and 
some  pieces  of  the  body  being  discovered  about  twelve  o'clock  by  the 
watchman,  he  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  the  constable  of  the  night. 
The  constable  applied  to  one  of  the  overseers  of  the  parish,  by  whose 
direction  the  parts  of  the  body  were  collected  and  taken  to  the  watch- 
house.  On  the  following  day  the  matter  was  communicated  to  Mr. 
Umfreville,  the  coroner,  who  examined  the  pieces  found  by  the  watchman  ; 


212  THE   NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

l)ut,  supposing  tliem  to  be  parts  of  a  corpse  taken  from  a  cliurchyard  for 
the  use  of  some  surgeon,  lie  declined  summoning  a  jury. 

Four  years  elapsed  before  the  discovery  of  these  horrid  murders ;  but 
at  length  the  dissensions  which  frequently  occurred  between  their  wretched 
perpetrators  procured  their  apprehension  and  conviction.  It  appears  that 
the  mother  was  in  the  habit  of  treating  her  daughter  with  a  brutality 
almost  equal  to  that  which  she  had  exhibited  to  her  apprentices,  and  about 
two  years  after  the  murders  a  gentleman  of  the  name  of  Rooker  took 
lodgings  in  the  house  of  Metyard,  where  he  lived  about  three  months, 
during  which  time  he  had  frequent  opportunities  of  observing  the  severity 
which  she  suffered. 

He  afterwards  hired  a  house  in  Hill-street,  and,  influenced  by  compas- 
sion for  her  sufferings,  and  being  desirous  of  relieving  her  from  the  tyranny 
of  her  mother,  he  invited  the  girl  to  live  in  his  family  in  the  capacity  of  a 
servant ;  which  offer  she  cheerfully  embraced,  though  her  mother  had 
many  times  violently  opposed  her  desire  of  going  to  service.  The  girl  had 
no  sooner  removed  to  JNIr.  Rooker's  house  than  the  old  woman  became 
perfectly  outrageous  ;  and  it  was  almost  her  daily  practice  to  create  dis- 
turbances in  Mr.  Rooker's  neighbourhood,  by  venting  the  most  bitter 
execrations  against  the  girl,  and  branding  her  with  the  most  opprobrious 
epithets.  Mr.  Rooker  subsequently  removed  to  Ealing,  to  reside  on  a  little 
estate  bequeathed  him  by  a  relation ;  and  having  by  this  time  seduced  the 
girl,  she  accompanied  him,  and  lived  with  him  professedly  in  the  character 
of  his  mistress. 

The  old  woman's  visits  were  not  less  frequent  at  Ealing  than  they  liad 
been  at  Mr.  Rooker's  house  in  London ;  nor  was  her  behaviour  less  out- 
rageous. 

On  the  9th  of  June  1768,  being  admitted  to  the  house,  she  teat  her 
daucrhter  in  a  terrible  manner  ;  and  during  the  contention  many  expressions 
were  uttered  by  both  parties  that  gave  great  uneasiness  to  Mr.  Rooker. 
The  mother  called  Mr.  Rooker  "  the  old  perfumed  tea-dog  ;"  and  the  girl 
retorted  by  saying,  "  Remember,  mother,  you  are  the  perfumer ;  you  art 
the  Chick-lane  ghost." 

The  mother  having  retired,  ]\Ir.  Rooker  urged  the  girl  to  explain  what 
was  meant  to  be  insinuated  by  the  indirect  accusations  introduced  by  both 
parties  in  the  course  of  the  dispute  ;  and,  bursting  into  tears,  she  confessed 
the  particulars  of  the  murders,  begging  that  a  secret  so  materially  affecting 
her  mother  might  never  be  divulged. 

Mr.  Rooker  imagined  that  the  daughter  could  not  be  rendered  amenable 
to  the  law,  as  she  performed  her  share  in  the  murders  by  the  direction  of 
her  mother,  and  he  wrote  to  the  overseers  of  the  parish  of  Tottenham, 
acquainting  them  Avitli  what  he  had  learned.  The  elder  Metyard  was  in 
consequence  taken  into  custody ;  and  the  evidence  against  her  being  con- 
clusive, she  was  fully  committed  for  trial.  Some  circumstances,  however, 
having  come  out  Avhich  served  to  criminate  her  daughter,  she  also  was 
secured,  and  with  her  mother  was  sent  to  Newgate  to  abide  her  trial. 

When  arraigned  upon  the  indictment  preferred  against  them  at  the 
ensuing  Old  Bailey  Sessions,  they  bitterly  reproached  one  another  with  the 
part  each  had  taken  in  the  affair ;  and  if  any  evidence  of  their  guilt  had 
been  wanting,  their  own  declarations  at  this  time  would  have  been  suffi- 
cient to  secure  their  conviction.     The  jury  immediately  found  them  guilty, 


THE    iNEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  213 

and  tliey  were  sentenced  to  undergo  the  severest  penalty  of  the  law.  The 
younofer  prisoner  pleaded  that  she  was  pi-egnant,  on  being  called  up  to 
receive  judgment ;  but  a  jury  of  matrons  being  assembled,  they  declared 
her  plea  false,  and  she  was  sentenced  immediately. 

On  the  day  fixed  for  their  execution,  the  elder  prisoner  was  found  to  be 
in  a  state  of  utter  insensibility,  and  in  that  condition  she  was  carried  to  the 
scaffold,  and,  all  efforts  to  restore  her  having  failed,  was  turned  off.  Her 
dauohter  prayed  for  a  few  minutes  with  the  ordinary  who  attended  her, 
but  was  in  almost  as  melancholy  a  condition  as  her  mother. 

Tliey  were  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  19th  July  1768,  and  their  bodies 
were  afterwards  dissected  at  Surgeons'  Hall. 


FREDERIC,  LORD  BALTIMORE  ;    ELIZABETH  GRIFFEN- 
BURG  ;  AND  ANNE  HARVEY. 

TRIED    FOR    THE    COMMISSIOX  OF    A    RAPE,    THE    FEMALES    AS     ^.CCESSORIES 
BEFORE    THE    FACT. 

Although  the  trial  of  these  persons  was  not  followed  by  a  conviction, 
the  extraordinary  nature  of  the  transactions  described  by  the  prosecutrix  in 
the  case  renders  it  our  duty  to  state  the  facts  alleged  as  they  appeared  at 
the  trial. 

The  title  which  was  inherited  by  Lord  Baltimore,  who  was  a  peer  of 
Ireland,  was  originally  granted  by  James  I.  to  Mr,  Calvert,  from  whom 
he  was  lineally  descended,  together  with  a  large  tract  of  land  in  America, 
now  called  Maryland.  His  lordship  is  related  to  have  exhibited  a  taste 
for  knowledge  in  early  life,  and  was  sent  from  Epsom,  where  he  was  born, 
to  Eton,  where  he  soon  gained  a  considerable  acquaintance  with  the  classics. 
His  father  dying  before  he  was  of  age,  left  him  an  ample  fortune  ;  and  he 
is  said  to  have  shown  at  this  time  the  existence  of  that  passion  which  sub- 
sequently brought  him  into  the  difficulty  from  which  he  was  compelled  to 
extricate  himself  before  a  jury  of  his  country. 

In  obedience  to  the  custom  of  the  times,  the  young  lord  proceeded  to 
perform  the  grand  tour  ;  and  it  is  reported  that  having  sailed  from  Naples 
to  Constantinople,  he  there  imbibed  so  great  an  admiration  for  the  manners 
of  the  Turks,  that  on  his  return  to  England  in  1766,  he  caused  a  portion  of 
his  family  mansion  to  be  taken  down,  and  to  be  rebuilt  in  the  form  of  a 
harem.  His  lordship  was  not  long  in  completing  his  new  establishment ; 
and,  like  the  persons  whose  customs  he  imitated,  he  gave  to  its  inmates 
certain  rules,  by  which  he  directed  that  their  conduct  and  demeanouv 
should  be  regulated. 

The  disgusting  passions  of  his  lordship,  however,  knew  no  bounds  ;  and 
agents  were  employed  in  London,  whose  duty  it  was  to  select  new  objects 
for  the  gratification  of  his  lustful  desires.  Amongst  others  who  were  thus 
engaged  in  this  degrading  office  were  the  women  Griffenburg,  who  was  a 
native  of  Germany,  and  the  wife  of  a  Dr.  Griffenburg,  and  Harvey,  whose 
names  appear  at  the  head  of  this  article.  They  were  both  women  of  low 
education,  and  their  duty  was  to  discover  and  point  out  persons  who  might 
be  deemed  worthy  of  the  attentions  of  their  employer,  and  in  case  of  necessity 
to  aid  him  in  securing  tlie  end  which  he  had  in  view.    In  the  course  of  their 


214  THE    NEW    JVEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

brutal  and  inhuman  searches  in  this  occupation,  they  unfortunately  disco- 
vered a  young  woman  of  considerable  personal  attractions,  and  of  some 
respectability,  named  Woodcock,  who  kept  a  milliner's  shop  on  Tower- 
hill  ;  and  JMrs.  Harvey  acquainting  his  lordship  with  her  residence,  in 
November  1767,  he  directly  proceeded  to  the  spot  for  the  purpose  of 
pursuing  his  diabolical  designs.  Calling  at  Miss  Woodcock's  shop,  he 
purcliased  some  articles  of  trifling  value,  with  a  view  of  making  an 
acquaintance  with  her ;  and  then  having  succeeded  in  opening  a  conversa- 
tion with  lier,  he  invited  her  to  accompany  him  to  the  theatre.  Miss  Wood- 
cock declined  the  oft'er,  saying  that  her  religious  opinions  taught  her  to 
believe  that  theatrical  entertainments  were  incompatible  with  the  due 
exercise  of  tlie  worship  of  the  Almighty ;  and  his  lordship  finding  ail  his 
eftbrts  to  attain  his  object  vain,  retired,  but  only  to  put  his  agent,  Mrs 
Harvey,  to  work. 

Introducing  herself  as  a  customer,  this  infamous  woman  called  repeatedly 
at  the  shop  of  her  intended  victim,  and  purchased  ruffles  and  other  articles 
of  millinery.  On  the  14th  of  December,  however,  she  proceeded  to 
take  active  measures  in  her  plot ;  and  then  ordering  a  pair  of  lace  ruffles 
to  be  made  by  the  following  day,  she  directed  Miss  Woodcock  to  take  tliem 
herself  to  her  residence  in  the  Curtain-road,  Shoreditch,  declaring  that 
they  were  for  a  lady  of  rank  and  fortune,  who  was  desirous  of  encourag- 
ino-  her  in  her  business,  and  who,  if  the  order  was  punctually  obeyed, 
would,  without  doubt,  become  an  excellent  customer. 

The  ruffles  were  finished  and  carried  home  at  the  appointed  time  :  and 
then  Miss  Woodcock  being  invited  in,  was  received  politely  by  Mrs. 
Harvey,  who  pressed  her  to  stay  to  tea.  She  declined  the  invitation,  on 
the  ground  that  it  would  be  dark  before  she  could  reach  home  if  she 
remained  ;  but  at  this  moment  a  man  named  Isaacs  came  in,  who  said  that 
he  was  going  to  the  tlieatre,  and  Mrs.  Harvey  expressing  a  desire  at  once 
to  convey  the  goods  which  had  been  brought  to  her  to  the  lady  for  whom 
they  were  ordered,  it  was  eventually  agreed,  after  some  objections  on  tiie 
part  of  Miss  Woodcock  as  to  her  dress,  that  as  Isaacs  must  hire  a  coach, 
they  should  all  go  together. 

At  this  time  Lord  Baltimore's  carriage  was  waiting  in  the  neighbour- 
hood, and  the  Jew  going  out,  called  it  up,  and  all  three  got  into  it, 
Miss  Woodcock  making  no  remark  as  to  whether  it  was  a  private  or  a 
hired  conveyance.  The  coachman  drove  at  a  great  pace ;  and  after  they 
had  traversed  many  streets,  the  vehicle  was  driven  into  the  court-yard 
of  a  house  which  appeared  to  be  that  of  a  person  of  consideration.  Mrs. 
Harvey  and  ]\Iiss  Woodcock  then  alighted,  and  being  ushered  into  the 
house,  they  were  conducted  through  several  apartments  until  they  reached 
one  in  which  an  elderly  gentleman,  afterwards  known  as  Dr.  Griffenburg, 
was  seen  seated  ;  and  he  immediately  retired,  saying  that  he  would  acquaint 
the  lady  of  the  house  with  their  arrival.  Lord  Baltimore  soon  afterwards 
entered  ;  and  JMiss  Woodcock  was  alarmed  to  find  that  he  was  the  person 
who  had  visited  her  shop.  He  bid  her  rest  quiet,  however,  saying  that  he 
was  only  the  steward  of  the  lady  whom  she  was  to  see,  and  then  quitted 
the  room,  but  soon  afterwards  returned  with  Mrs.  Griffenburg,  who 
conversed  with  her  as  if  she  had  expected  her  coming  and  was  the  lady  of 
the  house.  Orders  were  afterwards  given  for  tea ;  and  on  the  equipage 
beino-  removed  from  the  table.  Lord  Baltimore  presented  some  trii^kets  to 


THE    NIAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  215 

Miss  Woodcock,  which  he  said  he  had  purchased  for  her.  As  the  evening 
advanced  she  became  anxious  to  return,  and  expressi'd  her  fears  that  her 
relatives  woukl  be  surprised  at  her  long  absence  ;  but  his  lordship,  in  order 
to  divert  her  from  this  purpose,  took  her  to  view  the  apartments  in  the 
house,  and  at  length,  on  her  becoming  still  more  importunate,  insisted  that 
she  should  stay  for  supper.  Private  orders  having  been  given  for  the  pre- 
paration of  this  meal,  and  Mrs.  Griffenburg  having  retii'ed,  his  lordship 
bet^an  taking  liberties  of  an  indecent  character  with  the  young  lady  ;  but 
on  her  exclaiming  against  this  treatment,  Mrs.  Harvey  and  Dr.  Griffenburg 
appeared,  as  if  to  aid  in  opposing  her  escape  in  the  event  of  her  attempting 
to  obtain  her  liberty.  Supper  was  soon  afterwards  served ;  but  it  does 
not  appear  that  any  idea  was  entertained  by  Miss  Woodcock  of  an  inten- 
tion to  detain  her  forcibly  until  after  this  meal,  when  Lord  Baltimore  told 
her  that  there  were  no  coaches  to  be  had  then,  and  that  she  must  remain 
for  the  night. 

Mrs.  Griffenburg  and  jNIrs.  Harvey  now  endeavoured  to  prevail  on  the 
young  lady  to  go  to  bed  ;  but  she  declared  that  she  would  never  sleep  in 
that  house  ;  and  although  they  conducted  her  to  a  room  in  which  they 
went  to  rest,  she  continued  walking  about  till  the  morning,  and  lamenting 
her  unhappy  fate.  Looking  out  of  the  window  at  about  eight  o'clock,  she 
observed  a  young  woman  passing,  to  whom  she  threw  out  her  handkerchief, 
which  was  then  heavy  with  tears,  intending  to  attract  her  attention  and 
send  to  her  father  for  assistance  ;  but  the  two  women,  jumping  out  of  bed, 
prevented  the  possibility  of  her  holding  any  communication  with  her,  and 
upbraided  her  for  what  they  called  the  rejection  of  her  good  fortune, 
declaring  their  wishes  that  they  were  in  her  liappy  situation. 

The  women  now  quitting  the  room.  Lord  Baltimore  a:id  Dr.  Griffenburg 
came  in  soon  afterwards  ;  when  the  former  said  that  he  was  astonished  at 
her  outrageous  behaviour,  as  he  had  promised  that  she  should  go  home  at 
twelve  o'clock  :  but  she  replied  that  they  had  no  right  to  detain  her,  and 
that  she  would  go  home  directly,  as  her  sister,  and  pai'ticularly  her  father, 
would  be  inexpressibly  anxious  on  occasion  of  her  absence. 

To  this  no  answer  was  made  ;  but  Lord  Baltimore  conducted  her  down 
stairs,  and  ordered  breakfast.  She  refused,  however,  to  eat,  and  having 
wept  incessantly  till  twelve  o'clock,  at  that  hour  she  once  more  demanded 
her  liberty.  His  lordship  then  said  that  he  loved  her  to  excess ;  that  he 
could  not  part  with  her  ;  but  that  he  did  not  intend  any  injury  to  her,  and 
would  write  to  her  father  :  and  on  this  he  wrote  a  letter,  of  which  the 
following  is  a  copy,  and  in  it  sent  a  bank-note  of  two  hundred  pounds  : — 

"  Your  daughter  Sally  sends  you  the  enclosed,  and  desires  you  will  not 
be  uneasv  on  lier  account,  because  everything  will  turn  out  well  with  a 
little  patience  and  prudence.  She  is  at  a  friend's  house  safe  and  well,  in  all 
honesty  and  honour ;  nothing  else  is  meant,  you  may  depend  on  it ;  and, 
sir,  as  your  presence  and  consent  are  necessary,  we  beg  of  you  to  come  in  a 
private  manner  to  Mr.  Richard  Smith's  in  Broad-street  Buildings." 

Having  addressed  this  to  her  father,  he  showed  it  to  her,  and  desired 
that  she  would  write  a  few  words  at  the  bottom,  signifying  her  compliance 
with  its  terms  ;  and  terrified  by  her  condition,  she  wrote,  "  Dear  Father — 
This  is  true,  and  should  be  glad  you  would  come  this  afternoon.  Your 
dutiful  daughter." — From  the  statement  of  the  young  lady,  it  appears  that 
after  this  she  conjured  his  lordship  to  give  her  her  liberty,  pointing  out  to 


216  THE    XE\V    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

him,  in  the  most  striking  manner,  the.  degradation  to  which  she  was 
subjected  ;  but  all  her  arguments  were  in  vain,  and  she  was  again  compelled 
to  pass  the  night,  as  before,  in  the  room  with  Mrs.  Griffenburg  and  Mrs. 
Harvey.  In  tlie  morning,  by  permission  of  his  lordship,  she  wrote  a  letter 
to  her  father,  desiring  him  to  come  to  her  immediate  assistance,  but  saying 
that  she  had  been  treated  with  "  as  much  honour  as  she  could  expect ;"  but 
she  still  declined  holding  any  conversation  with  his  lordship,  and  used  all 
her  efforts  to  make  her  situation  known  to  the  passers-by.  In  this,  how- 
ever, she  was  checked  by  his  lordship  and  the  women,  who  threatened  to 
throw  her  out  of  window  in  the  event  of  her  making  any  disturbance. 
Towards  the  middle  of  the  day  she  was  told  that  her  father  had  called  at 
Mr.  Smith's,  but  had  refused  to  wait  tmtil  she  was  sent  for ;  but  at  mid- 
night Mr.  Broughton,  his  lordship's  steward,  brought  intelligence  that 
Isaacs,  the  Jew,  having  offered  a  letter  to  JNIiss  Woodcock's  father,  was 
stopped  till  he  should  give  an  account  where  the  young  lady  was  secreted. 
Lord  Baltimore  was,  or  affected  to  be,  in  a  violent  passion,  and  vowed 
veno-eance  against  the  father  ;  but  in  the  interim  the  Jew  entered,  and 
deUvered  a  letter  which  he  pretended  to  have  received  from  Miss  Wood- 
cock's sister,  and  she  took  it  to  read  :  but  she  had  wept  so  much  that 
her  eyes  were  sore;  and  of  all  she  read,  she  could  only  recollect  this 
passage  : — "  Only  please  to  appoint  a  place  where  and  when  we  may  meet 
with  you." 

The  hour  of  retirement  being  now  arrived,  IMiss  Woodcock  refused  to  go 
up  stairs,  unless  she  might  be  assured  of  not  receiving  any  insult  from  his 
lordship.  She  had  not  taken  any  sustenance  since  she  entered  the  house ; 
and  on  this  night  she  lay  down  in  her  clothes  on  a  bed  in  which  Mrs. 
Harvey  reposed  herself.  She  then  asked  this  woman  if  she  liad  ever  been 
in  love,  and  acknowledged  that  she  herself  was  addressed  by  a  young 
fellow,  who  appeared  very  fond  of  her,  and  that  they  were  to  settle  in 
business  as  soon  as  the  marriage  should  take  place  ;  and  she  desired  Mrs. 
Harvey  to  show  her  the  way  out  of  the  house  tliat  had  been  so  obnoxious 
to  her  :  but  the  answer  of  the  latter  was,  that  though  she  had  lived  in  the 
house  several  years,  she  did  not  herself  know  the  way  out  of  it. 

On  the  following  morning,  when  Miss  AVoodcock  went  down  stairs,  she 
pleaded  earnestly  with  Lord  Baltimore  for  lier  liberty  ;  on  which  he  became 
most  violently  enraged,  called  her  by  the  vilest  names,  and  said  that  if  she 
spoke  to  him  on  the  subject  any  more,  he  would  either  throw  her  out  of 
the  window,  or  send  her  home  in  a  wheelbarrow  witli  her  petticoats  tied 
over  her  head  ;  and  turning  to  Isaacs  the  Jew,  he  said,  "  Take  the  slut  to  a 
mean  house  like  herself ;"  which  greatly  terrified  her,  as  she  presumed  he 
'^eant  a  house  of  ill  fame. 

The  sufferings  she  had  undergone  having  by  this  time  made  her  extremely 

,  Lord  Baltimore  mixed  a  draught  for  her,  which  he  insisted  on  her 
drinking  ;  and  in  the  afternoon  he  compelled  her  to  sit  by  his  side  to  hear 
him  converse  upon  subjects  of  religion,  in  the  course  of  which,  however,  he 
ridiculed  everything   sacred,  and  denied  the  existence  of  a  soul. 

After  supper  he  made  six  several  attempts  to  ravish  her  within  two 
hours  ;  but  she  repulsed  him  in  such  a  determined  manner,  that  he  failed  in 
accomplishing  his  dishonourable  purpose.  On  that  night  she  lay  with  Mrs. 
Harvey,  but  could  get  no  rest,  as  she  was  in  fear  of  renewed  insults  from 
his  lordship. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  217 

On  the  ]\Ionday  morning  shfe  was  told  that  she  sliould  see  her  father ; 
and  having  been  supplied  with  a  change  of  linen  by  Mrs.  Griffcnburg,  she 
was  about  mid-day  hurrieil  into  a  coach  with  Lord  Baltimore,  Dr.  Grif- 
fenburg,  and  the  two  women,  and  with  them  conveyed  to  Epsom,  where, 
as  we  have  already  said,  his  lordship  had  a  country-seat.  Here  she  was 
told  that  resistance  was  useless,  and  that  whatever  objectxn  she  might 
make  to  submit  to  his  lordship's  desires,  force  would  be  used  if  her  consent 
was  not  given.  At  supper  she  partook  of  some  refreshment ;  and  imme- 
diately afterwards  she  was  conducted  to  a  bedchamber,  accompanied  by  the 
two  women,  who  began  to  undress  her.  From  weakness  she  was  unable 
to  make  ranch  resistance  ;  and  from  the  same  cause  she  was  prevented 
from  opposing  Lord  Baltimore,  who,  it  turned  out,  was  in  a  bed  which  was 
in  the  apartment,  and  who,  in  spite  of  her  cries  and  entreaties,  twice 
effected  his  horrid  purpose.  In  the  morning  Mrs.  Harvey  came  to  her, 
and  she  told  her  what  had  passed  ;  but  the  only  ansAver  which  was  o-iven, 
was  a  desire  that  she  would  make  no  more  fuss,  for  that  she  had  made 
noise  enough  already.  It  would  appear  that  after  this  the  proceedings  of 
his  lordship  were,  to  a  certain  extent,  acquiesced  in  by  ]\Iiss  Woodcock  ; 
but  it  was  not  until  several  days  had  elapsed  that  she  ascertained  the  name 
of  the  person  who  had  dishonoured  her.  On  the  afternoon  on  which  she 
made  this  discovery,  the  whole  party  returned  to  London,  and  i\Iiss  Wood- 
cock was  there  introduced  to  Madame  Saunier,  the  governess  of  his  lord- 
ship's illegitimate  children.  On  the  next  day  his  lordship  gave  her  some 
money  ;  and  when  night  advanced,  directed  that  she  should  repair  to  his 
bed.  Having  been  permitted  on  the  night  before  to  sleep  by  herstdf,  she 
requested  that  the  same  favour  might  be  again  granted  to  her ;  but  his 
lordship's  commands  being  positive  that  she  should  share  his  couch,  she 
consented  on  certain  terms,  which  were  fulfilled,  while,  according  to  her 
statement,  a  crime  of  a  still  more  atrocious  nature  was  committed. 

It  may  now  be  inquired  whether  no  steps  were  taken  by  Miss  Wood- 
cock's friends  in  order  to  procure  her  discovery,  and  her  return  to  the  roof 
of  her  parents  ;  and  it  appears  that  some  circumstances  having  been  learned 
which  induced  them  to  guess  the  real  place  of  her  concealment,  Davis,  her 
lover,  proceeded  to  Southampton-row,  Bloomsbury,  where  his  lordship's 
house  was  situated,  and  while  watching  there  saw  her  at  the  window.  He 
immediately  communicated  the  discovery  which  he  had  made  to  her  father, 
and  the  advice  of  Mr.  AYatts,  an  attorney,  having  been  taken,  a  writ  of 
habeas  corpus  was  obtained.  These  proceedings,  however,  were  heard  of 
by  his  lordship,  and  he  conversed  with  Miss  Woodcock  on  the  subject, 
and,  as  she  alleged,  extorted  from  her  a  promise  to  declare  that  she  had 
remained  at  his  house  voluntarily  and  of  her  own  free-will,  promising  to 
recompense  her  by  settling  upon  her  an  annuity  for  life.  She  in  conse- 
quence wrote  a  letter  to  her  father  to  that  effect,  which  was  delivered  by 
one  of  his  lordship's  servants;  and  on  Mr.  Watts'  proceeding  to  the  house 
to  serve  the  writ  of  habeas  corpus^  she  made  a  declaration  to  him  having 
the  same  tendency.  Lord  Baltimore  then  said  that  it  was  necessary  that 
she  should  go  before  Lord  jMansfield  and  make  a  similar  statement,  and 
she  was  accordingly  conveyed  to  his  lordship's  house  in  Bloomsbury-square. 
They  were  there  shown  into  different  apartments  ;  and  JMiss  Woodcock's 
friends  having  heard  of  the  proceeding,  were  also  in  attendance  in  an 
ante-chamber,  where  they  av/aited  the  result  of  the  conference. 

VOL.  I.  F  F 


2(3  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

The  young  lady,  on  being  examined  by  Lord  IVIansfield,  expressed 
her  willingness  to  remain  with  Lord  Baltimore,  but  desired  to  see  her 
friends  first.  She  was  then  conducted  to  the  room  where  her  father  was 
awaiting  the  conclusion  of  her  examination ;  and  there  the  first  question 
which  she  osked  was,  "  Who  is  Lord  ^Mansfield  ?"  Having  been  satisfied 
upon  this  head,  and  also  that  he  had  the  power  to  set  her  at  liberty,  she 
desired  to  see  him  again,  and  then  said  that  she  wished  to  go  home  with 
her  father,  and  that  she  would  no  longer  remain  with  Lord  Baltimore. 

On  jMiss  "Woodcock's  discharge,  INlr.  Cay,  a  baker  in  Whitecross-street 
(to  whom  her  fatlier  had  delivered  the  two  hundred  pound  bank-note 
which  had  been  enclosed  in  the  letter  by  Lord  Baltimore),  conveyed  the 
youn.o-  lady  to  Sir  John  Fielding,  before  whom  she  swore  to  the  actual 
commission  of  the  rape  by  his  lordship. 

The  two  women,  the  coadjutors  of  his  lordship,  had  been  already  taken 
into  custody,  on  the  charge  of  decoying  away  the  girl ;  and  a  warrant  was 
now  issued  for  the  apprehension  of  Lord  Baltimore.  His  lordship,  how- 
ever, secreted  himself  for  the  present,  but  surrendered  himself  to  the  Court 
of  King's  Bench  on  the  last  day  of  Hilary  Term,  1768;  when  the  two 
women  being  brought  thither  by  haheas  corpus^  they  were  all  admitted 
to  bail,  in  order  for  trial  at  Kingston,  in  Surrey,  because  the  crime  was 
alleged  to  have  been  committed  at  his  lordship's  seat  at  Epsom. 

In  the  interim  Miss  Woodcock  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Cay,  in  White- 
cross-street  ;  but  not  being  properly  accommodated  there,  she  proceeded  to 
the  house  of  a  friend,  where  she  lived  in  great  privacy  and  retirement  till 
the  time  arrived  for  the  trial  of  the  oftending  parties. 

Bills  of  indictment  being  found  against  Lord  Baltimore  and  the  two 
women,  they  were  all  brought  to  trial  before  Lord  Chief  Baron  Smythe ; 
and,  after  the  evidence  against  them  had  been  given,  in  substance  as  may 
be  collected  from  the  preceding  narrative.  Lord  Baltimore  made  the  follow- 
ing defence,  which  was  read  in  Court  by  Mr.  Hamersley,  solicitor  to  his 
lordship  : — 

'•'■  IMy  Lords  and  Gentlemen, — I  have  put  myself  upon  my  country, 
in  hopes  that  prejudice  and  clamour  will  avail  nothing  in  this  place,  where 
it  is  the  privilege  of  the  meanest  of  the  king's  subjects  to  be  presumed 
innocent  until  his  guilt  has  been  made  appear  by  legal  evidence.  I  wish  I 
could  say  that  I  had  been  treated  abroad  with  the  same  candour.  I  have 
been  loaded  with  obloquy;  the  most  malignant  libels  have  been  circulated, 
and  every  other  method  which  malice  could  devise  has  been  taken  to  create 
general  prejudice  against  me.  I  thank  God  that,  under  such  circumstances, 
I  have  had  firmness  and  resolution  enough  to  meet  my  accusers  face  to 
face,  and  provoke  an  inquiry  into  my  conduct.  H\c  murus  aheneus  esto^ 
— nil  consclre  sihL  The  charge  against  me,  and  against  these  poor  people 
who  are  involved  with  me,  because  they  might  otherwise  have  been  just 
witnesses  of  my  innocence,  is  in  its  nature  very  easy  to  be  made,  and  hard 
to  be  disproved.  The  accuser  has  the  advantage  of  supporting  it  by  a  direct 
and  positive  oath  ;  the  defence  can  only  be  collected  from  circumstances. 

"  My  defence  is  composed,  then,  of  a  variety  of  circumstances,  all  tending 

to  show  the  falsity  of  this  charge,  the  absurdity  of  it,  the  improbability 

that  it  could  be  true.     It  will  be  laid  before  the  jury,  under  the  direction 

of  my  counsel ;  and  I  have  the  confidence  of  an  innocent  man,  that  it  will 

e  manifest  to  your  lordship,  the  jury,  and  the  whole  world,  that  the  stcry 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  i2 1 9 

told  by  this  woman  is  a  perversion  of  trutli  in  every  particular.  What 
could  induce  her  to  make  such  a  charge,  I  can  only  suspect  : — Very  soon 
after  she  came  to  my  house  upon  a  representation  to  me  that  her  father 
was  distressed,  I  sent  him  a  considerable  sum  of  money  :  whether  the  ease 
with  which  that  money  was  obtained  from  me  might  suggest  the  idea,  as 
a  means  of  obtaining  a  larger  sum  of  money,  or  whether  it  was  thought 
necessary  to  destroy  me,  in  order  to  establisli  the  character  of  the  girl  to 
the  world,  I  know  not;  but  I  do  aver,  upon  the  word  of  a  man  of  honour, 
that  there  is  no  truth  in  anything  which  has  been  said  or  sworn  of  my 
having  offered  violence  to  this  girl.  I  ever  held  such  brutality  in  abhor- 
rence. I  am  totally  against  all  force ;  and  for  me  to  have  forced  this 
woman,  considering  my  weak  state  of  health,  and  my  strength,  is  not  only 
a  moral,  but  a  physical  impossibility.  She  is,  as  to  bodily  strength, 
stronger  than  I  am.  Strange  opinions,  upon  subjects  foreign  to  this  charge, 
have  been  falsely  imputed  to  me,  to  inflame  this  accusation.  Libertine  as 
I  am  represented,  I  hold  no  such  opinions.  Much  has  been  said  against 
me,  that  I  seduced  this  girl  from  her  parents :  seduction  is  not  the  point 
of  this  charge;  but  I  do  assure  your  lordship  and  the  jury,  this  part  of 
the  case  has  been  aggravated  exceedingly  beyond  the  truth.  If  I  have 
been  in  any  degree  to  blame,  I  am  sure  I  have  sufliciently  atoned  for  every 
indiscretion,  which  a  weak  attachment  to  this  unworthy  woman  may  have 
led  me  into,  by  having  suffered  the  disgrace  of  being  exposed  as  a  criminal 
at  the  bar  in  the  county  which  my  father  had  the  honour  to  represent  in 
parliament,  and  where  I  had  some  pretensions  to  have  attained  the  same 
honour,  had  that  sort  of  an  active  life  been  my  object. 

"  I  will  take  up  no  more  of  your  lordship's  time  than  to  add  that,  if  I 
had  been  conscious  of  the  guilt  now  imputed  to  me,  I  could  have  kept 
myself  and  my  fortune  out  of  the  reach  of  the  laws  of  this  country.  I  am 
a  citizen  of  the  world;  I  could  have  lived  anywhere:  but  I  love  my  own 
country,  and  submit  to  its  laws,  resolving  that  my  innocence  should  be 
justified  by  the  laws.  I  now,  by  my  own  voluntary  act,  by  surrendering 
myself  to  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  stake,  upon  tlie  verdict  of  twelve 
men,  my  life,  my  fortune,  and,  what  is  dearer  to  me,  my  honour. 

"  March  25,  1768."  "  BALTIMORE." 

The  substance  of  the  defence  of  IMrs.  Grlffenburg  and  Mrs.  Harvey 
consisted  principally  in  alleging  that  Miss  Woodcock  had  consented  to  all 
that  had  passed,  and  that  no  force  had  been  used  towards  her  either  by 
Lord  Baltimore  or  themselves. 

The  whole  of  the  case  having  now  been  heard.  Lord  Chief  Baron 
Smj'the,  in  a  clear  and  lucid  manner,  proceeded  to  sum  up  the  case  to  tl;e 
jury.  Having  pointed  out  to  them  the  law  of  the  case,  as  it  affected  the 
charge  against  the  prisoners,  and  their  defence,  his  lordship  proceeded  to 
recapitulate  the  evidence  which  had  been  produced,  in  doing  which  he  was 
occupied  during  a  period  of  three  hours.  He  concluded  by  saying, — "  In 
point  of  law,  the  fact  is  fully  proved  on  my  lord  and  the  two  other  pri- 
soners, if  you  believe  the  evidence  of  Sarah  Woodcock.  It  is  a  crime 
which  in  its  nature  can  only  be  proved  by  the  woman  on  whom  it  is  com- 
mitted ;  for  she  only  can  tell  whether  she  consented  or  no :  it  is,  as  my 
lord  observes,  very  easy  to  be  made,  and  hard  to  be  disproved  ;  and  the 
defence  can  only  be  collected  from  circumstances  ;  from  these  you  must 
judge  whether  her  evidence  is  or  is  not  to  be  believed.  Lord  Hale,  in  his 
'  History  of  the  Pleas  of  the  Crown,'  lays  down  the  rules  : — 1.  If  complaint 


220  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

is  not  made  soon  after  the  injury  is  supposed  to  be  received ;  2.  If  it  is 
not  followed  by  a  recent  prosecution ;  a  strong  presumption  arises  that  the 
complaint  is  malicious.  She  has  owned  the  injury  was  received  December 
22  ;  the  complaint  was  not  made  till  December  29  ;  but  she  has  accounted 
for  it  in  the  manner  you  have  heard.  The  strong  part  of  the  case  on 
behalf  of  the  prisonei's  is  her  not  complaining  when  she  was  at  Lord 
Mansfield's,  the  supreme  magistrate  of  the  kingdom  in  criminal  matters. 
Yon  have  heard  how  she  has  explained  and  accounted  for  her  conduct  in 
that  particular,  which  you  will  judge  of.  Upon  the  whole,  if  you  believe 
that  slie  made  the  discovery  as  soon  as  she  knew  she  had  an  opportunity 
jf  doing  it,  and  that  her  account  is  true,  you  will  find  all  the  prisoners 
Guilty  ;  if  you  believe  that  she  did  not  make  the  discovery  as  soon  as  she 
had  an  opportunity,  and  from  thence,  or  other  circumstances,  are  not  satis- 
fied her  account  is  true,  you  will  find  them  all  Not  guilty :  for  if  he  is  not 
guilty,  they  cannot  be  so ;  for  they  cannot  be  accessory  to  a  crime  which 
was  never  committed." 

After  an  absence  of  an  hour  and  twenty  minutes,  the  jury  returned  with 
a  verdict  that  the  prisoners  were  not  guilty. 

This  singular  affair  was  tried  at  Kingston,  in  Surrey,  on  the  26th  of 
March,  1768. 

It  would  be  useless  to  offer  any  observations  upon  this  extraordinary 
case.  From  the  verdict  returned  by  the  jury,  there  ought  to  exist  no 
doubt  of  the  innocence  of  the  persons  charged  of  the  offence  imputed  to 
them  ;  but  although  Lord  Baltimore  and  his  companions  were  acquitted 
of  the  charge  of  rape,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  ruin  of  the  unfor- 
tunate girl  Woodcock — even  if  what  was  admitted  by  his  lordship  were 
only  true — was  the  effect  of  a  vile  conspiracy  among  the  prisoners  to 
;<acrifice  her  to  the  libertine  passions  of  his  lordship. 


JOHN  WILKES,  ESQ. 

CONVICTED    OF    SEDITION    AND    BLASPHEMY. 

TuE  year  1768  will  ever  be  memorable  in  the  annals  of  English 
history  on  account  of  the  murders  and  mischief  committed  by  a  deluded 
mob,  stimulated  by  the  writings  and  opposition  to  the  government  of 
John  Wilkes,  Esq.  an  alderman  of  London,  and  member  of  parliament  for 
Aylesbury. 

The  most  scandalous  and  offensive  of  his  writings  were  in  a  periodical 
publication  called  the  "  North  Briton,"  No.  45  ;  and  a  pamphlet  entitled 
"  An  Essay  on  Woman*."     The  "  North  Briton"  was  of  a  political  nature  ; 

*  The  "  E^sav  on  Woman  ''  was  a  paiody  on  Pope's  sublime  work,  called  "  An  Essay  on 
>Ian." 

A  learned  divine,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Kidgell,  thus  writes  on  the  works  of  Wilkes: — 

"  On  the  title-page  is  an  obscene  print,  with  a  Greek  inscription,  sienifying  '  The  Saviour  of 
the  world.'  We  shall,  the  poison  of  the  publication  being  long  eradicated,  merely  quote  a 
commentator  on  the  subject  : 

"  In  this  work  ('An  Essay  on  Woman')  the  lewdest  thoughts  are  expressed  in  terms  of  tlic 
srreatest  obscenity  ;  the  most  horrid  impurity  is  minutely  represented;  the  sex  is  vilified  and 
insulted;  and  the  whole  is  scurrilous,  Impudent,  and  impious,  to  an  incredible  degree.  In  the 
variations  and  notes  the  inspired  writings  are  perverted  into  the  gro;s  ideas  of  a  libidinous  blas- 
phemer, with  an  invention  new,  wonderful,  and  horrid.  The  most  solemn  and  important 
passages  of  the  Gospel  are  tortured  into  the  oblique  obscenity  of  double  meanings,  worthy  only 
9f  him  who  is  at  once  the  enemy  of  God  and  man," 


TUE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  2*21 

the  other  a  piece  of  obscenity  :  the  one  calculated  to  set  the  people  against 
the  government ;  the  other  to  corrupt  their  morals. 

Amongst  the  ministers  who  found  themselves  more  personally  attacked  in 
the  "  North  Briton  "  was  Samuel  Martin,  Esq.  member  for  Camelford.  This 
gentleman  found  his  character,  as  secretary  to  the  Treasury,  so  vilified, 
that  he  called  the  writer  to  the  field.  He  had  before  been  engaged  in  a 
duel  with  Lord  Talbot,  and  had  then  escaped  unhurt,  but  Mr.  Martin  shot 
liim  •  and  the  wound  proved  so  dangerous  that  he  lay  uncertain  of  recover- 
intr  during  several  days,  and  was  confined  to  his  house  for  some  weeks. 

His  sufferings,  however,  did  not  end  here,  for  the  attorney-general  filed 
informations  against  him  as  author  of  "  The  North  Briton,"  No.  45*,  and 
the  pamphlet  entitled  "  An  Essay  on  Woman."  On  these  charges  he  was 
apprehended  ;  and  his  papers  having  been  seized  and  inspected,  he  was  com- 
mitted prisoner  to  the  Tower,  but  was  soon  admitted  to  bail.  Before  his 
trial  came  on,  JMr.  Wilkes  fled  to  France,  under  the  pretext  of  restoring 
his  health,  which  had  suffered  from  his  wound,  and  the  harassing  measures 
taken  against  him  by  the  secretaries  of  state,  Lord  Egremont  and  Lord 
Halifax ;  and  no  sooner  was  he  out  of  the  kingdom,  than  tlie  ministers 
proceeded  to  outlawry,  dismissed  him  from  his  command  as  colonel  of  the 
Buckincrhamshire  militia,  and  expelled  him  from  his  seat  in  parliament. 

While  in  Paris,  he  was  challenged  to  fight  by  a  Captain  Forbes,  on 
account  of  the  reflections  which  he  had  cast  upon  the  birthplace  of  the 
gallant  captain,  Scotland ;  but  he  declined  the  invitation,  alleging  that  he 
had  still  an  affair  to  settle  with  Lord  Egremont  before  he  could  venture  to 
take  any  other  duel  upon  his  hands.  The  death  of  that  noble  lord,  how- 
ever, left  him  free  to  fight ;  but  on  his  writing  to  accept  the  challenge,  his 
antanfonist  was  not  to  be  found.  Mr.  Wilkes  subsequently  returned  to 
London,  and  gave  notice  that  he  should  appear  to  answer  the  charges 
preferred  against  him  on  a  certain  day ;  and  then  having  appeared  in  his 
place,  as  an  alderman,  in  Guildhall,  on  his  return,  the  mob  took  the  horses 
from  his  carriage  and  dragged  it  to  his  house,  crying  "  Wilkes  and  liberty  ! " 
On  the  21st  of  February  1764,  the  trial  of  Mr,  Wilkes,  upon  the  accusa- 
tions alleged  against  him,  came  on  before  Lord  Mansfield,  and  he  was 
found  guilty  on  both  charges,  subject  to  arguments  upon  certain  points  as 
to  the  validity  of  his  apprehension,  the  seizure  of  his  papers,  and  the 
judgment  of  outlawry  which  had  been  obtained  against  him.  The  discus- 
sions preliminary  to  these  arguments  occupied  the  courts  at  various  times 
during  a  space  of  two  years  ;  and  in  the  mean  time,  the  popularity  of  Mr. 
Wilkes  and  the  outrages  of  the  mob  increased  daily. 

At  length,  on  the  27th  of  April  1768,  Mr.  Wilkes  having  been  served 
w^ith  a  writ  of  Capias  utlagatum,  was  brought  to  the  floor  of  the  Court  of 

*  The  paper  entitled  "  Tlie  North  Britou  "  was  ordered  to  be  burnt  by  the  common  execu- 
tioner at  the  Royal  Exchange.  Mr.  Alderman  Harley,  one  of  the  sheriffs  of  London,  attending 
in  his  ofBcial  capacity  to  see  this  carried  into  execution,  was  assaulted  and  wounded  by  the 
mob.  A  man  of  the  name  of  John  Franklin  was  seized  as  one  of  the  offenders,  and  committed 
to  Newgate.  On  the  day  of  the  conviction  of  Wilkes  he  was  tried  for  this  outrage  at  the  Old 
Bailey,  and  found  guilty. 

When  the  trial  was  ended,  the  worthy  alderman  addressed  the  Court  in  behalf  of  the  prisoner. 
He  said  that,  for  his  part,  he  had  forgiven  the  affront  offered  to  his  oivn  person  ;  that  justice 
required  a  prosecution  :  it  had  been,  by  the  conviction  of  the  offender,  in  part  satisfied,  and 
therefore  he  hoped  the  Court  would  mitigate  his  punishment.  The  Court  coo-plied  with  the 
prosecutor's  humane  request,  and  senteiik-ed  the  prisoner  to  a  short  imprisonment,  to  pay  a  fine 
of  six  shillings  and  eight  pence,  and  to  find  security  for  his  good  behaviour  for  one  year. 


TUE    MEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


King's  Bench  in  the  custody  of  the  proper  officer,  in  order  that  the 
question  of  his  being  admitted  to  bail  might  be  considered.  A  long  argu- 
ment took  place,  but  it  terminated  in  favour  of  the  crown,  and  ]\Ir.  Wilkes 
was  conveyed  to  the  King's  Bench  prison.  On  liis  way  thither  the  mob 
seized  the  coach  in  which  he  was  carried,  and  taking  the  horses  from  it, 
dragged  him  to  a  public-house  in  Spitalfields,  where  they  permitted  him  to 
alitrht  ;  but  at  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night  he  effected  his  escape  from  his 
over-zealous  friends,  and  proceeding  to  the  prison,  immediately  surrendered 
himself  into  lawful  custody.  On  the  following  day  he  was  visited  by  many 
of  his  friends ;  and  a  vast  mob  having  collected  outside  the  prison,  it  was 
feared  that  some  outrage  would  be  committed.  All  remained  quiet,  however, 
until  nio-ht,  when  the  rails  by  which  the  prison  wall  was  surrounded  were 
pulled  up  and  burned  as  a  bonfire,  and  the  inhabitants  of  Southwark  were 
compelled  to  illuminate  their  houses ;  but  upon  the  arrival  of  a  captain's 
guard  of  soldiers,  the  crowd  dispersed  without  doing  any  further  mischief. 

On  the  2Sth  of  April  the  case  of  outlawry  was  determined ;  and  Mr. 
Serjeant  Glynn  having  appeared  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Wilkes,  and  the 
Attorney-General  for  the  crown,  a  learned  and  lengthy  argument  was 
heard,  the  result  of  which  was  a  unanimous  expression  on  the  part  of  the 
court  that  the  outlawry  must  be  reversed.  The  general  warrant  on  which 
the  accused  had  been  apprehended  was  next  considered  and  declared  illegal ; 
but  the  counsel  for  the  crown  then  immediately  moved  that  judgment 
might  be  passed  upon  Mr.  Wilkes  upon  the  several  convictions  which  had 
taken  place.  This  was  answered  by  a  motion  on  his  part  in  arrest  of  judg- 
ment, and  the  following  Thursday  was  fixed  upon  for  hearing  the  point 
argued. 

In  the  mean  time  a  mob  had  remained  assembled  round  the  prison  whom 
no  efforts  of  the  civil  force  could  disperse ;  but  at  length  the  justices 
appeared,  followed  by  a  troop  of  soldiers,  determined  at  once  to  put  an  end 
to  the  alarming  nuisance  which  had  so  long  existed.  All  attempts  to 
procure  the  separation  of  the  crowd  by  fair  means  having  failed,  the  Riot 
Act  was  read ;  and  this  also  having  no  effect,  the  soldiers  were  ordered  to 
fire.  The  command  was  instantly  obeyed,  and  many  persons  were  killed 
and  dangerously  wounded,  some  of  whom  were  passing  at  a  distance  from 
the  scene  of  confusion. 

At  length  the  day  arrived  on  which  the  last  effort  was  to  he  made  to  get 
rid  of  the  charges  against  ]Mr.  Wilkes  ;  but  the  arguments  for  an  arrest  of 
judgment,  though  carried  on  with  great  ingenuity,  would  not  hold,  and  he 
was  found  to  have  been  legally  convicted  of  writing  the  libels.  For  that 
in  the  "  North  Briton  "  he  was  fined  five  hundred  pounds,  and  sentenced  to 
two  years'  imprisonment  in  the  King's  Bench  prison  ;  and  for  the  "  Essay 
on  Woman  "  five  hundred  pounds  more,  a  further  imprisonment  of  twelve 
months,  and  to  find  security  for  his  good  behaviour  for  seven  years. 

Previously  to  his  imprisonment  Mr.  Wilkes  had  been  elected  member  of 
parliament  for  Middlesex,  when  the  address  which  he  published  to  his 
constituents  contained  the  following  passages : — "  In  the  whole  progress  of 
ministerial  vengeance  against  me  for  several  years,  I  have  sliown,  to  the 
conviction  of  all  mankind,  that  my  enemies  have  trampled  on  the  laws,  and 
have  been  actuated  by  the  spirit  of  tyranny  and  arbitrary  power. 

'■'■  The  general  tcarrant  under  which  I  was  first  apprehended  has  been 
adjudged  illegal.     The  seizure  of  my  papers   was  coudtmned  judicially 


yf//A^  .'ju<^. 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  223 

The  outlawry^  so  long  the  topic  of  violent  abuse,  is  at  last  declared  to  have 
been  contrary  to  law  ;  and  on  the  ground  first  taken  by  my  friend,  Mr. 
Serjeant  Glynn,  is  formally  reversed." 

The  mob  after  the  election  proceeded  to  the  commission  of  the  most  violent 
ontraoes.  They  broke  the  windows  of  Lord  Bute,  the  prime  minister,  and 
of  tlie  Mansion  House,  including  even  those  of  the  lady  mayoress's  bed- 
chamber, and  forced  the  inhabitants  of  the  metropolis  to  ihuminate  their 
houses,  crying  out  "  Wilkes  and  liberty  !"  and  all  who  refused  to  echo  it 
back  were  knocked  down. 

A  stone  was  thrown  by  this  daring  mob  at  the  Polish  Count  E,awotski, 
which  he  dexterously  caught  in  his  liand,  the  windows  of  his  carriage  in 
wliich  lie  sat  being  fortunately  down ;  and  his  lordship  looking  out  and 
smiHng,  he  received  no  other  violence. 

The  outrages  of  the  populace  were  too  many  to  be  enumerated ;  several 
innocent  people  were  killed,  and  vast  numbers  wounded.  They  broke  windows 
without  number,  destroyed  furniture,  and  even  insulted  royalty  itself. 

These  disgraceful  tumults  were  not  confined  to  the  metropolis  ;  and  the 
lenity,  or,  as  some  did  not  hesitate  to  assert,  the  timidity  of  the  government, 
spread  disaffection  into  all  classes  of  mechanics,  who,  thinking  the  time  at 
hand  when  they  might  exact  what  wages  they  pleased,  perhaps  even 
beyond  their  masters'  profits,  struck  work. 

The  sailors,  following  the  example  of  the  landsmen,  went  in  a  body 
of  many  thousands,  with  drums  beating  and  colours  flying,  to  St.  James's 
Palace,  and  presented  a  petition  to  the  king,  praying  a  "  Relief  of  Griev- 
ances." Two  days  afterwards  they  assembled  in  much  greater  numbers, 
and  proceeded  as  far  as  Palace  Yard,  in  order  to  petition  Parliament  for  an 
increase  of  wages  ;  when  they  were  addressed  by  two  gentlemen  standing 
on  the  top  of  a  hackney-coach,  who  told  them  that  their  petition  could  not 
be  immediately  attended  to,  but  that  it  would  be  considered  and  answered 
in  due  time ;  whereupon  the  tars  gave  thi-ee  cheers,  and  for  a  while  dis- 
persed, A  short  time  afterwards,  however,  they  re-assembled  at  Limehouse, 
and  boarding  several  outward-bound  vessels,  seized  their  crews,  pretending 
that  they  would  not  suffer  any  ships  to  sail  until  their  wages  were 
increased.  The  watermen,  the  Spitalfields  weavers,  the  sawyers,  the 
hatters,  and  the  labouring  classes  in  the  country,  all  combined  in  the 
attempt  to  procure  their  wages  to  be  raised ;  but  while  in  London  the 
confusion  was  nearly  universal,  in  the  country  its  effects  were  confined  to 
a  few  districts,  where  some  interested  persons  managed  to  excite  the 
peaceably-disposed  people  to  acts  of  outrage. 

They  soon  discovered  the  error  into  which  they  had  fallen,  however ; 
and  a  few  of  them  having  suffered  execution,  and  others  some  severe 
imprisonments,  they  returned  to  their  duty. 

The  folly  of  popular  commotion  was  never  better  exemplified  than  in 
the  case  of  Wilkes,  whose  patriotism  was  accidental  and  mercenary ;  for 
his  letters  to  his  daughter  clearly  show  the  contempt  with  which  he 
regarded  the  enthusiasm  in  his  favour,  and  the  object  he  had  in  view  in 
exciting  hatred  against  the  government.  Many  of  the  deluded  people  who 
shouted  "  Wilkes  and  liberty  !"  were  severely  injured  in  the  riots  ;  and 
others  were  subsequently  punished  by  the  outraged  laws  of  the  country. 
In  a  short  time  the  commotion  subsided,  and  the  author  of  them  sunk  into 
comparative  obscurity,  in  which  he  continued  until  his  death  in  1797,  at 
the  age  of  seventy  years. 


2f?4  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENUAU. 

MUNGO  CAMPBELL. 

CONVICTED    OF    THE    MURDER    OF    THE    EARL    OF    EGLINTON. 

Tnis  melancholy  case  arose  out  of  the  existing  system  of  game-laws. 

The  lamented  Mr.  Campbell  was  descended  from  the  noble  family  of 
Argj'le,  and  was  born  at  A}t  in  Scotland.  His  father  was  an  eminent 
merchant — had  been  mayor  of  the  town,  and  a  justice  of  the  peace  ;  but 
having  no  less  than  twenty-four  children,  and  meeting  with  many  losses 
in  his  commercial  transactions,  it  was  impossible  for  him  to  make  any 
adequate  provision  for  his  family ;  so  that  on  his  death,  the  relations  took 
care  of  the  children,  and  educated  them  in  tlie  liberal  manner  which  is 
customary  in  Scotland.  The  unhappy  subject  of  this  narrative  was  pro- 
tected by  an  uncle,  who  gave  h'm  a  learned  education  ;  but  this  generous 
friend  dying  when  the  youth  was  about  eighteen  years  of  age,  left  him 
sixty  pounds  a  year,  and  earnestly  recommended  him  to  the  care  of  his 
other  relations. 

The  young  man  was  a  finished  scholar,  but  seemed  averse  to  make 
choice  of  any  of  the  learned  professions.  His  attachment  appeared  to  be 
to  the  military  life,  in  which  many  of  his  ancestors  had  distinguished 
themselves.  He  soon  followed  the  bent  of  his  inclinations,  and  entered  as 
a  cadet  in  the  royal  regiment  of  Scots  Greys,  then  commanded  by  his 
relation.  General  Campbell,  and  served  during  two  campaigns,  at  his 
own  expense.  Being  disappointed  in  obtaining  promotion,  however,  he 
returned  to  Scotland  in  the  year  1745,  and  Lord  Loudon,  to  whom  he  was 
distantly  related,  having  the  command  of  tlie  loyal  Highlanders,  who 
exhibited  so  much  bravery  in  their  opposition  to  the  rebellion,  IMr. 
Campbell  joined  that  regiment,  and  his  exertions  were  equally  creditable 
to  his  loyalty  and  his  courage. 

After  the  battle  of  Culloden  he  was  appointed,  through  the  instru- 
mentality of  Lord  Loudon,  to  fill  the  situation  of  an  officer  of  excise,  in 
Ayrshire  ;  and  notwithstanding  the  unpleasant  nature  of  his  employment, 
he  succeeded,  by  his  courtesy,  in  obtaining  the  good-will  of  all  his  neigh- 
bours, all  of  whom,  with  the  exception  of  the  Earl  of  Eglinton,  gave  him 
permission  to  kill  game  on  their  estates.  It  was  his  misfortune  to  live 
immediately  adjoining  the  property  of  his  lordship ;  and  it  would  appear 
that  the  noble  earl  having  once  detected  him  in  killing  a  hare,  warned  him 
not  to  commit  a  similar  ofience  again.  Mr.  Campbell  apologised  for  the 
trespass  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  and  excused  himself  by  stating  that 
he  was  in  search  of  smugglers,  and  tliat  having  suddenly  started  the  hare, 
he  was  surprised,  and  without  thinking,  he  shot  it.  The  ill-will  which 
was  raised  in  his  lordship's  mind  by  this  circumstance,  was  in  nowise 
removed  by  some  proceedings  which  Mr.  Campbell  was  compelled  to  take 
against  Bartleymore,  one  of  his  servants,  for  smuggling  ;  and  it  appears 
that  his  lordship's  death  was  eventually  attributable  to  the  steps  which  he 
took  at  the  instigation  of  this  very  person. 

About  ten  in  the  morning  of  the  24th  of  October  1769,  Campbell  took 
his  gun,  and  went  out  with  another  officer,  with  a  view  to  detect  smugglers. 
IMr.  Campbell  took  with  him  a  licence  for  shooting,  which  had  been  given 
him  by  Dr.  Hunter,  though  they  had  no  particular  design  of  killing  any 
game,  but  intended  to  shoot  a  woodcock  if  they  should  see  one. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  22.'> 

Tliey  crossed  a  small  part  of  Lord  Eglinton's  estate,  in  order  to  reach 
the  sea-shore,  where  they  intended  to  walk  ;  but  when  they  arrived  at  this 
spot  it  was  near  noon,  and  Lord  Eglinton  came  up  in  his  coach,  attended 
by  Mr.  Wilson,  a  carpenter,  who  was  working  for  him,  and  followed  by 
four  servants  on  horseback.  On  approaching  the  coast  his  lordship  met 
Bartleymore,  who  told  him  that  there  were  some  poachers  at  a  distance. 
Mr.  AVilson  would  have  endeavoured  to  draw  off  his  lordship's  notice  from 
such  a  business ;  but  Bartleymore  saying  that  Campbell  was  among  the 
poachers.  Lord  Eglinton  quitted  his  coach,  and  mounting  a  led  horse,  rode 
to  the  spot,  where  he  saw  Campbell  and  the  other  officer,  whose  name  was 
Brown.  His  lordship  said.  "  Mr.  Campbell,  I  did  not  expect  to  have 
found  you  so  soon  again  on  my  grounds,  after  your  promise  when  you  shot 
the  hare.  I  must  desire  that  you  will  give  me  your  gun."  Mr.  Campbell 
refused  to  deliver  up  his  property,  because  he  said  that  he  was  not  employ- 
ing it  in  an  unlawful  manner,  on  which  Lord  Eglinton  rode  towards  him, 
apparently  with  the  intention  of  taking  it  from  him.  Mr.  Campbell  on 
this  raised  his  gun,  and  retreating,  presented  it  at  his  lordship's  body ;  but 
the  latter  still  followed  him,  and  smiling,  asked  him  if  he  meant  to  shoot 
him.  He  said  that  he  would  if  he  did  not  keep  off,  and  then  Lord 
Eglinton  desired  that  his  gun  should  be  brought  to  him  from  the  carriao-e. 
In  the  interim,  his  lordship  dismounted,  and  going  close  to  Mr.  Campbell, 
again  required  that  he  should  deliver  up  the  weapon  which  he  carried,  but 
the  latter  declared  that  he  had  a  right  to  carry  it,  and  that  he  would  deliver 
it  to  no  man,  and  repeated  that  his  lordship  must  therefore  keep  off,  unless 
he  wished  to  be  shot.  Bartleymore  now  interfered  ;  and  Mr.  Campbell 
stumbling  against  a  stone,  fell,  and  Lord  Eglinton  then  advanced  as  if  to 
seize  him.  In  a  moment,  however,  Mr.  Campbell  raised  himself  on  his 
elbow,  and  lodged  the  contents  of  his  piece  in  the  noble  earl's  left  breast.  - 
His  lordship  directly  cried  out  that  he  was  killed,  and  Mr.  Campbell  was 
seized ;  but  his  lordship  desired  that  no  violence  should  be  used  towards 
him. 

Lord  Eglinton's  seat  was  about  three  miles  from  the  place  where  this 
fatal  event  happened ;  and  his  servants  put  him  into  the  carriage  to  convey 
him  home.  In  the  mean  time  Campbell's  hands  were  tied  behind  him  ;  and 
he  was  conducted  to  the  town  of  Saltcoats,  the  place  of  his  former  station 
as  an  exciseman. 

His  lordship,  after  languishing  for  ten  hours,  died ;  and  Mr.  Campbell 
was  then  committed  to  the  jail  of  Ayr  to  await  his  trial. 

Upon  his  being  arraigned  upon  the  indictment  preferred  acainst  him, 
various  arguments  were  urged  in  his  favour.  It  was  said — "  That  the 
gun  went  off  by  accident,  and  therefore  it  could  be  no  more  than  casual 
homicide. 

"  Secondly — That,  supposing  it  had  been  fired  with  an  intention  to  kill, 
yet  the  act  was  altogether  justifiable,  because  of  the  violent  provocation  he 
had  received ;  and  he  was  doing  no  more  than  defending  his  life  and 
property. 

"  Thirdly — It  could  not  be  murder,  because  it  could  not  be  supposed 
that  Mr.  Campbell  had  any  malice  against  his  lordship,  and  the  action 
itself  was  too  sudden  to  admit  of  deliberation." 

The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  urged  in  answer,  in  the  first  place, 
"  That  it  was  certain  malice  was  implied,  in  consequence  of  Canipbell's 
VOL.  I.  o  e 


226  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

presenting  the  gun  to  his  lordship,  and  telling  him  that,  unless  he  kept  off, 
lie  would  shoot  him. 

"  Secondly — That  there  was  no  provocation  given  by  the  earl  besides 
words,  and  words  could  not  be  construed  a  provocation  in  law. 

"  Thirdly — The  earl  had  a  right  to  seize  his  gun,  in  virtue  of  several 
acts  of  parliament,  which  were  the  established  laws  of  the  land,  to  which 
every  subject  is  obliged  to  be  obedient." 

After  repeated  debates  between  the  lawyers  of  Scotland,  a  day  was  at 
length  appointed  for  the  trial,  which  commenced  on  the  27th  of  February 
1770,  before  the  High  Court  of  Justiciary;  and,  the  jury  having  found 
]Mr.  Campbell  guilty,  he  was  sentenced  to  die. 

The  Lord  Justice  Clerk,  before  he  pronounced  the  solemn  sentence, 
addressed  himself  to  the  convict,  advising  him  to  make  the  most  devout 
preparation  for  death,  as  all  hopes  of  pardon  would  be  precluded,  from  the 
nature  of  his  offence. 

The  prisoner  conducted  himself  throughout  the  whole  proceedings  with 
the  utmost  calmness,  and  took  leave  of  his  friends  in  the  evening  with  great 
apparent  cheerfulness ;  and,  retiring  to  his  apartment,  he  begged  the  favour 
of  a  visit  from  them  on  the  following  day.  In  the  morning  of  the  28th  of 
February  1770,  however,  he  was  found  dead,  hanging  to  the  end  of  a  form 
which  he  had  set  upright,  and  a  silk  handkerchief  fastened  round  his  neck. 

The  following  lines  were  found  upon  the  floor,  close  to  the  body  : — 

"  Farewell,  vain  world  !  I've  had  enough  of  thee, 
And  now  am  careless  what  thou  say'st  of  me  : 
Thy  smiles  I  court  not,  nor  thy  frowns  I  fear  : 
My  cares  are  past ;  my  heart  lies  easy  here. 
What  faults  they  find  in  me  take  care,  to  shun  • 
And  look  at  home — enough  is  to  be  done." 


JAMES  ATTAWAY  AND  RICHARD  BAILEY. 

EXECUTED  FOR    BURGLARY. 

The  crime  for  which  these  men  so  justly  suffered  was  committed  in  a 
manner  most  artful  and  daring. 

About  nine  o'clock  in  the  evening  they  went  to  the  house  of  Thomas  Le 
Merr,  Esq.  in  Bedford-row,  London,  a  pubhc  and  genteel  street.  They 
had  received  information  that  Mr.  Le  ]\Ierr  was  in  the  country,  and  on 
their  knocking  at  the  door,  it  was  opened  by  a  footman,  who  was  alone  in 
the  house,  to  whom  Bailey  delivered  a  letter,  saying  it  was  for  his  master. 
Before  the  servant  could  answer,  they  rushed  in,  shut  the  street  door,  and 
siabbed  him  iu  the  belly  with  a  dagger.  They  then  drew  cords  from  their 
pockets,  tied  the  bleeding  man's  hands  behind  his  back,  and  dragged  him 
down  stairs  into  the  kitchen,  and  there  bringing  the  rope  about  his  neck, 
and  across  his  face,  in  such  a  mamier  that  it  went  through  his  month, 
which  it  kept  open,  and  making  it  fast  behind,  thus  bound,  they  force<i 
him  into  a  cellar,  and  bolted  him  in.  In  a  few  minutes  one  of  the  villains 
returned,  asking  if  he  was  fast ;  and  being  answered,  as  well  as  the  poor 
man  could  speak,  that  he  was  secure  enough,  they  broke  open  the  pantry, 
where  the  plate-chest  was  kept,  forced  the  lock,  and  deliberately  packed 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  227 

up  its  contents.  In  the  mean  time,  however,  the  wounded  man  gnawed  the 
rope  in  his  mouth,  and  soon  liberated  himself.  lie  then  forced  open  the 
door  which  confined  him,  and  got  into  the  area,  over  which  was  a  skylight, 
and,  apprehensive  that  he  was  bleeding  to  death,  he  made  an  effort,  by 
climbincr  up  a  pipe,  to  get  through  it,  and  give  an  alarm.  In  effecting  this 
he  stuck  by  the  middle,  and  near  his  wound,  a  considerable  time,  but  was 
not  heard  by  the  thieves,  who  were  busily  employed  in  securing  their 
plunder.  Making  a  last  exertion,  he  succeeded  in  raising  himself  up,  and, 
dragging  the  rope  after  him,  he  got  to  the  stables  behind  the  house,  and  called 
for  help  as  loud  as  his  almost  exhausted  strength  would  permit.  Five  or 
six  grooms  immediately  came  to  his  assistance  ;  and,  learning  the  cause  of 
his  alarm,  they  seized  the  robbers  as  they  were  coming  out  of  the  house ; 
thus  fortunately  saving  the  poor  fellow's  life  and  Mr.  Le  Merr's  property. 

On  this  evidence  the  prisoners  were  subsequently  found  guilty,  the 
wounded  man  being  able  to  appear  in  court  against  them,  and  were  executed 
at  Tyburn,  July  4,  1770. 


LEVI  AV^EIL,  ASHER  WEIL,  JACOB  LAZARUS,  AND 
SOLOMON  PORTER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    JOHN    SLOW. 

This  daring  violation  of  the  law,  which  long  roused  the  public  indigna- 
tion against  the  whole  Jewish  people,  happened  in  the  house  of  Mrs. 
Hutchings,  in  the  King's-road,  Chelsea,  who  was  a  farmer's  widow,  left 
by  her  husband  in  good  circumstances,  and  with  three  children,  two  boys 
and  a  girl. 

On  a  Saturday  evening,  just  as  the  Jewish  Sabbath  was  ended,  a  numerous 
gang  of  Jews  assembled  in  Chelsea  Fields;  and  having  lurked  about  there 
until  ten  o'clock,  at  that  hour  went  to  the  house  of  Mrs.  Hutchings,  and 
demanded  admittance.  The  family  had  all  retired  to  rest,  with  the 
exception  of  Mrs.  Hutchings  and  her  two  female  servants,  and  being 
alarmed  by  the  unseasonable  request  of  the  applicants,  they  proceeded  in  a 
body  to  know  their  business.  The  door  was  no  sooner  opened,  however, 
than  a  number  of  fellows, — all  of  whom  had  the  appearance  of  Jews, — 
rushed  in,  and  seizing  the  terrified  females,  threatened  them  with  instant 
death  in  the  event  of  their  offering  any  resistance.  Mrs.  Hutchings,  being 
a  woman  of  considerable  muscular  strength,  for  a  time  opposed  them  ;  but 
her  antagonists  having  soon  overpowered  her,  they  tied  her  petticoats  over 
her  head,  and  proceeded  to  secure  the  servants.  The  girls  having  been 
tied  back  to  back,  five  of  the  fellows  proceeded  to  ransack  the  nouse,  while 
the  remainder  of  the  gang  remained  below  to  guard  the  prisoners.  Having 
visited  the  rooms  occupied  by  the  children  of  Mrs.  Hutchings  in  turn,  the 
ruffians  proceeded  to  the  apartment  in  which  two  men,  employed  as 
labourers  on  the  farm,  named  John  Slow  and  William  Stone,  were  lying 
undisturbed  by  the  outcry  which  had  been  raised  below.  It  was  soon 
determined  that  these  men  were  likely  to  prove  mischievous,  and  that  they 
must  be  murdered ;  and  Levi  Weil,  a  Jewish  physician,  who  was  one  of 
the  party,  and  was  tlie  most  sanguinary  villain  of  his  gang,  aimed  a  blow 
at  the  breast  of  Stone,  intended  for  his  death,  but  which  only  stunned  him. 


228  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

Slow  started  up,  and  the  villains  cried  "  Shoot  him !  shoot  him  !"  and  a 
pistol  was  instantly  fired  at  him,  and  he  fell,  exclaiming,  "  Lord  have 
mercy  on  me  !  I  am  murdered  !" 

They  dragged  the  wounded  man  out  of  the  room  to  the  head  of  the 
stairs;  but  in  the  mean  time  Stone,  recovering  his  senses,  jumped  out  of 
bed,  and  escaped  to  the  roof  of  the  house,  through  the  window.  The 
thieves  now  descended  and  plundered  the  house  of  all  the  plate  they  could 
discover ;  but  finding  no  money,  they  went  to  Mrs.  Hutchings,  and 
threatened  to  murder  her  if  she  did  not  disclose  the  place  of  its 
concealment.  She  gave  them  her  watch,  and  was  afterwards  compelled  to 
give  up  a  purse  containing  651.,  with  which  tliey  immediately  retired. 
Mrs.  Hutchings  now  directly  set  her  female  servants  at  liberty,  and  having 
gone  in  search  of  the  men,  she  found  Slow,  who  declared  he  was  dying, 
and  dropped  insensible  on  the  floor.  He  languished  until  the  following 
afternoon,  and  then  died  of  the  wounds  which  he  had  received. 

It  was  a  considerable  time  before  the  perpetrators  of  this  most  diabolical 
outrage  were  discovered ;  but  they  were  at  length  given  up  to  justice  by 
one  of  their  accomplices,  named  Isaacs,  who  was  a  German  Jew,  and  who, 
reduced  to  the  greatest  necessity,  was  tempted  by  the  prospect  of  reward 
to  impeach  his  fellows.  It  then  turned  out  that  the  gang  consisted  of 
eiglit  persons,  who  were  headed  by  the  physician  before-mentioned.  Dr. 
Weil  had  been  educated  in  a  superior  manner.  He  had  studied  physic  in 
the  university  of  Leyden,  where  he  was  admitted  to  the  degree  of  doctor 
in  that  faculty ;  and,  then  coming  to  England,  he  practised  in  London, 
with  no  inconsiderable  degree  of  success,  and  was  always  known  by  the 
name  of  Doctor  Weil;  but  so  destitute  was  he  of  all  principle,  and 
such  was  the  depravity  of  his  heart,  that  he  determined  to  engage  in  the 
dangerous  practice  of  robbery  ;  and,  having  formed  this  fatal  resolution,  he 
wrote  to  Amsterdam,  to  some  poor  Jews,  to  come  to  England,  and  assist 
him  in  his  intended  depredations  on  the  public  ;  and  at  the  same  time  in- 
formed them  that  in  England  large  sums  were  to  be  acquired  by  the 
practice  of  theft. 

The  inconsiderate  men  no  sooner  received  Dr.  Weil's  letter  than  they 
procured  a  passport  from  the  English  consul,  and,  embarking  in  the 
Harwich  packet-boat,  arrived  in  England. 

They  lost  no  time  in  repairing  to  London,  and,  immediately  attending 
Dr.  Weil,  he  informed  them  that  his  plan  was,  that  they  should  go  out  in 
the  day-time,  and  minutely  survey  such  houses  near  London  as  might 
probably  aftbrd  a  good  booty,  and  then  attack  them  at  night. 

At  the  sessions  held  at  the  Old  Bailey,  in  tlie  month  of  December  1771, 
Levi  Weil,  Asher  Weil,  Marcus  Hartagh,  Jacob  Lazarus,  Solomon  Porter, 
and  Lazarus  Harry,  were  indicted  for  the  felony  and  murder  above- 
mentioned,  when  the  two  of  the  name  of  Weil,  with  Jacob  Lazarus  and 
Solomon  Porter,  were  capitally  convicted;  while  Marcus  Hartagh  and 
Lazarus  Harry  were  acquitted  for  want  of  evidence. 

These  men,  as  is  customary  in  all  cases  of  murder,  when  it  can  be  made 
convenient  to  the  Court,  were  tried  on  a  Friday,  and  on  the  following  day 
they  were  anathematised  in  the  synagogue.  As  their  execution  was  to 
take  place  on  the  Monday  following,  one  of  the  rabbis  went  to  them  in  the 
press-yard  of  Newgate,  and  delivered  to  each  of  them  a  Hebrew  book  ; 
but  declined  attending  them  to  the  place  of  death,  nor  even  prayed  witli 
them  at  the  time  of  his  visit. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  229 

They  were  attended  to  Tyburn,  the  place  of  execution,  by  immense 
crowds  of  people,  who  were  anxious  to  witness  the  exit  of  wretches,  whose 
'jrimes  had  been  so  much  the  object  of  public  notice. 

Having  prayed  together,  and  sung  a  hymn  in  the  Hebrew  language, 
they  were  launched  into  eternity,  December  9,  1771, 

After  the  bodies  had  hung  the  customary  time,  they  were  conveyed  Lo 
Surgeons'  Hall  to  be  dissected. 


JAMES    BOLL  AND. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

TuE  adventures  of  this  fellow  exhibit  him  to  have  been  a  pfi-son  of  a 
most  profligate  disposition.  By  means  of  his  employment  as  a  bailiff,  he 
obtained  the  custody  of  great  numbers  of  unfortunate  debtors,  whom  it 
became  his  entire  occupation  to  fleece  of  any  small  property  which  micrht 
be  left  in  their  possession  at  the  time  of  their  incarceration.  Bailifis  at  the 
present  day  are  not  much  esteemed  as  persons  of  respectable  character,  or 
whose  mode  of  life  is  at  all  calculated  to  raise  them  in  the  opinions  of  their 
fellows ;  but,  judging  from  the  case  of  Bolland,  the  race  appears  to  have 
much  improved  since  the  year  1772. 

Bolland  was  the  son  of  a  butcher  in  Whitechapel,  and  having  been 
brought  up  to  his  father's  trade,  he  opened  a  shop  on  his  own  account, 
almost  immediately  on  the  termination  of  his  apprenticeship.  His  ideas  of 
life,  however,  did  not  permit  him  to  pay  that  attention  to  his  business 
which  it  demanded ;  and  having  spent  no  small  portion  of  his  time  and 
money  in  the  society  of  bailiffs,  thief-takers,  and  blacklegs,  he  at  length 
found  himself  tottering  on  the  eve  of  bankruptcy.  To  avoid  a  catastrophe 
which  might  have  damaged  him  in  the  estimation  of  his  companions,  he 
now  sold  off  his  effects ;  and  in  order  to  indulge  a  taste  which  he 
appeared  to  have  imbibed  from  his  recent  associations,  he  procured  himsel 
to  be  appointed  one  of  the  officers  of  the  sheriff  of  Surrey,  and  opened  t 
"  sponging- house,"  or  receptacle  for  newly-arrested  debtors,  at  the  bottoni 
of  Falcon-court,  near  St.  George's  Church,  Southwark.  The  sponging- 
houses  of  the  last  century,  as  it  may  be  well  supposed,  had  no  better 
qualities  to  recommend  them  than  those  of  the  present  day,  and  that  of 
Mr.  Bolland  appeared  to  outvie  its  fellows  in  the  wretchedness  and  poverty 
of  its  equipments.  It  was,  however,  speedily  inhabited  by  a  number  of 
wretched  debtors,  and  now  came  the  opportunity  for  its  proprietor  to 
exercise  his  power  of  discrimination  between  those  who  were  unable  to 
contribute  to  his  benefit,  and  those  whose  purses  even  yet  afforded  the 
possibility  of  his  squeezing  from  them  a  few  golden  drops.  Those  whose 
money  was  all  spent  were  not  long  permitted  to  remain  in  his  "  establish- 
ment," but  were  sent  off  to  the  county  prison  as  soon  as  the  discovery  of 
their  poverty  was  made  ;  but  those  who  could  afford  to  pay  for  their 
accommodations,  and  besides  to  enter  with  him  into  the  amusements  of 
cards  and  dice,  were  welcomed  as  honoured  visitors,  so  long  as  their  money 
lasted,  until,  in  order  to  avoid  further  imposition,  they  demanded  to  be 
conveyed  to  prison,  or  until  the  exigency  of  the  writs  upon  which  they  had 
been  arrested  rendered  their  removal  necessary. 

It  may  be  readily  imagined  that  no  occasion  was  allowed  by  Bolland  tu 


230  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

slip,  on  which,  either  by  the  exercise  of  fraud  or  artifice,  he  could  procure 
money  from  his  unfortunate  guests  ;  and  situated  as  he  was — the  master  of 
the  house,  all  efforts  to  oppose  his  will  were  of  course  unavailing  so  long 
as  his  dupes  remained  under  his  roof.  But  while  his  frauds  at  home  were 
carried  on  with  tlie  most  daring  effrontery,  he  was  no  less  active  abroad, 
in  endeavf)uring  to  "•  raise  the  wind."  He  became  a  horse-dealer,  and  a 
bill-discounter  ;  and  in  both  of  these  professions  ample  opportunities  for 
the  exercise  of  all  sorts  of  chicanery  were  afforded.  At  length,  however, 
his  name  and  his  infamous  practices  became  so  notorious  that  his  business 
forsook  him — his  employers  jui^tly  imagining  that  when  his  conduct  was 
so  villanous,  they  might  be  justly  reflected  upon  for  encouraging  him — and 
with  his  business,  the  means  of  meeting  his  numerous  and  very  heavy 
expenses  declined.  His  creditors  became  clamorous,  and  a  commission  of 
bankruptcy  was  sued  out  by  a  friend,  but  not  until  he  had  managed  to  gull 
the  public  to  a  large  extent,  and  to  secrete  a  very  considerable  quantity  of 
valuable  effects. 

Having  been  "  whitewashed  "  of  his  old  debts,  upon  his  discharge  from 
prison  he  managed  once  again  to  enter  into  business,  and  having  procured 
new  bondsmen,  he  was  appointed  an  officer  to  the  sheriff'  of  Middlesex,  and 
opened  .1  sponging-house  in  the  Savoy.  His  successes  in  his  new  avocation 
were  by  no  means  so  great  as  those  which  he  had  experienced  in  his  late 
employment  in  Surrey  ;  but  he  managed  to  eke  out  the  means  of  existence 
between  his  house  and  his  successes  at  play  in  the  various  billiard-rooms  in 
the  vicinity  of  his  dwelling. 

At  length,  however,  having  by  his  fraudulent  schemes  involved  himself 
in  almost  innumerable  difficulties,  he  determined  upon  once  more  "passing 
the  court,"  to  get  rid  of  his  liabilities  ;  and  tlie  necessary  proceedings  were 
taken  to  procure  a  second  commission  of  bankruptcy.  During  his  sojourn 
in  the  Fleet  Prison,  whither,  like  many  of  his  late  victims,  he  was  now 
obliged  to  go,  he  formed  acquaintances  by  no  means  calculated  to  improve 
his  character  for  respectability,  nor  to  induce  him  to  adopt  any  new  mode 
of  life.  On  his  discharge,  through  the  instrumentality  of  some  of  his 
prison  friends,  he  procured  himself  once  again  to  be  appointed  a  sheriff"s 
officer  of  Middlesex,  and  he  now  commenced  business  in  Great  Shire  Lane, 
Fleet-street.  If  his  exertions  as  a  bailiff  in  the  Savoy  had  failed  in  pro- 
curing for  him  those  returns  which  his  situation  might  lead  him  to  expect, 
he  had  now  no  reason  to  complain  of  want  of  patronage.  His  ac- 
quaintance among  the  "sharp  practice"  attorneys  had  been  lately  increasing, 
and  he  was  soon  almost  fully  employed  by  them.  His  house  was  again 
rendered  the  means  of  procuring  for  hiin  the  most  extravagant  returns  for 
his  outlay  on  behalf  of  his  prisoners,  and  his  ingenuity  and  impudence 
supplied  any  deficiency  whicli  might  have  before  appeared  in  his  income. 

One  or  two  instances  of  the  devices  to  which  he  had  recourse  may  prove 
interesting.  Having  been  employed  by.  a  gentleman  to  arrest  a  person 
who  was  his  debtor  to  the  amount  of  three  hundred  pounds  on  a  bill  of 
exchange,  and  who  held  the  situation  of  captain  of  an  East  Indiaman, 
BoUand  immediately  proceeded  to  make  tlie  necessary  inquiries  respecting 
his  prey.  He  learned  that  his  vessel  was  about  to  sail  in  the  course  of  a 
very  few  days  ;  but,  determined  to  be  beforehand  with  him,  he  caused  him 
to  be  immediately  arrested  and  carried  to  his  lock-up  house.  His  employer, 
in  the  mean  time,  had  gone  out  of  town,  and  therefore  looked  for  no  imme- 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR,  231 

diate  account  from  the  officer  ;  but  the  latter  having  procured  the  Jeht  and 
costs  from  his  prisoner,  suffered  him  immediately  to  depart.  Some  months 
elapsed  before  the  plaintiff  in  the  suit  returned  to  London,  and  then  he 
demanded  to  know  what  success  the  bailiff  had  had  in  procuring  the 
payment  of  the  debt ;  but  he  was  assured  by  him  that  the  vessel  had  sailed 
before  the  writ  was  lodged  in  his  hands,  and  that  all  his  efforts  to  procure 
the  money  had  been  unavailing.  He  then  tendered  a  charge  of  tlie  costs 
which  had  been  incurred,  and  the  amount  having  been  paid,  he  walked  off. 
His  cheat  was  soon  destined  to  be  discovered,  however ;  for  the  captain 
having  returned,  a  writ  was  lodged  in  the  hands  of  another  officer,  by 
whom  he  was  a  second  time  arrested.  The  result  may  be  easily  imagined  : 
BoUand's  receipt  for  the  debt  and  costs,  dated  eighteen  months  before,  was 
produced,  and  the  prisoner  was  at  once  set  at  liberty.  Proceedings  were 
then  immediately  instituted  against  our  hero,  and  after  a  long  course  of 
opposition  to  the  law,  through  which  he  imagined  that  he  would  not  be 
followed,  he  was  compelled  to  refund  the  money  which  he  had  so  dis- 
honestly obtained. 

The  following  case  shows  that  he  did  not  always  come  off  the  winner  : — 
The  custom  of  putting  in  sham  bail  has  long  been  well  known  ;  and 
although  recent  enactments  of  the  legislature  have  put  an  end  to  this 
system,  founded  on  perjury  and  fraud,  the  "  men  of  straw  "  who  formerly 
paraded  Westminster  Hall,  ready  to  swear  that  they  were  worth  an)^ 
amount,  and  who  were  easily  recognised  by  the  straw  which  hung  out  of 
their  shoes,  are  yet  well  remembered.  Holland,  in  the  course  of  his  pro- 
fessional avocations,  had  frequent  necessity  for  the  use  of  persons  of  this 
description  ;  and  he  had  gone  so  far  as  to  hire  two  men  for  the  exclusive 
use  of  his  establishment,  whom  he  had  attired  in  something  like  decency, 
for  the  sake  of  giving  his  transactions  an  air  of  respectability.  Having 
upon  one  occasion  accompanied  his  servants  to  a  public -house  in  Covent 
Garden,  to  regale  them  after  a  "  good  hit,"  he  was  surprised  to  see  them 
suddenly  carried  off  by  two  Bow-street  runners  on  a  charge  of  highway- 
robbery.  At  the  ensuing  Old  Bailey  Sessions,  they  were  put  upon  their 
trial  charged  with  the  offence  alleged  against  ihem,  and  a  verdict  of  con- 
viction having  been  recorded,  they  were  sentenced  to  be  hanged.  Bolland, 
in  his  capacity  of  sheriff's  officer,  was  compelled  to  accompany  them  to 
the  gallows,  and  had  the  mortification  of  seeing  them  turned  off,  wearing 
the  clothes  which  he  had  provided  them,  and  which,  by  custom,  became 
the  property  of  the  executioner. 

Another  instance  will  show  how  far  his  villany  extended.  A  Mrs. 
Beauclerc  was  the  wife  of  a  captain  in  the  navy,  and  her  husband  having 
been  detained  at  sea  for  a  period  much  longer  than  was  expected,  she  con- 
tracted a  debt  amounting  to  thirty  pounds.  The  creditor  became  solicitous 
that  the  money  should  be  repaid  ;  but  Mrs.  Beauclerc  being  devoid  of 
the  means  of  payment,  and  having  no  friend  to  whom  in  her  strait  she 
could  apply,  was  at  length  arrested  by  Bolland  upon  a  writ  which  had  been 
placed  in  his  hands  for  execution,  and  conveyed  to  Great  Shire  Lane. 
Having  tasted  all  the  pleasures  of  a  residence  in  a  sponging-house,  slie 
became  anxious  in  a  day  or  two  for  her  release  upon  any  terms  which  she 
could  make ;  and,  upon  her  entreaty,  Bolland  procured  bail  to  be  put  in 
for  her  on  a  fee  of  five  guineas  being  handed  over.     She   had  scarcely 


232  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

obtained  her  liberty,  however,  before  she  was  rendered  into  custody  by  her 
bail,  acting  upon  the  advice  of  BoUand,  who  represented  that  her  circum- 
stances were  such  as  to  render  the  continuance  of  their  liability  in  her 
behalf  exceedingly  dangerous.  Every  post  was  expected  to  bring  news  of 
Captain  Beauclerc,  and  with  it  the  means  of  discharging  the  debt ;  and  the 
poor  woman,  terrified  at  an  incarceration  in  Newgate,  with  which  she  was 
threatened,  was  induced  to  raise  ten  pounds,  in  order  once  more  to  procure 
her  liberation  upon  bail.  The  money  being  tendered,  her  jailor  was  too 
good  a  judge  to  permit  her  to  go  at  large  without  some  further  security  ; 
and  he  insisted  upon  her  signing  a  bond  to  confess  judgment,  levyable  upon 
her  furniture,  as  a  collateral  security.  Mrs.  Beauclerc  was  ignorant  of  the 
nature  of  such  an  instrument,  and  readily  assented  to  everything  that  was 
proposed  ;  and  her  surprise  may  be  imagined  when,  on  the  very  day  after  her 
liberation,  a  writ  of  execution  was  put  into  her  house,  founded  upon  the 
judgment  signed  upon  her  confession,  under  which  all  her  goods  were  seized. 
Distracted  at  the  prospect  of  her  husband's  speedy  return,  and  at  his  dis- 
covery of  her  destitution,  in  a  state  of  the  wildest  desperation  she  attempted 
to  set  fire  to  the  house  which  she  occupied.  Her  offence  was,  from  its  nature, 
immediately  discovered,  and  the  unhappy  woman  was  dragged  to  Newgate 
to  await  her  trial.  Scarcely  had  she  become  an  inmate  of  the  jail,  the 
name  of  which  she  had  before  so  much  dreaded,  when  her  husband  arrived 
in  London,  and  was  horror-struck  at  discovering  her  situation.  Every 
effort  was  made  by  him  on  her  behalf ;  but  before  the  trial  of  his  wretched 
wife  came  on,  he  was  suddenly  arrested  by  Bolland,  upon  a  writ  sued  out 
upon  an  affidavit  of  debt,  falsely  sworn  at  the  instance  of  the  officer.  His 
condition  may  be  easily  supposed  to  have  been  heart-rending  in  the 
extreme  ;  and  his  wife,  deprived  of  the  assistance  which  she  might  have 
obtained  had  he  been  at  large,  was  convicted  and  received  sentence  of 
ieath.  The  captain,  in  order  as  soon  as  possible  to  be  able  to  render  his 
Adfe  that  comfort  which  her  situation  demanded,  and  to  make  some  exer- 
tions in  her  behalf,  procured  his  liberation,  though  it  was  by  paying  the 
debt  to  which  he  was  sworn  to  be  liable ;  and  the  case  of  his  wife  being 
represented  to  the  king,  she  was  at  length  released  from  confinement,  upon 
an  unconditional  pardon  which  was  granted  to  her. 

By  these  and  other  artifices,  and  by  the  most  unblushing  efirontery, 
Bolland  succeeded  at  length  in  amassing  a  sum  of  two  thousand  pounds ; 
and  the  office  of  City-marshal  becoming  vacant,  he  determined,  if  possible, 
to  become  its  possessor  by  way  of  purchase.  The  situation,  as  was  then 
customary,  was  put  up  for  sale,  and  after  a  spirited  bidding,  he  became  the 
buyer  at  a  price  of  two  thousand  four  hundred  pounds  ;  and  having  paid 
the  deposit-money,  and  raised  such  2:)ortion  of  the  whole  sum  as  he  did  not 
possess,  he  only  waited  the  approval  of  the  Court  of  Aldermen  at  once  to 
take  upon  himself  the  duties  of  the  office.  His  character  had,  however, 
became  too  notorious  to  permit  of  his  being  allowed  to  assume  a  situation 
of  so  much  importance  in  the  City  ;  and  a  message  was  communicated  to 
him  by  the  recorder,  in  which  the  nature  of  the  grounds  of  the  refusal 
were  stated.  An  action  was  threatened  upon  the  breach  of  contract,  as  well 
as  upon  the  defamation  of  his  character,  conveyed  by  the  message  of  the 
recorder ;  but  finding  that  he  was  likely  to  gain  nothing  by  an  opposition 
to  the  corporation  of  London,  he  desisted  from  any  further  proceedings, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  233 

and  demanded  the  restitution  of  the  amount  of  the  deposit  money.  But 
liere  he  was  doomed  to  suffer  another  disappomtment.  The  amount  handed 
over  had  been  attached  by  the  persons,  who  had  become  his  sureties  to  the 
sheriff,  on  account  of  certain  liabilities  which  he  had  incurred  to  them  under 
their  bail  bonds,  and  it  was  detained  in  order  to  *wait  the  decision  of  a 
court  of  law  upon  the  claim. 

Before  the  proceedings  which  arose  upon  the  subject,  however,  had  termi- 
nated, BoUand  was  guilty  of  the  offence  for  which  he  became  liable  to  trial, 
and  was  convicted  and  executed.  It  appears  that  his  crime  consisted  in 
the  introduction  of  a  false  indorsement  upon  the  back  of  a  bill  of  exchange, 
made  by  BoUand  for  the  purpose  of  giving  it  a  fictitious  value.  A  person 
named  Jesson  having  discounted  a  bill  for  him,  they  accidentally  met  at  the 
George  and  Vulture  Tavern,  Cornhill,  on  the  day  when  it  becanif  due. 
Jesson  demanded  payment ;  but  Bolland  declared  that  he  was  unprejrared 
with  the.  money  requisite  to  take  up  the  instrument,  and  tendered  anotlier 
bill  for  one  hundred  pounds,  accepted  by  a  Mr.  Bradshaw,  as  an  equiva- 
lent. Jesson,  after  some  demur,  consented  to  take  the  bill ;  and  Bolland 
indorsed  it  with  his  own  name.  This  was  exclaimed  against  by  Jesson,  on  the 
ground  that  it  would  not  be  negociable  if  his  name  appeared  on  it ;  and  he 
then  took  a  knife,  and,  according  to  Jesson's  belief,  scratched  out  the  whole 
name,  while,  in  reality,  he  scratched  out  all  except  the  initial,  which  he  left, 
and  to  which  he  added  the  letters  "  anks,"  so  as  to  make  the  name  "  James 
Banks."  The  bill  was  then  handed  back  to  Jesson ;  and  on  the  following 
day  it  was  discounted  for  him  by  a  person  named  Cardineaux.  The  latter 
subsequently  demanded  to  know  who  Banks  was ;  and  B')lland  informed 
him  that  he  was  a  victualler  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Rathbone  Place,  in 
an  extensive  and  reputable  way  of  business.  Before  the  bill  became  due 
it  was  again  discounted  for  Cardineaux  by  his  banker,  and  Bradshaw,  the 
acceptor,  became  bankrupt.  Cardineaux,  in  consequence,  applied  to 
Jesson  to  take  up  the  bill,  and  he  in  turn  went  to  Bolland ;  but  the  latter 
positively  refused  to  have  anything  to  do  with  it,  and  even  went  so  far  as 
to  deny,  with  the  utmost  effrontery,  that  he  had  ever  seen  it.  At  a  subse- 
quent meeting  between  Cardineaux,  Jesson,  and  Bolland,  the  latter  endea- 
voured to  excuse  himself  from  payment,  by  alleging  that  his  name  did  not 
appear  on  the  instrument ;  but  on  his  being  called  upon  to  explain  how 
Banks's  indorsement  came  upon  it,  he  desired  that  all  further  disputes 
might  subside,  and  that  he  would  take  it  up.  An  investigation,  however, 
subsequently  took  place,  and  Jesson,  annoyed  at  the  double  fraud  which 
had  been  practised  upon  him,  took  the  advice  of  counsel  as  to  what  should 
be  done.  An  opinion  was  given  that  an  indictment  for  forgery  would  lie, 
and  Bolland  was  taken  into  custody  ;  but  then  immediately  a  person,  who 
^tated  his  name  to  be  Banks,  applied  to  Cardineaux  to  take  up  the  bill. 
The  one  hundred  pounds  were  accepted,  and  the  supposed  Mr.  Banks 
obtained  a  receipt  for  that  amount ;  but  on  his  demanding  the  delivery  of 
the  bill,  he  was  informed  that  it  was  detained  in  order  to  be  produced  in 
evidence  at  the  trial,  after  which  he  should  be  welcome  to  it. 

The  prisoner  was  indicted  at  the  ensuing  Old  Bailey  sessions,  when 
proof  of  the  facts  which  we  have  detailed  having  been  given,  and  all  efforts 
to  prove  the  existence  of  any  such  Mr.  Banks  as  had  been  described  having 
failed,  a  verdict  of  Guilty  was  returned.  Every  effort  was  subsequently 
made  by  the  prisoner's  counsel,   on  a  motion  in    arrest  of  judgment,  tc 

VOL.    I.  H  n 


234  THE    NEW   NFVGATE    CALENDAR. 

procure  the  verdict  to  be  set  aside,  but  in  vain,  and  sentence  of  death 
was  passed  upon  him  in  the  usual  form. 

On  the  morning  of  his  execution,  the  unhappy  wretch  confessed  that  he 
had  been  guilty  of  innumerable  sins,  but  declared  that  he  had  no  fraudulent 
intention  in  indorsing  the  bill  when  he  put  it  oif. 

He  was  hanged  at  Tyburn  on  the  18th  of  March  1772,  and  his  body 
was  in  the  evening  conveyed  to  Bunhill  Fields,  and  there  buried. 


AVILLIAM  GRIFFITHS. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGHWAY  ROBBERY. 

The  person  robbed  in  this  case  was  the  celebrated  and  unfortunate  Dr. 
Dodd,  whom,  a  few  years  afterwards,  Fate  decreed  to  be  hanged  at  the 
very  spot  where  Griffiths  suffered. 

William  Griffiths  was  a  native  of  Shropshire,  and  followed  the  business  of 
husbandry  till  he  had  attained  his  eighteenth  year,  when  he  engaged  in 
a  naval  life,  and  remained  near  three  years  in  the  East  Indies.  The  ship 
was  paid  off  on  his  return  to  England  ;  and  our  \ero  receiving  a  consider- 
able sum  for  wages,  spent  his  money,  as  sailors  generally  do,  in  no  very 
reputable  company,  at  public-houses  in  Wapping  and  adjacent  parts. 

Being  now  reduced  to  poverty,  he  was  persuaded  by  two  fellows  named 
David  Evans  and  Timothy  Johnson  to  join  them  in  the  commission  of 
highway  robberies.  Their  efforts  were  attended  with  small  success,  and 
Griffiths's  reign  was  soon  terminated.  It  appears  that  the  Rev.  Dr.  Dodd 
and  his  lady  were  returning  from  a  visit  they  had  been  making  to  a  gentle- 
man at  St.  Albans,  but  were  detained  on  the  way  at  Barnet,  because  a 
post-chaise  could  not  be  immediately  procured.  Night  was  hastily  approach- 
ing when  they  left  Barnet ;  but  they  proceeded  unmolested  until  they 
came  near  the  turnpike  at  the  extremity  of  Tottenham-Court-Road,  when 
three  men  called  to  the  driver  of  the  carriage,  and  threatened  his  instant 
destruction  if  he  did  not  stop.  The  postboy  did  not  hesitate  to  obey  the 
summons  ;  but  no  sooner  was  the  carriage  stopped  than  a  pistol  was  fired, 
the  ball  from  which  went  through  the  front  glass  of  the  chaise,  but  did  not 
take  any  effect  to  the  injury  of  the  parties  in  it.  Griffiths  then  imme- 
diately opened  the  door  of  the  chaise ;  on  which  the  doctor  begged  him  to 
behave  with  civility,  on  account  of  the  presence  of  the  lady.  He  delivered 
his  purse,  which  contained  only  two  guineas,  and  a  bill  of  exchange,  and 
also  gave  the  robber  some  loose  silver.  Griffiths,  having  received  the  booty, 
decamped  with  the  utmost  precipitation  ;  but  Dr.  Dodd  lost  no  time  in 
repairing  to  Sir  John  Fielding's  office,  where  he  and  his  lady  gave  so  full 
a  description  of  the  person  of  the  principal  robber,  that  he  was  immediately 
apprehended. 

At  the  trial,  the  doctor  declared  that  he  had  only  come  forward  on 
account  of  the  pistol  having  been  fired,  but  refused  to  swear  to  the  person 
of  the  prisoner.  His  lady,  however,  was  more  positive  in  her  evidence ; 
and  no  doubt  being  left  as  to  his  identity,  he  was  found  guilty  and  received 
sentence  of  death. 

He  afterwards  confessed  the  crimes  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  and 
was  executed  on  the  20th  of  January  1773,  apparently  sincerely  penitent 
for  his  offences. 


XnE    SEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  235 

JOHN    LEONARD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    A    RAPE. 

The  circumstances  of  this  case  are  marked  by  peculiar  atrocity.  It 
appears  that  a  man  named  Vere,  a  sheriff's  officer,  having  put  an  execution 
into  a  house  of  Mr.  Brailsford,  in  Petty  France,  "Westminster,  he  placed 
Leonard,  Graves,  and  Gay,  three  of  his  followers,  in  possession. 

A  young-  woman  named  Boss  resided  in  an  apartment  on  the  second 
floor  of  the  house,  and  on  the  15th  June,  1773,  the  family  of  Mr.  Brailsford 
having  all  gone  out  in  search  of  the  means  of  getting  rid  of  their  unwelcome 
visitants,  she  was  left  alone  in  the  house  with  the  three  officers.  She  was 
at  work  in  her  own  room,  when,  about  mid-day,  Leonard  opened  the 
door,  and  began  in  a  familiar  manner  to  speak  to  her.  Terror  for  a  while 
deprived  her  of  utterance  ;  but  finding  him  proceed  to  take  those  liberties 
which  female  virtue  can  never  suffer,  she  resisted,  screamed  out,  seized  the 
villain  by  the  throat,  struggled  until  she  was  exhausted,  and  then  sank 
down,  deprived  of  reason.  In  this  situation  her  assailant  used  her  in  the 
way  that  constituted  the  offtnce  for  which  he  was  justly  executed. 

A  neighbour  hearing  the  cries  of  the  distressed  female,  and  suspecting 
some  foul  deed,  knocked  at  the  street-door,  and  inquired  the  cause  of  the 
noise ;  to  which  Leonard,  opening  the  window,  replied  that  it  was  only  a 
drunken  woman  :  and  the  inquirer  retired. 

The  three  villains,  Leonard,  Graves,  and  Gay,  were  afterwards  indicted 
for  this  cruel  outrage  :  Leonard  as  the  principal,  and  the  others  as  acces- 
sories to  the  fact ;  and  upon  their  trial  they  were  all  found  guilty.  Graves 
and  Gay  were  burned  in  the  hand  and  imj^risoned ;  but  sentence  of  death 
was  immediately  passed  upon  Leonard. 

Although  convicted  upon  the  clearest  evidence,  this  obdurate  man  denied 
that  he  was  guilty ;  and  on  the  Sunday  before  he  suffered,  he  received  the 
sacrament  from  the  hands  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Temple,  and  then,  in  the  most 
solemn  manner,  declared  to  that  gentleman  that  he  was  entirely  innocent 
of  the  fact  for  which  he  was  to  die ;  that  he  had  been  repeatedly  intimate 
with  Miss  Bos?:,  with  her  own  consent :  and  that  all  the  reason  he  could 
conjecture  for  her  prosecuting  liim  was,  that  he  had  communicated  this 
matter  to  Graves,  one  of  the  other  follow^ers,  who  availed  himself  of  the 
secret,  and  found  means  to  get  into  the  young  lady's  room,  and  who  really 
perpetrated  the  fact  with  which  she  had  falsely  accused  him. 

In  this  story  he  persisted  all  the  time  he  remained  in  Newgate  ;  but  Mr. 
Temple,  suspecting  his  veracity,  delivered  a  paper  to  Mr.  Toll,  another 
gentleman  who  usually  administered  spiritual  comfort  to  the  malefactors  in 
their  last  moments,  in  which  he  requested  him  to  ask  Leonard  about  those 
two  assertions  before  he  was  turned  off. 

This  request  IMr.  Toll  and  his  colleague  punctually  complied  with,  and 
the  unhappy  man  then  acknowledged  that  he  had  taken  the  sacrament  to 
an  absolute  falsehood  ;  that  there  was  not  a  word  of  truth  in  his  impeach- 
ing Miss  Boss,  but  that  he  alone  abused  her ;  that  he  was  taught  in 
Newgate  to  believe  that  the  falsehood  might  do  him  service ;  that  he 
found  his  mistake  too  late,  and  all  the  atonement  he  could  make  was  to 
acknowledge  the  truth  before  he  left  tl.e  world,  and  to  beg  pardon  of  God 
for  having  acted  in  so  atrocious  a  manner. 

He  was  executed  on  the  lith  August,  1773,  at  Tyburn. 


236  THK    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 


SAMUEL  MALE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

The  short  life  of  this  culprit  was  remarkable  for  producing  two  sur- 
prising instances  of  the  uncertainty  of  identity. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1772,  he  was  arraigned  at  the  bar  of  the  Old 
Bailey  for  a  robbery  upon  a  Mrs.  Ryan. 

The  prosecutrix  and  other  witnesses  swore  positively  that  the  prisoner 
committed  the  robbery  on  the  17th  of  June  then  last  past. 

The  court  consequently  supposed  conviction  would  follow  ;  but  being 
called  on  for  his  defence,  he  said  he  was  innocent,  and  that  tlie  books  of 
the  court  would  prove  where  he  was  on  the  day  of  the  robbery. 

Reference  was  immediately  made  to  the  records  ;  and  strange  yet  true 
to  relate,  tliat,  on  the  very  day  and  hour  sworn  to,  Male  was  actually  on 
his  trial  at  the  bar  where  he  then  stood,  for  another  robbery,  when  he  was 
unfortunate  enough  to  have  been  mistaken  for  another  person.  He  was 
consequently  acquitted ;  but  the  force  of  example  did  not  deter  him  from 
the  commission  of  crime,  and  although  he  was  discharged  from  prison 
without  reproach,  he  came  out  a  determined  thief. 

His  career  of  villany  was  soon  ended  ;  for  in  six  months  afterwards  we 
find  him  expiating  his  crimes  at  the  gallows.  He  was  charged  with  a  real 
robbery,  committed  by  him  on  the  person  of  Mrs.  Grignion,  and  being 
unable  again  to  prove  an  alibi,  as  he  had  hitherto  done,  he  was  found 
guilty,  and  was  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  25th  of  JMarch,  1773. 


WILLIAM  FARMERY. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    MOTHER. 

"While  we  sketch  the  shocking  crime  of  this  monster,  we  have  some 
consolation  in  observing  that,  in  our  long  researches  into  the  baseness  of 
mankind,  he  is  the  first  we  have  met  with,  who,  with  long-lurking  malice, 
shed  the  blood  of  his  mother. 

A  subject  so  strangely  liorrid  and  unnatural  we  shall  dismiss  by  a  bare 
recital  of  the  shocking  circumstance. 

It  appears  that  among  other  undutiful  acts,  he  had  one  morning  given 
offence  to  his  parent,  for  which  he  was  justly  reproached,  whereupon  he 
went  out  of  her  house,  took  the  knife  from  his  jiocket,  and  deliberately 
whetted  it  till  quite  sharp.  Tlien  returning  with  tlie  murderous  instrument 
in  his  hand,  he  found  his  unfortunate  mother  in  the  act  of  making  his  own 
bed. 

AVithout  uttering  a  word,  he  threw  her  down,  and  as  a  butcher  kills  a 
sheep,  he  stuck  her  in  the  tliroat,  and  left  her  weltering  in  her  blood,  of 
which  wound  she  died. 

On  his  examination  he  confessed  the  fact,  and  said  that  he  had  deter- 
mined upon  his  mother's  death  three  years  before ;  for  tliat  he  had  treasured 
up  malice  against  her  since  slie  had  corrected  him  for  some  trifling  fault 
when  a  little  boy 

He  was  executed  at  Lincoln,  where  his  ofi'ence  was  committed,  on  the 
5th  of  August,  1775. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR  237 


AMOS  MERRITT. 


EXECUTED    FOR    BURGLARY. 


The  case  of  this  prisoner  is  a  fit  successor  to  that  of  Samuel  Male,  which 
has  been  just  related.  His  execution  arose  out  of  the  following  circumstances. 
On  the  lyth  August,  1 774,  Patrick  ]Maden,  convicted  of  afoot-robbery  on  the 
highway,  and  William  Waine  and  Levi  Barnet  for  burglary,  were  carried  to 
Tyburn  for  execution,  pursuant  to  their  sentence.  When  the  cart  was 
drawn  under  the  gallows,  a  man  among  the  crowd  of  spectators  called  out 
for  the  others  to  make  way  for  him,  as  he  had  something  to  communicate 
to  the  sheriff  respecting  one  of  the  prisoners.  This  being  effected,  the 
man,  who  proved  to  be  Amos  Merritt,  addressed  Mr.  Reynolds,  the  under- 
sheriff,  and  declared  that  Patrick  Maden  was  innocent  of  the  crime  for 
which  he  was  about  to  suffer.  Mr.  Reynolds  desired  he  would  look  upon 
tlie  prisoner,  and  speak  aloud  what  he  had  represented  to  him.  He  did 
so,  and  declared  that  he  was  not  guilty  ;  but  declined  accusing  himself. 
The  sheriffs,  on  hearing  this  declaration,  despatched  Mr.  Reynolds  with  the 
information  to  the  secretary  of  state,  and  to  request  his  further  orders ;  and 
a  respite  being  obtained  for  Maden,  he  was  carried  back  to  Newgate,  amid 
the  acclamations  of  the  people. 

Alerritt  was  then  taken  into  custody,  and  at  the  public  office  in  Bow- 
street,  before  Mr.  Justice  Addington,  confessed  that  he  himself  was  the 
person  who  had  committed  the  robbery  of  which  Maden  had  been  con- 
victed, and  the  last-named  prisoner  was  then  pardoned. 

Though  no  doubt  remained  of  Merritt's  guilt,  yet,  as  no  proof  could  be 
adduced  to  that  efi"ect,  he  for  a  while  escaped  justice. 

He  had  been  guilty  of  many  robberies,  the  particulars  of  which  are  not 
interesting,  and  we  shall  therefore  come  to  that  for  which  he  suffered. 

At  the  sessions  held  at  the  Old  Bailey  in  the  month  of  December  1774, 
Amos  Merritt  was  indicted  for  feloniously  breaking  and  entering  the 
dwelling-house  of  Edward  EUicott,  early  in  the  morning  of  the  26th  of 
October,  and  stealing  from  it  a  quantity  of  plate,  a  gold  watch,  and  other 
valuable  articles,  to  a  large  amount. 

]Mr.  Ellicott  deposed  that  he  lived  in  Hornsey-lane,  near  Highgate , 
that  he  was  awakened  by  his  wife,  who  inquired  what  noise  was  in  the 
house  ;  and  ringing  the  bell,  both  of  them  jumped  out  of  bed.  The  first 
words  they  then  heard  were,  "  Come  up  directly  ;"  and  then  some  person 
said,  "  D — n  your  bloods,  we  will  murder  every  soul  in  the  house  !"  Mrs. 
Ellicott  said,  "  Lord  bless  me,  the  door  is  open  !"  and  running  to  the  door, 
pushed  it  close.  Mr.  Ellicott  gave  immediate  assistance  ;  and  a  person 
who  was  without,  who  he  believed  from  his  voice  was  the  prisoner,  said, 
"  D — n  you,  if  you  do  not  open  the  door,  I  will  murder  every  one  of  you  !" 

The  rest  of  the  evidence  was  to  the  following  effect : — The  villains 
attempted  to  force  open  the  door,  putting  a  hanger  with  a  scabbard  between 
that  and  the  post ;  but  Mr.  Ellicott,  who  was  a  powerful  man,  kept  them 
out  by  mere  strength,  and  having  fastened  the  door  with  a  drop  bolt,  which 
went  into  the  flooring,  he  ran  to  the  window,  and  called  out  "  Thieves !" 
In  the  mean  time  Sirs.  Ellicott,  by  perpetual  ringing  of  the  bell,  had 
alarmed  the  servants,  who  ran  into  tlie  road  after  the  thieves,  who  had  by 
this  time  got  off"  with  the  property. 


238  THE    ^EW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

Notice  having  been  given  at  Sir  John  Fielding's,  jMerritt  and  his  accom- 
plices were  taken  into  custody  on  suspicion,  and  after  an  examination  at 
Bow-street  were  committed  to  Xevvgate. 

At  the  trial  the  evidence  was  deemed  so  satisfactory  that  the  jury  did 
not  hesitate  to  find  Merritt  guilty  ;  in  consequence  of  which  he  received 
sentence  of  death,  and  was  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  18th  of  January, 
1775,  within  six  months  of  the  period  of  his  saving  the  unfortunate  Madcu 
from  an  untimely  and  ignominious  fate. 

Couufcted  with  the  two  cases  just  detaik-d,  we  may  relate  an  anecdote 
of  a  very  remarkable  instance  of  per^onal  siniiiitude  which  happened  at 
New  York,  in  North  America,  in  the  year  1804. 

A  man  was  indicted  for  bigamy  under  the  name  of  James  Hoag.  He 
was  met  in  a  distant  part  of  the  country  by  some  friends  of  his  supposed 
first  wife,  and  apprehended.  The  prisoner  denied  the  charge,  and  said  his 
name  was  Thomas  Parker.  On  the  trial,  Mrs.  Hoag,  her  relations,  and 
many  other  credible  witnesses,  swore  that  he  was  James  Hoag,  and  the 
former  swore  positively  that  he  was  her  husband.  On  the  other  side,  an 
equal  number  of  witnesses,  equally  respectable,  swore  that  the  prisoner  was 
Thomas  Parker;  and  Mrs.  Parker  appeared,  and  claimed  him  as  her 
husband.  The  first  witnesses  were  again  called  by  the  Court,  and  they  not 
only  aoain  deposed  to  him,  but  swore  that  by  stature,  shape,  gesture, 
complexion,  looks,  voice,  and  speech,  he  was  James  Hoag.  They  even 
described  a  particular  scar  on  his  forehead,  by  which  he  could  be  known. 
On  turnino-  back  the  hair,  the  scar  appeared.  The  others,  in  return,  swore 
that  he  had  lived  among  them,  worked  with  them,  and  was  in  their  com- 
pany on  the  very  day  of  his  alleged  marriage  with  ]Mrs.  Hoag.  Here  the 
scales  of  testimony  were  balanced,  for  the  jury  knew  not  to  which  party  to 
sive  credit.  Mrs.  Hoag,  anxious  to  gain  back  her  husband,  declared  he  had 
a  certain  more  particular  mark  on  the  sole  of  his  foot.  Mrs.  Parker  avowed 
that  her  husband  had  no  such  mark  ;  and  the  man  was  ordered  to  pull  otf 
his  shoes  and  stockings.     His  feet  were  examined,  and  no  mark  appeared. 

The  ladies  now  contended  for  the  man,  and  Mrs.  Hoag  vowed  that  she 
had  lost  her  husband,  and  she  would  have  him ;  but  during  this  strife,  a 
justice  of  the  peace  from  the  place  where  the  prisoner  was  apprehended 
entered  the  Court,  and  turned  the  scale  in  his  favour.  His  worship  swore 
him  to  be  Thomas  Parker  ;  that  he  had  known,  and  occasionally  employed 
him,  from  his  infancy ;  whereupon  3Irs.  Parker  embraced  and  carried  oS 
her  husband  in  triumph,  by  the  verdict  of  tlie  jury. 

The  following  anecdote  was  related  by  ]Mr.  Baron  Garrow  upon  the 
trial  of  a  prisoner,  whose  identity  was  questionable,  on  the  Oxford  Circuit. 
The  learned  judge  was  in  the  course  of  summing  up  the  case  to  the  jury, 
when  he  stated  that  a  few  years  before,  a  prisoner  was  on  his  trial  before 
him,  upon  a  charge  of  highway  robbery.  His  person  was  identified  posi- 
tively by  the  prosecutor,  who  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  lie  now  wore 
the  same  clothes  in  which  he  had  been  attired  on  the  occasion  on  which 
the  robbery  was  crmmitted  ;  and  the  jury  were  on  the  point  of  being  dis- 
missed to  the  consideration  of  their  verdict,  when  suddenly  shouts  were 
heard  in  the  yard  attached  to  the  Court-house  ; — cries  of  ''  Make  way — 
make  way,"  were  distinguished ; — and  a  man  on  horseback,  whose  appear- 
ance denoted  the  rapidity  with  which  he  had  ridden,  rushed  in  among  the 
people  congregated  to  await  the  result  of  the  trial,  and,  throwing  himscU 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  239 

from  his  horse,  which  was  covered  with  foani,  made  his  way  with  the 
greatest  expedition  to  the  entrance  of  the  Court.  The  outcry  which  was 
raised  had  stopped  the  learned  judge  in  his  concluding  ohservations,  and 
before  he  could  resume  his  address  to  the  jury,  the  man,  booted  and  spurred, 
and  covered  with  mud,  called  upon  him  to  '■'  stop  the  case,  for  that  he  had 
ridden  fifty  miles  to  save  the  life  of  a  fellow-creature — the  prisoner  at  the 
baj.\"  His  lordship  and  the  Court  were  astonished  at  the  interruption,  and 
called  upon  the  stranger  to  explain  his  conduct.  His  answer  was  that  he 
knew  that  the  prisoner  could  not  be  guilty  of  the  offence  imputed  to  him  ; 
and  he  called  upon  the  prosecutor  of  the  indictment  to  say  whether,  after 
having  seen  him^  he  could  still  swear  that  the  prisoner  was  the  offender. 
The  prosecutor  again  entered  the  witness-box,  and  surveyed  the  stranger 
from  head  to  foot.  He  was  dressed  in  a  manner  precisely  similar  to  that 
in  which  the  prisoner  was  attired — a  green  coat  with  brass  buttons,  drab 
breeches,  and  top-boots  ; — their  countenances  were  so  nearly  alike  in  style, 
that  from  the  transient  view  he  had  had  of  the  robber,  he  was  unable  to 
distinguisli  which  was  the  real  thief.  The  Court  were  unwilling  to  suffer 
a  person  who  was  really  innocent  to  be  convicted,  and  proceeded  to  make 
inquiries  of  the  stranger  as  to  his  reasons  for  interrupting  the  trial,  and  as 
to  his  knowledge  of  the  circumstances  of  the  robbery.  Upon  the  former 
point,  the  only  explanation  which  could  be  obtained  from  him  was,  that  he 
was  perfectly  satisfied  that  the  prisoner  was  innocent ;  upon  the  latter  he 
declined  to  answer  any  queries,  insinuating  that,  situated  as  he  was,  the 
Court  would  not  compel  him  to  criminate  himself.  The  prisoner  now 
reiterated  the  protestations  of  innocence  which  he  had  before  made  ;  and 
the  prosecutor,  being  strictly  examined  by  the  Court,  declared  that  he  was 
so  confused  by  the  similarity  which  existed  between  the  prisoner  and  the 
stranger,  that  he  was  unable  to  swear  that  the  former  was  actually  the 
thief;  and  that  his  impression  now  was,  that  the  latter  was  the  real 
oflender.  Under  these  circumstances,  it  was  left  to  the  jury  to  say,  whether 
they  could  with  safety  declare  the  prisoner  to  be  guilty ;  and  a  verdict  of 
acquittal  was  in  consequence  returned,  to  the  apparent  satisfaction  of  the 
Court.  It  now  became  the  duty  of  the  judge  to  determine  what  further 
proceedings  should  betaken.  A  robbery,  there  was  no  doubt,  had  been 
committed,  and  its  commission  lay  between  the  person  who  had  just  been 
acquitted  and  the  stranger.  The  former  must  be  presumed  to  be  not 
guilty,  because  the  jury  had  declared  him  to  be  so ;  and  a  bill  of  indict- 
ment was  therefore  directed  to  be  preferred  against  the  latter,  who  was 
taken  into  custody.  The  same  evidence  which  had  before  been  given  was 
now  repeated,  and  a  true  bill  was  returned.  The  trial  came  on  in  the 
course  of  the  ensuing  day,  and  a  fresh  jury  being  impanelled,  the  new 
])risoner  was  put  upon  his  defence.  It  was  a  simple  and  plain  one;  "  he 
was  not  guilty.  The  prosecutor  had  sworn  positively  to  the  person  of  the 
prisoner,  who  had  been  tried  on  the  previous  day,  and  could  he  now  be 
permitted  so  to  alter  his  testimony,  as  to  procure  the  conviction  of  another  ? 
He  had  before  declared  that  he  could  not  distinguish  the  real  offender,  and 
what  better  opportunity  had  been  since  afforded  him  ?  Besides,  his 
evidence  now  went  only  to  his  '  belief '  as  to  the  identity  of  the  person 
charged :  and  surely  if  the  jury  had  before  acquitted  a  prisoner  to  whom 
he  had  sworn  positively,  they  would  not  now  convict,  when  his  testimony 
was  qualified."     This  reasoning  was  too  much  for  the  jury  ;  the  prisoner 


240 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


had  made  no  confession  of  his  own  guilt,  and  he  was  declared  not  guilty. 
The  sequel  was  soon  discovered ;  the  two  men  were  brothers :  the  first 
prisoner  was  the  guilty  party,  and  the  whole  "  scene"  got  up  by  ihe 
stranger  was  a  mere  fabrication,  invented  for  the  purpose  of  gulling  the 
Court  and  jury.  No  proceedings  could  be  taken  against  either  party ;  for 
altliough  the  Court  hadi  been  imposed  upon,  the  imposition  was  backed 
by  no  perjury,  and  the  two  thieves — for  so  they  turned  out — escaped 
unpunished. 

Another  instance  of  remarkable  imposition  being  practised  upon  the 
Court,  occurred  subsequently  at  York.  The  case  of  a  person  who  was 
cliarged  with  an  extensive  robbery  on  the  highway,  had  attracted  consi- 
derable attention.  The  prisoner,  when  apprehended,  was  attired  in  the 
habit  of  a  working  man ;  but  the  prosecutor,  whose  evidence  as  to  his 
identity  was  positive,  swore  that  when  the  robbery  was  committed  he  was 
well  dressed,  and  mounted.  The  trial  came  on  at  the  York  assizes,  and  the 
Court  was  crowded  with  persons.  Upon  the  evening  preceding  the  day  on 
which  the  case  was  fixed  for  trial,  a  gentleman  drove  up  to  one  of  the  principal 
inns  of  the  city  in  a  travelling  chariot-,  and  requested  to  be  accommodated 
with  a  bed.  A  handsome  supper  was  ordered,  and  the  stranger  retired  to 
rest.  In  the  morning  breakfast  was  served,  and  the  landlord  was  sent  for. 
The  gentleman  said  that  he  was  unacquainted  with  thetovra,  and  found  that 
he  was  a  day  too  early  for  the  business  upon  which  he  had  come  to  York  ; 
and  he  therefore  desired  to  know  whether  there  were  any  amusements  goinu; 
on,  with  which  he  could  entertain  himself  until  dinner-time.  Tlie  castle,  the 
minster,  and  various  other  curiosities  were  alluded  to,  in  which  he  appeared 
to  take  no  interest ;  and  the  landlord  at  length  mentioned  that  the  assizes 
were  on,  and  suggested  that  he  might  probably  derive  some  entertainment 
from  listening  to  the  trials ;  and  he  stated  that  a  remarkable  case  of  highway 
robbery  was  fixed  for  trial  on  that  morning,  and  had  by  that  time  probably 
commenced.  Some  curiosity  on  this  point  was  expressed  ;  and  the  landlord, 
conducting  his  guest  to  the  Court-house,  obtained  for  him  a  seat  upon  the 
bench,  upon  assuring  the  high  sheriff  of  his  being  a  person  of  great  apparent 
respectability,  which  the  landlord  had  good  reason  to  believe,  from  his  having 
seen  him  with  a  bundle  of  notes  in  his  possession  of  no  inconsiderable  size, 
which  he  observed  that  he  had  placed  in  his  trunk  with  his  pocket-book  on 
his  quitting  the  inn.  The  case  of  highway  robbery,  as  the  landlord  suggested, 
had  already  commenced  ;  the  prisoner  appeared  to  be  a  poor  man,  and  was 
standing  at  the  bar,  with  his  face  buried  in  his  handkerchief,  apparently 
deeply  affected  by  the  situation  in  which  he  was  placed,  and  almost  uncon- 
scious of  what  was  passing  around  him.  The  trial  now  approached  its 
termination ;  the  evidence  for  the  prosecution  was  completed,  and  the 
learned  judge  called  on  the  prisoner  for  his  defence.  He  raised  himself 
languidly  from  the  place  where  he  had  been  resting,  and  assured  the  jurj' 
that  he  was  innocent,  when,  suddenly  starting,  he  exclaimed  passionately, 
"  There,  there,  my  lord,  there  is  a  gentleman  seated  on  your  lordship's 
bench  who  can  prove  that  I  am  not  guilty  !"  All  eyes  were  turned  to  the 
person  to  whom  the  prisoner's  finger,  in  support  of  his  declaration,  was 
pointed  ;  and  the  stranger  was  found  to  be  the  object  of  the  remark.  He 
expressed  great  surprise  at  being  thus  called  upon,  and  declared  that  he 
was  at  a  loss  to  know  how  tlie  prisoner  could  appeal  to  him,  for  tliat  he 
had  no  immediate  recollection  that  he  had  ever  seen   him  before.     The 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  241 

learned  jiulgo  demanded  that  tlie  prisoner  should  explain  himself ;  and  he 
then  stated  that  on  the  very  day  named  in  the  indictment,  and  by  the 
Tvitnesses,  as  that  on  which  the  robbery  had  been  committed,  he  was  at 
Dover,  and  had  conveyed  the  gentleman's  luggage  in  a  wheelbarrow  from 
the  Ship  Inn  to  the  steam-packet,  in  which  he  was  about  to  start  for 
Calais.  The  gentleman,  in  answer  to  the  questions  put  to  him,  said  that  he 
certainly  had  been  at  Dover  about  the  time  mentioned,  and  that  he  had 
lodged  at  the  Ship  Inn,  and  had  gone  from  thence  by  steam  to  Calais.  He 
remembered  too  that  a  man  had  carried  his  trunks  as  the  prisoner  had 
described  ;  but  that  altnough  he  now  had  some  distant  recollection  of  the 
features  of  the  man  at  the  bar,  he  was  unable  to  recognize  him  as  the 
person  he  had  employed  ;  and  he  could  not  besides  swear  to  the  date  of  the 
transaction.  The  court  inquired  whether  he  was  in  the  habit  of  making 
memoranda  of  his  proceedings,  and  whether,  by  referring  to  any  documents, 
he  should  be  able  to  give  any  more  decided  information  upon  the  subject  ? 
He  ansvt'ered,  that  being  engaged  in  a  large  mercantile  business  it  was 
certainly  his  custom  to  make  notes  in  his  pocket-book,  but  that  the  book 
was  at  his  inn,  locked  in  his  trunk.  •  The  court  said  that  in  such  a  case  it 
was  desirable  that  the  most  minute  inspection  should  take  place,  and 
desired  that  the  gentleman  should  go  for  his  book.  The  latter  was 
unwilling  to  take  this  trouble,  but  would  give  his  keys  to  the  officer  of  the 
court,  who  might,  in  the  presence  of  his  landlord,  open  his  trunk  and 
bring  the  book  to  the  court.  Messengers  were  in  consequence  despatched, 
with  directions  to  make  further  inquiries  of  the  landlord  as  to  the  stranger  ; 
and  in  the  meantime  the  prisoner  proceeded  to  ask  him  questions,  remind- 
ing him  of  certain  occurrences  which  had  taken  place  on  the  day  in  question 
on  their  way  from  the  inn  to  the  quay,  and  more  especially  that  the  packet 
was  late  in  starting.  To  most  of  these  the  gentleman  assented,  and  the 
pocket-book  being  now  arrived  he  referred  to  it,  and  declared  that  the  date 
mentioned  was  the  very  day  on  which  he  had  quitted  Dover  as  described  ; 
and  from  all  the  circumstances  which  the  prisoner  had  detailed,  he  was 
decidedly  of  opinion  that  he  was  the  person  whom  he  had  employed.  The 
circumstances  attending  the  arrival  and  sojourn  of  the  stranger  at  the  inn, 
as  detailed  by  the  landlord,  who  had  come  into  court,  were  now  whispered 
to  the  judge;  and  the  gentleman  having  given  his  name,  and  stated  himself 
to  be  connected  with  a  most  respectable  banking  firm  in  the  city  of 
London,  the  learned  judge  summed  up  the  case,  commenting  upon  the  very 
remarkable  coincidence  which  had  occurred  ;  and  the  jury,  giving  full 
credit  to  the  testimony  of  the  stranger,  at  once  returned  a  verdict  of  not 
guilty  in  favour  of  the  prisoner.  This  decision  appeared  to  give  perfect 
satisfaction  to  the  court,  and  the  prisoner  was  ordered  to  be  immediately 
discharged.  The  stranger  was  complimented  by  the  judge  upon  the  essen- 
tial service  which  he  had  been  the  means  of  rendering  to  a  fellow  creature, 
and  left  the  court,  declaring  his  happiness  at  his  having  been  able  to  give 
such  testimony.  Within  a  fortnight  afterwards,  the  late  prisoner  and  his 
friend,  the  London  merchant,  were  lodged  in  York  Castle,  charged  with  a 
most  daring  act  of  housebreaking,  in  which  they  had  been  concerned.  The 
notes  which  the  latter  had  sported  at  the  inn  were  found  to  be  drawn  upon 
the  "Bank  of  Fashion"  instead  of  upon  the  "Bank  of  England;"  and 
upon  the  prisoners  being  tried  at  the  ensuing  assizes,  they  wore  found 
guilty,  and  their  lives  were  justly  forfeited  to  the  laws  of  their  country 

VOL.    I.  II 


^42  T.HE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAK. 


JOHN  RANN,  alias  SIXTEEN  STRINGED  JACK. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGHWAY  ROBBERY. 

The  name  of  this  criminal  will  be  immediately  recollected  as  one  which 
has  attained  no  small  share  of  notoriety.  He  was  born  at  a  village  a  few 
miles  from  Bath,  of  poor  parents  ;  and  during  the  greater  part  of  his  youth 
he  obtained  a  living  by  pursuing  the  business  of  a  costermonger.  At  the 
age  of  twelve  years  he  was  hired  by  a  lady  of  distinction,  whom  he  accom- 
panied to  London ;  and  subsequently  being  employed  in  lier  stables,  he 
obtained  some  knowledge  of  horses,  and  having  served  in  the  more  humble 
capacity  of  post-boy  at  an  inn,  he  was  at  length  taken  into  the  service  of  a 
gentleman  of  fortune,  in  Portman-square,  as  coachman.  It  was  at  this  period 
that  he  dressed  in  the  manner  which  gave  rise  to  his  appellation  of  Sixteen- 
stringed  Jack,  by  wearing  breeches  with  eight  strings  on  each  knee ;  but  after 
having  been  employed  by  several  noblemen  he  lost  his  character,  and 
turned  pickpocket,  in  company  with  three  fellows  named  Jones,  Clayton, 
and  College,  the  latter  of  whom,  a  mere  boy,  obtained  the  name  of  Eight- 
stringed  Jack. 

The  first  appearance  which  our  hero  appears  to  have  made  at  the  bar  of 
any  Court  of  Justice  was  at  the  sessions  held  at  the  Old  Bailey  in  April, 
1774,  when,  with  Clayton  and  one  Shepherd,  he  was  tried  for  robbing  Mr. 
William  Somers  on  the  highway,  and  acquitted  for  want  of  evidence.  They 
were  again  tried  for  robbing  Mr.  Langford,  but  acquitted  for  the  same 
reason. 

He  was  soon  destined  to  be  again  in  custody,  however,  and  on  the  30th 
of  May  following,  he  was  charged  with  robbing  John  Devall,  Esq.  near 
the  nine-mile  stone  on  the  Hounslow  road,  of  his  watch  and  money.  It 
appeared  that  he  had  given  the  watch  to  a  young  woman  with  whom  he 
lived,  named  Roche,  who  had  delivered  it  to  Catherine  Smith,  by  whom  it 
was  offered  in  pledge  to  Mr.  Hallam  a  pawnbroker,  who,  suspecting  it  was 
not  honestly  obtained,  caused  the  parties  to  be  taken  into  custody.  Roche 
was  now  charged  with  receiving  the  watch,  knowing  it  to  have  been  stolen  ; 
and  Smith,  being  sworn,  deposed  tliat  on  the  day  Mr.  Devall  was  robbed, 
Roche  told  her  that  "  she  expected  Rann  to  bring  her  some  money  in  the 
evening  ;"  that  he  accordingly  came  about  ten  at  night,  and  having  retired 
some  time  with  Roche,  she,  on  her  return,  owned  that  she  had  received  a 
watch  and  five  guineas  from  him,  which  he  said  he  had  taken  from  a  gen- 
tleman on  the  highway  ;  and  that  she.  Smith,  carried  the  watch  to  pawn 
to  Mr.  Hallam  at  the  request  of  Roche.  Upon  this  charge  the  prisoner 
Rann  was  again  sent  to  Newgate ;  but  on  his  trial  in  July  1774,  he  was 
acquitted.  On  his  appearing  at  the  bar,  he  was  dressed  in  a  manner  above 
his  style  of  life  and  his  circumstances.  He  had  a  bundle  of  flowers  in  the 
breast  of  his  coat  almost  as  large  as  a  broom  ;  and  his  irons  were  tied  up 
with  a  number  of  blue  ribands. 

Two  or  three  days  after  this  acquittal  Rann  engaged  to  sup  with  a  girl 
at  her  lodgings  in  Bow  Street ;  but  not  being  punctual  to  his  appointment, 
the  woman  went  to  bed,  and  her  paramour  being  unable  to  obtain  admit- 
tance by  the  door,  proceeded  to  effect  an  entrance  through  tlie  window ; 
and  had  nearly  accomplished  his  purpose,  when  a  watchman   interrupte<l 


II 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  243 

Ilim,  and  took  him  into  custody.  He  was  charged  at  Bow-street  on  the 
27tli  of  July  with  this  alleged  burglarious  attempt ;  but  the  "young  luiy' 
appearing,  declared  the  prisoner  could  have  had  no  felonious  intent,  for 
that  so  far  from  her  opposing  his  entry,  had  she  been  awake,  she  would 
instantly  have  admitted  him ;  and  besides  that  he  was  quite  welcome 
to  share  everything  that  she  possessed,  even  to  her  bed.  Upon  this  decla- 
ration, the  prisoner  was  dismissed,  with  a  caution  to  adopt  a  less  dangerous 
method  of  pursuing  his  amours. 

After  this  it  seems  that  the  proceedings  of  our  hero  became  pretty 
notorious,  and  he  took  no  trouble  either  to  conceal  or  disguise  his  person  or 
his  acts.  He  did  not  hesitate  to  proclaim  himself  as  "  Sixteen-stringed  Jack, 
the  famous  highwayman,"  and  to  appear  at  public  places  attired  in  a 
peculiar  manner  so  as  to  excite  observation  and  attention.  It  does  not 
appear  that  his  attacks  were  marked  by  any  great  degree  of  atrocity ;  and 
the  celebrity  which  he  obtained  was  rather  of  his  own  seeking.  A  short 
time  before  he  was  convicted  of  the  offence  which  cost  him  his  life,  hf 
attended  a  public  execution  at  Tyburn,  and  getting  in  the  ring  formed  by  tlw 
constables  round  the  gallows,  desired  that  he  might  be  permitted  to  stand 
there,  "  for,"  said  he,  "  perhaps  it  is  very  proper  that  I  should  be  a  specta- 
tor on  this  occasion." 

On  the  26th  of  September,  1774,  he  went  with  William  Collier  on  the 
Uxbridge-road,  with  a  view  to  commit  robberies  on  the  highway;  and 
being  apprehended  on  the  Wednesday  following,  they  were  examined  at 
the  public  office  in  Bow-street  on  the  following  charge.  Dr.  William  Bell, 
chaplain  to  the  Princess  Amelia,  deposed  that  between  three  and  four 
o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  Monday,  the  26th  of  September,  as  he  was 
riding  near  Ealing,  he  observed  two  men  of  rather  mean  appearance,  who 
rode  past  him ;  and  that  he  remarked  they  had  suspicious  looks  ;  yet 
neitner  at  that  time,  nor  for  some  little  time  afterwards,  had  he  any  idea 
of  being  robbed  :  that  soon  afterwards  one  of  them,  whom  he  believed  to 
be  Rann,  crossed  the  head  of  his  horse,  and  demanding  his  money,  sai'1, 
"  Give  it  to  me,  and  take  no  notice,  or  I'll  blow  your  brains  out."  On  this 
the  doctor  gave  him  one  shilling  and  sixpence,  which  was  all  the  silver  he 
had,  and  a  common  watch  in  a  tortoise-shell  case. 

It  further  appeared  that,  on  the  night  of  the  robbery,  Rann's  companion 
Eleanor  Roche,  and  her  maid-servani.  Christian  Stewart,  went  to  the  shop 
of  Mr.  Cordy,  a  pawnbroker  in  Oxiord-road,  to  pledge  the  watch,  but  that 
he  stopped  it,  and  found  out  its  owner  by  applying  to  Mr.  Grignon,  its 
maker,  in  Russell-street,  Covent-  garden  ;  and  evidence  was  also  adduced 
as  to  the  identity  of  Rann,  who  was  proved  to  have  been  seen  at  Acton 
within  twenty  minutes  of  the  time  of  the  robbery  being  committed.  The 
prisoners  were  thereupon  sent  to  Newgate  to  take  their  trials  ;  and  Roche 
and  Stewart  being  also  apprehended,  were  indicted  as  accessaries  after 
the  fact. 

The  evidence  given  on  the  trial,  was  in  substance  the  same  as  that  which 
had  been  adduced  at  Bow-street  ;  but  some  favourable  circumstances 
appearing  in  behalf  of  Collier,  he  was  recommended  to  mercy,  and  after- 
wards respited  during  the  king's  pleasure.  Miss  Roche  was  sentenced  to 
be  transported  for  fourteen  years  ;  her  servant  was  acquitted ;  and  Rann 
was  left  for  execution. 

When  Rann  was  brought  down  to  take  his  trial  he  was  dressed  in  a 


244  THE    NEW     NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

new  suit  of  pea-green  clothes ;  his  hat  was  bound  round  with  silver 
strings ;  he  wore  a  ruffled  shirt,  and  his  behaviour  evinced  the  utmost 
unconcern.  Upon  hearing  the  verdict  of  the  jury,  which  consigned  him 
ko  death,  he  endeavoured  to  force  a  smile,  but  the  attempt  was  a  failure, 
and  it  was  evident  that  the  confidence  which  he  had  before  exhibited,  now 
forsook  him.  He  had  been  so  certain  of  acquittal,  that  he  had  ordered  a 
supper  to  be  provided  on  the  occasion  ;  but  his  anticipations  of  pleasure 
were  quickly  changed  into  the  reality  of  sorrow.  After  conviction,  his 
behaviour  was  for  a  time  unfitted  for  the  melancholy  condition  in  which  he 
was  placed.  On  Sunday,  the  23d  of  October,  he  had  seven  girls  to  dine 
with  him,  and  with  their  mirth  endeavoured  to  shake  oif  the  heaviness 
which  beset  him,  but  the  warrant  for  his  execution  soon  after  arriving,  he 
became  more  sensible  of  his  awful  situation,  and  began  to  prepare  for  the 
sad  fate  which  awaited  him.  At  his  execution,  he  behaved  with  decent 
resignation,  and  surveyed  the  gallows  with  an  eye  of  confidence.  He  was 
executed  on  the  30th  of  November,  1774  ;  and  ha^■ing  hung  the  usual 
time,  his  body  was  delivered  over  to  his  friends  for  interment. 


ROBERT  AND  DANIEL  PERREAU. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

The  circumstances  of  the  cases  of  these  prisoners  are  of  a  very  remark- 
able description.  It  appears  that  the  accused  persons  were  twin  brothers, 
and  were  so  much  alike  that  it  was  with  difficulty  that  the}^  were  known 
apart.  Robert  Perreau  carried  on  business  in  Golden-square  as  an 
apothecary,  and  was  in  great  practice  ;  while  his  brotlier  lived  in  a  style 
of  considerable  fashion,  a  Mrs.  Margaret  Caroline  Rudd  living  with  him 
as  his  wife. 

At  the  sessions  held  at  the  Old  Bailey  in  June  1775,  Robert  Perreau 
was  indicted  for  forging  a  bond  for  the  payment  of  7,500/.  in  the  name  of 
Wdliam  Adair,  Esq  (then  a  great  government  contractor),  and  also  for 
feloniously  uttering  and  publishing  the  said  bond,  knowing  it  to  be  forged, 
with  intent  to  defraud  Messrs.  Robert  and  Henry  Drummond,  bankers. 

From  the  evidence  which  was  adduced  at  the  trial,  it  appeared  that  on 
the  10th  of  March,  1775,  the  prisoner  under  trial,  whose  character  up  to 
that  time  had  been  considered  unimpeachable,  went  to  the  house  of  ^Messrs. 
Dinimmond,  and  seeing  Mr.  Henry  Drummond,  one  of  the  partners,  said 
that  he  had  been  making  a  pu..chase  of  an  estate  in  Norfolk  or  Suftolk,  for 
vrhich  he  was  to  give  12,000/.,  but  that  he  had  not  sufficient  cash  to  pay 
the  whole  purchase-money.  That  he  had  a  bond,  however,  which  Mi-. 
Adair  had  given  to  his  brother  Daniel,  for  7,500/.,  upon  which  he  desired 
to  raise  a  sum  of  5000/.,  out  of  which  he  was  willing  to  pay  1,400/., 
which  he  had  already  borrowed  of  the  firm. 

Mr.  Drummond,  on  the  production  of  the  bond,  had  no  sooner  looked  at 
the  signature  than  he  doubted  its  authenticity,  and  very  politely  asked  the 
prisoner  if  he  had  seen  3Ir.  Adair  sign  it.  The  latter  said  he  had  not,  but 
that  he  had  no  doubt  that  it  was  authentic,  from  the  nature  of  the  con- 
nexion that  subsisted  between  Mrs.  Rudd,  who  was  known  to  live  witii 
Daniel,  and  that  gentleman  ;  a  suggestion  having  previously  been  thrown 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  245 

lut  that  she  was  his  natural  daughter.  Mr,  Drummond,  liowever,  declined 
advancinsj  any  money  without  the  sanction  of  his  brother,  and  he  desired 
Perreau  to  leave  the  bond,  saying  that  it  should  either  be  returned  on  the 
next  day,  or  the  money  produced.  The  prisoner  made  no  scruple  to  obey 
this  suggestion,  and  he  retired,  promising  to  call  again  the  next  day. 

In  the  interim,  Mr.  Drummond  examined  the  bond  with  greater  atten- 
tion ;  and  Mr.  Stephens,  secretary  of  the  Admiralty,  happening  to  call, 
his  opinion  was  demanded,  when,  comparing  the  signature  to  the  bond  with 
letters  which  he  had  lately  received  from  Mr.  Adair,  he  was  firmly  con- 
vinced that  it  was  forged.  When  Perreau  came  on  the  following  day,  Mr. 
Drummond  spoke  more  freely  than  he  had  done  before,  and  told  him  that 
lie  imagined  he  had  been  imposed  on ;  but  begged,  that  to  remove  all 
doubt,  he  would  go  with  him  to  Mr.  Adair,  and  get  that  gentleman  to 
acknowledge  tlie  validity  of  the  bond,  on  which  the  money  would  be 
advanced.  This  was  immediately  acceded  to ;  and  on  Mr.  Adair  seeing 
the  document,  he  at  once  declared  that  the  signature  was  a  forgery.  The 
prisoner  smiled  incredulously,  and  said  that  he  jested  ;  but  Mr.  Adair 
remarked  that  it  was  no  jesting  matter,  and  that  it  lay  on  him  to  clear  up 
the  affair.  On  this  he  went  away,  requesting  to  have  the  bond,  in  order 
to  make  the  necessary  inquiries — a  request  which  was  refused  ;  and  persons 
being  employed  to  watch  him,  it  was  found  that  immediately  on  his  arrival 
at  his  house,  he  and  his  brother  and  Mrs.  Rudd  got  into  a  coach,  carrying 
with  them  all  the  valuables  which  they  could  collect,  with  a  design  to 
make  their  escape.  They  were,  however,  stopped,  and  taken  into  custody, 
and  being  conveyed  to  Sir  John  Fielding's,  at  Bow-street,  they  there 
underwent  an  examination,  and  upon  the  evidence  adduced,  were  committed 
to  prison.  Other  charges  were  subsequently  brought  against  them  by  Sir 
Thomas  Frankland^  from  whom  they  had  obtained  two  sums  of  5000^.  and 
4000/.  on  similar  forged  bondg,  as  well  as  4000/.  which  they  had  paid 
when  the  amount  became  due  ;  and  by  Dr.  Brooke,  who  alleged  that  they 
had  obtained  from  him  1500/.  in  bonds  of  the  Ayr  bank,  upon  the  security 
of  a  forged  bond  for  3100/.  ;  and  Mrs.  Rudd  was  then  admitted  as 
evidence  for  the  Crown.  Her  deposition  then  was,  that  she  was  the 
daughter  of  a  nobleman  in  Scotland ;  that,  when  young,  she  married  an 
officer  in  the  army  named  Rudd,  against  the  consent  of  her  friends  ;  that 
her  fortune  was  considerable ;  that  on  a  disagreement  with  her  husband, 
they  resolved  to  part ;  that  she  made  a  reserve  of  money,  jewels,  and 
effects,  to  the  amount  of  thirteen  thousand  pounds,  all  of  which  slie  gave  to 
Daniel  Perreau,  whom  she  said  she  loved  with  the  tenderness  of  a  wife ; 
that  she  had  three  children  by  him  ;  that  he  had  returned  her  kindness 
in  every  respect  till  lately,  when,  having  been  unfortunate  in  gaming  in  the 
alley,  he  had  become  uneasy,  peevish,  and  much  altered  to  her ;  that  he 
cruelly  constrained  her  to  sign  the  bond  now  in  question,  by  holding  a 
knife  to  her  throat,  and  swearing  that  he  would  murder  her  if  she  did  not 
comply  ;  that,  being  struck  with  remorse,  she  had  acquainted  Mr.  Adair 
with  what  she  had  done ;  and  that  she  was  now  willing  to  declare  everj 
transaction  with  which  she  was  acquainted,  whenever  she  should  be  called 
upon  by  law  so  to  do. 

Upon  the  cross-examination  of  Mr.  Drummond,  however,  he  swore  that 
Mrs.  Rudd  on  her  being  first  apprehended,  took  the  whole  on  herself,  and 
acknowledged  that  she  had  forged  the  bonds  ;  that  she  begged  tliem  "  for 


246  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

God's  sake  to  have  mercy  on  an  innocent  man,"  and  that  she  said  dd 
injury  was  intended  to  any  person,  and  that  all  would  be  paid ;  and  that 
she  acknowledged  delivering  the  bond  to  the  prisoner.  They  then  enter- 
tained an  opinion  that  the  prisoner  was  her  dupe ;  and  Mr.  Robert 
Drummond  having  expressed  a  notion  that  she  could  not  have  forged  a 
handwritinff  so  dissimilar  from  that  of  a  woman  as  Mr.  Adair's,  she  imme- 
diately, in  order  to  satisfy  them  of  the  truth  of  what  she  said,  wrote  the 
name  "  William  Adair "  on  a  paper  exactly  like  the  signature  which 
appeared  attached  to  the  bond, 

]\Ir.  Watson,  a  money-scrivener,  also  deposed,  that  he  had  filled  up  the 
bonds  at  the  desire  of  one  of  the  bi'others,  and  in  pursuance  of  instructions 
received  from  him ;  but  he  hesitated  to  fix  on  either,  on  account  of  their 
great  personal  resemblance ;  and  being  pressed  to  make  a  positive  declara- 
tion, he  fixed  on  Daniel  as  his  employer. 

The  case  for  the  prosecution  being  concluded,  the  prisoner  entered  upon 
his  defence.  In  a  long  and  ingenious  speech,  which  he  addressed  to  the 
jury,  he  strove  hard  to  prove  that  he  was  the  victun  of  the  artifices  of  Mrs, 
Rudd. 

He  said  that  she  was  constantly  conversing  about  the  influence  she 
had  over  Mr,  W.  Adair ;  and  that  Mr.  Adair  had,  by  his  interest  with  the 
kinor,  obtained  the  promise  of  a  baronetage  for  Daniel  Perreau,  and  was 
about  procuring  him  a  seat  in  parliament.  That  ]Mr.  Adair  had  promised 
to  open  a  bank,  and  take  the  brothers  Perreau  into  partnership  with  him. 
That  the  prisoner  received  many  letters  signed  '^  William  Adair,"  which 
he  had  no  doubt  came  from  that  gentleman,  in  which  were  promises  of 
giving  them  a  considerable  part  of  his  fortune  during  his  life  ;  and  that  he 
was  to  allow  Daniel  Perreau  two  thousand  four  hundred  pounds  a  year 
for  his  household  expenses,  and  six  hundred  pounds  a  year  for  Mrs.  Rudd's 
pin-money.  That  Mr.  Daniel  Perreau  purchased  a  house  in  Harley-street 
for  four  thousand  pounds,  which  money  Mr.  AVilliam  Adair  was  to  give 
them.  That  when  Daniel  Perreau  was  pressed  by  the  person  of  whom  he 
bought  the  house  for  the  money,  the  prisoner  understood  that  they  applied 
to  Mr.  William  Adair,  and  that  his  answer  was,  that  he  had  lent  the  king 
seventy  thousand  pounds,  and  had  pui'chased  a  house  in  Pall  Mall  at  seven 
thousand  pounds,  in  which  to  carry  on  the  banking  business,  and  therefore 
could  not  spare  the  four  thousand  pounds  at  that  time. 

He  declared  that  all  attempts  at  personal  communication  with  Mr. 
Adair  were  strenuously  opposed  by  Mrs.  Rudd  as  being  Hkely  to  destroy 
the  eflects  of  her  exertions  on  his  behalf,  and  contended  that  his  conduct 
throughout  the  whole  transaction  with  Mr.  Drummond,  showed  that  he 
was  innocent  of  any  guilty  intention,  and  that  he  firmly  believed  that  he 
was  acting  honestly  and  justly. 

He  then  proceeded  to  call  the  following  witnesses,  whose  evidence  we 
shall  give  in  the  most  concise  manner : — 

George  Kinder  deposed  that  Mrs.  Perreau  (the  only  name  by  which  he 
knew  3Irs.  Rudd)  told  him  "  that  she  was  a  near  relation  of  Mr.  James 
Adair  ;  that  he  looked  upon  her  as  his  child,  had  promised  to  make  her 
fortune,  and  with  tliat  view  had  recommended  her  to  Mr.  William  Adair, 
a  near  relation  and  intimate  friend  of  his,  who  had  promised  to  set  her 
husband  and  the  prisoner  up  in  the  banking  business."  He  also  dej>osed 
that  she  said  that  Mr,  Daniel  Perreau  was  to  be  made  a  baronet,  and 


THE    NEW    WEWOATE    CALENDAR.  247 

described  how  she  would  act  when  she  became  a  lady.  The  witness 
further  deposed  that  Mrs.  Rudd  often  pretended  tliat  Mr.  William  Adair 
had  called  to  see  her,  but  that  he  never  had  seen  that  gentleman  on  any 
visit. 

John  Moody,  a  livery- servant  of  Daniel  Perreau,  deposed  that  his  mistress 
wrote  two  very  different  hands ;  in  one  of  which  she  wrote  letters  to  his 
master,  as  from  IMr.  William  Adair,  and  in  the  other  the  ordinary  business 
of  the  family.  That  the  letters  written  in  the  name  of  William  Adair  were 
pretended  to  have  been  left  in  his  master's  absence ;  that  his  mistress 
ordered  him  to  give  them  to  his  master,  and  pretend  that  Mr.  Adair  had 
been  with  his  mistress  for  a  longer  or  shorter  time,  as  circumstances 
required.  This  witness  likewise  proved  that  the  hand  at  the  bottom  of  the 
bond  and  tliat  of  his  mistress's  fictitious  writing  were  precisely  the  same  ; 
that  she  used  different  pens,  ink,  and  paper,  in  writing  her  common  and 
fictitious  letters  ;  and  that  she  sometimes  gave  the  witness  half-a-crown 
when  he  had  delivered  a  letter  to  her  satisfaction.  He  said  he  had  seen 
her  go  two  or  three  times  to  Mr.  J.  Adair's,  but  never  to  William's  ;  and 
that  Mv.  J.  Adair  once  visited  his  mistress  on  her  lying-in. 

Susannah  Perreau  (the  prisoner's  sister)  deposed  to  her  having  seen  a 
note  delivered  to  Daniel  Perreau,  by  Mrs.  Rudd,  for  nineteen  thousand 
pounds,  drawn  as  by  William  Adair,  on  Mr.  Croft,  the  banker,  in  favour 
of  Daniel  Perreau. 

Elizabeth  Perkins  swore  that  a  week  before  the  foi-gery  was  discovered, 
her  mistress  gave  her  a  letter  to  bring  back  to  her  in  a  quarter  of  an  hour, 
and  say  it  was  brought  by  Mr.  Coverley,  who  had  been  servant  to 
Daniel  Perreau ;  that  she  gave  her  mistress  this  letter,  and  her  master 
instantly  broke  the  seal, 

Daniel  Perreau  swore  that  the  purport  of  this  letter  was  "  tliat  Mr. 
Adair  desired  her  to  apply  to  his  brother,  the  prisoner,  to  procure  him 
five  thousand  pounds  upon  his  (Adair's)  bond,  in  the  same  manner  as  he 
had  done  before ;  that  Mr.  Adair  was  unwilling  to  have  it  appear  that  the 
money  was  raised  for  him,  and  therefore  desired  him  to  have  the  bond 
lodged  with  some  confidential  friend,who  would  not  require  an  assignment 
of  it ;  that  his  brother,  on  being  made  acquainted  with  his  request,  showed 
a  vast  deal  of  reluctancy,  and  said  it  was  very  unpleasant  work ;  but 
undertook  it  with  a  view  of  obliging  Mr.  William  Adair." 

The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  demanding  "  if  he  did  not  disclaim  all 
knowledge  of  the  affair  before  Mr.  Adair,"  he  said  he  denied  ever  liaving 
seen  the  bond  before,  nor  had  he  a  perfect  knowledge  of  it  till  he  saw  it  in 
the  hands  of  Mr.  Adair. 

David Cassady,  who  assisted  Mr.  R.  Perreau  as  an  apothecary,  deposed  that 
he  lived  much  within  the  profits  of  his  profession,  and  that  it  was  reported 
he  was  going  into  the  banking  business. 

John  Leigh,  clerk  to  Sir  John  Fielding,  swore  to  the  prisoner's  coming 
voluntarily  to  the  oifice  before  his  apprehension,  and  giving  information 
that  a  forgery  had  been  committed.  Mr.  Leigh  was  asked  if  Mrs.  Rudd 
'•  ever  charged  the  prisoner  with  any  knowledge  of  the  transaction  till 
the  justices  were  hearing  evidence  to  prove  her  confession  of  the  fact  ; 
and  he  answered  that  he  did  not  recollect  that  circumstance,  but  that  on  her 
nr£t  examination  she  did  not  accuse  the  prisoner. 

Mr.  Perreau  now  called  several  persons  of  rank  to  his  character.     Lady 


24S  THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

Lyttleton  being  asked  if  she  thought  him  capable  of  such  a  crime,  supposed 
she  could  have  done  it  as  soon  herself.  Sir  John  ^loore,  Sir  John  Chapman, 
General  Rebow,  Captain  Ellis,  Captain  Burgoyne,  and  other  gentlemen, 
spoke  most  highly  to  the  character  of  the  prisoner  ;  but  the  jury  found  him 
gwilty. 

It  will  be  unnecessary  now  to  give  anything  more  than  a  succinct 
account  of  the  trial  of  Daniel  Perreau,  which  immediately  followed  that  of 
his  brother.  He  was  indicted  for  forging  and  counterfeiting  a  bond,  in  the 
name  of  William  Adair,  for  three  thousand  three  hundred  pounds,  to 
defraud  the  said  William  Adair,  and  for  uttering  the  same  knowing  it  to  be 
forged,  to  defraud  Tliomas  Brooke,  doctor  of  physic.  Mr.  Scroope  Ogilvie, 
clerk  to  ]Mr.  William  Adair,  proved  the  forgery  ;  and  Dr.  Brooke  swore  to 
the  uttering  of  the  bond. 

Tlie  defence  set  up  by  the  prisoner  was,  that  ]Mrs.  Rudd  had  given  the 
bond  to  him  as  a  true  one  ;  and  he  asserted,  in  the  most  solemn  manner, 
that  he  had  had  no  intention  to  defraud  any  man.  Like  his  brother,  he  called 
several  witnesses  to  show  the  artifices  of  which  Mrs,  Rudd  had  been  guilty  ; 
and  many  persons  proved  the  great  respectability  of  his  character. 

The  jury,  however,  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty,  and  both  prisoners 
were  sentenced  to  death  ;  but  the  execution  did  not  take  place  until 
January  1776,  in  consequence  of  the  proceedings  which  were  subsequently 
aken  against  3[rs.  Rudd. 

After  conviction  the  behaviour  of  the  brothers  was,  in  every  respect, 
proper  for  their  unhappy  situation.  Great  interest  was  made  to  obtain  a 
pardon  for  them,  particularly  for  Robert,  in  whose  favour  seventy-eight 
bankers  and  merchants  of  London  signed  a  petition  to  the  king  :  the  news- 
papers were  filled  with  paragraphs,  evidently  written  by  disinterested 
persons,  in  favour  of  men  whom  they  thought  dupes  to  the  designs  of  an 
artful  woman  :  but  all  was  of  no  avail. 

On  the  day  of  execution  the  brothers  were  favoured  with  a  mourning- 
coach,  in  which  to  be  conveyed  to  the  scaffold ;  and  their  conduct 
throughout  was  of  the  most  exemplary  description.  After  the  customary 
devotions  were  concluded,  they  crossed  hands,  and  joining  the  four  together, 
in  that  manner  were  launched  into  eternity.  They  had  not  hanged  more 
than  half  a  minute  when  their  hands  dropped  asunder,  and  they  appeared 
to  die  without  pain. 

Each  of  them  delivered  a  paper  to  the  Ordinary  of  Newgate,  which 
stated  their  innocence,  and  ascribed  the  blame  of  the  whole  transaction  to 
the  artifices  of  Mrs.  Rudd  ;  and,  indeed,  thousands  of  people  gave  credit  to 
their  assertions,  and  a  great  majority  of  the  public  thought  Robert  wholly 
Innocent. 

Daniel  Perreau  and  Robert  Perreau  were  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  17th 
of  January,  1776. 

On  the  Sunday  following,  the  bodies  were  carried  from  the  house 
of  Robert,  in  Golden-square,  and,  after  the  usual  solemnities,  deposited  in 
the  vault  of  St.  Martin's  church.  A  mob  of  thirty  thousand  persons 
attended  the  execution,  and  an  equal  number  appeared  at  the  funeral,  but 
nothing  occurred  to  disturb  the  solemnity  of  either  scene. 


TIIK  NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  249 

MARGARET  CAROLINE  RUDD. 

TRIED    FOR    FORGERY. 

On  the  16th  of  September,  1775,  Mrs.  Rudd  was  put  to  the  bar  at  the 
Old  Bailey,  to  be  tried  for  forgery ;  but  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner  pleading 
that,  as  she  had  been  already  admitted  an  evidence  for  the  crown,  it  was 
unprecedented  to  detain  her  for  trial,  and  the  judges  differing  in  opinion 
on  the  point  of  law,  she  was  remanded  to  prison  till  the  opinion  of  the 
judges  could  be  taken  on  a  subject  of  so  much  importance. 

On  the  8th  of  December,  1775,  she  was  arraigned  on  an  indictment  for 
feloniously  forging  a  bond,  purporting  to  be  signed  by  William  Adair,  and 
for  feloniously  uttering  and  publishing  the  same. 

Mr.  Justice  Aston  now  addressed  the  prisoner,  informing  her  that 
eleven  of  the  judges  had  met  (the  Chief  Justice  of  the  Common  Pleas  being 
indisposed),  ''  and  were  unanimous  in  opinion,  that  in  cases  not  within  any 
statute,  an  accomplice,  who  fully  discloses  the  joint  guilt  of  himself  and  his 
companions,  and  is  admitted  by  justices  of  the  peace  as  a  witness,  and  who 
appears  to  have  acted  a  fair  and  ingenuous  part  in  the  disclosure  of  all  the 
circumstances  of  the  cases  in  which  he  has  been  concerned,  ought  not  to  be 
prosecuted  for  the  offences  so  by  him  confessed,  but  cannot  by  law  plead 
this  in  bar  of  any  indictment,  but  merely  as  an  equitable  claim  to  mercy 
from  the  crown  :  and  nine  of  the  judges  were  of  opinion  that  all  the  circum- 
stances relative  to  this  claim  ought  to  be  laid  before  the  Court,  to  enable 
the  judges  to  exercise  their  discretion  whether  the  trial  should  proceed  or 
not.  With  respect  to  the  case  before  them,  the  same  nine  judges  were  of 
opinion  that  if  the  matter  stood  singly  upon  the  two  informations  of  the 
prisoner,  compared  with  the  indictments  against  her,  she  ought  to  have 
been  tried  upon  all,  or  any  of  them,  for  from  her  information  she  is  no 
accomplice.  She  exhibits  a  charge  against  Robert  and  Daniel  Perreau,  the 
first  soliciting  her  to  imitate  the  hand- writing  of  William  Adair,  the  other 
forcing  her  to  execute  the  forgery  under  the  threat  of  death.  Her  two 
informations  are  contradictory  :  if  she  has  suppressed  the  truth,  she  has  no 
equitable  claim  to  favour ;  and  if  she  has  told  the  truth,  and  the  whole 
truth,  she  cannot  be  convicted.  As  to  the  indictments  preferred  against 
her  by  Sir  Thomas  Frankland,  as  her  informations  before  the  justices  have 
no  relation  to  his  charges,  she  can  claim  no  sort  of  advantage  from  these 
informations." 

The  trial  then  proceeded. — The  principal  evidences  were  the  wife  o.. 
Robert  Perreau,  and  John  Moody,  a  servant  to  Daniel.  The  first  endea 
voured  to  prove  that  the  bond  was  published,  the  latter  that  it  was  forged 
Sir  Thomas  Frankland  proved  that  he  had  lent  money  on  the  bond.  It 
was  objected  by  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  that  Mrs.  Perreau  was  an 
incompetent  witness,  as  she  would  be  interested  in  the  event ;  but  the 
Court  overruled  this  objection. 

Mrs.  Perreau  deposed  that,  on  the  24th  December,  she  saw  Mrs.  Rudd 
deliver  a  bond  to  her  husband,  which  he  laid  on  the  table  while  he  brushed 
his  coat ;  that  it  was  for  five  thousand  three  hundred  pounds,  payable  to 
Robert  Perreau,  and  signed  "  William  Adair  ;"  and  that  it  was  witnessed 
in  the  names  of  Arthur  Jones  and  Thomas  Start,  or  Hart.  ]Mrs.  Perreau, 
being  asked  when  she  again  saw  the  bond,  said  that  it  was  brought  to  her 

TOL.     1.  K  K 


250  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

on  the  8th  of  March  (the  day  after  her  husband  was  convicted),  when  she 
selected  it  from  other  bonds  delivered  to  him  on  the  24th  of  December. 
She  made  her  mark  on  it,  and  deposed  that  when  it  was  delivered  to 
Mr.  Perreau,  Mrs.  Rndd  said,  "  j\lr.  Adair  wonld  be  very  much  obliged 
to  ^Ir.  Perreau  to  try  to  raise  upon  that  bond  the  sum  ^f  four  thousand 
pounds  of  Sir  Thomas  Frankland." 

Sergeant  Davy  cross-examined  Mrs.  Perreau.  She  acknowledged  that 
till  tlie  24th  of  December  she  had  never  seen  a  bond  in  her  life  ;  and  that 
on  her  first  sight  of  that  in  question  she  had  no  suspicion  that  anything 
was  wrong. 

John  Moody,  the  servant  to  Daniel  Perreau,  who  had  been  examined  on 
the  former  trials,  was  called,  and  repeated  the  testimony  which  he  had  before 
given.  The  bond  which  in  tliis  case  was  alleged  to  have  been  uttered  was 
that  for  40U0/.,  on  which  Sir  Thomas  Frankland  had  advanced  money. 

The  prisoner,  on  being  called  on  for  her  defence,  in  a  short  speech 
declared  that  she  was  innocent,  and  concluded  by  leaving  her  case  in  the 
hands  of  the  jury,  who  almost  immediately  declared  her  not  guilty. 

As  soon  as  the  verdict  was  returned,  she  quitted  the  Court,  and  retired 
to  the  house  of  a  friend  at  the  west  end  of  the  town. 


THE  COUNTESS  OF  BRISTOL,  OTHERWISE  THE  DUCHESS 
OF  KINGSTON. 

CONVICTED    OF    BIGAMY. 

Few  females  have  in  their  time  attracted  so  large  a  portion  of  public 
attention  as  this  celebrated  lady.  She  was  the  daughter  of  Colonel  Chud- 
leigh,  the  descendant  of  an  ancient  family  in  the  county  of  Devon  ;  but  her 
father  dying  while  she  was  yet  young,  her  mother  was  left  possessed  only 
of  a  small  estate  with  which  to  bring  her  up,  and  to  fit  her  for  that  grade 
of  society  in  which  from  her  birth  she  was  entitled  to  move.  Being 
possessed,  however,  of  excellent  qualities,  she  improved  the  connexion 
which  she  had  among  persons  of  fashion,  with  a  view  to  the  future  success 
in  life  of  her  daughter.  The  latter,  meanwhile,  as  she  advanced  in 
years,  improved  in  beauty  ;  and  upon  her  attaining  the  age  of  eighteen 
was  distinguislied  as  well  for  the  loveliness  of  her  person  as  for  the  wit 
and  brilliancy  of  her  conversation.  Her  education  had  not  been  neglected  ; 
and,  despite  the  small  fortune  possessed  by  her  mother,  no  opportunity  was 
lost  by  which  her  mind  might  be  improved ;  and  a  means  was  about  this 
time  afi'orded  for  the  display  of  her  accomplishments.  The  father  of  George 
the  Third  held  his  court  at  Leicester-house ;  and  Mr.  Pulteney,  who  then 
blazed  as  a  meteor  on  the  opposition  benches  in  the  House  of  Commons, 
was  honoured  with  the  particular  regard  of  His  Royal  Highness.  Miss 
Chudleigh  had  been  introduced  to  Mr.  Pulteney ;  and  he  had  admired  her 
for  the  beauties  of  her  mind  and  of  her  person  ;  and,  his  sympatliies  being 
excited  in  her  behalf,  he  obtained  for  her,  at  the  age  of  eighteen,  the 
appointment  of  maid  of  honour  to  the  Princess  of  "Wales.  His  efforts,  how- 
ever, did  not  stop  at  thus  elevating  her  to  a  situation  of  the  highest  honour  ; 
but  he  also  endeavoured  to  improve  the  cultivation  of  her  understanding  by 
instruction;  and  to  him  31iss  Chudleigh  read,  and  with  him,  when  separated 
by  distance,  she  corresponded. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  25' 

The  station  to  which  Miss  Chudleigh  had  been  advanced,  comb'c&i 
■with  her  numerous  personal  attractions,  produced  her  many  admirers  : 
some  with  titles,  and  others  in  the  expectation  of  them.  Among  the  lornvjr 
was  the  Duke  of  Hamilton,  whom  Miss  Gunning  had  afterwards  the  good 
fortune  to  obtain  for  a  consort.  The  duke  was  passionately  attached  to 
Miss  Chudleigh  ;  and  pressed  his  suit  with  such  ardour  as  to  obtain  a 
solemn  engagement  on  her  part,  that  on  his  return  fx-om  a  tour,  for  which 
he  was  preparing,  she  would  become  his  wife.  There  were  reasons  why 
this  event  should  not  immediately  take  place ;  but  that  the  engagement 
would  be  fulfilled  at  the  specified  time  was  considered  by  both  parties  as  a 
moral  certainty.  A  mutual  pledge  was  given  and  accepted ;  the  duke 
commenced  his  proposed  tour ;  and  the  parting  condition  was,  that  he 
should  write  by  every  opportunity,  and  that  Miss  Chudleigh  of  course 
should  .inswer  his  epistles.  Thus  the  arrangement  of  Fortune  seemed  to 
have  united  a  pair  who  possibly  might  have  experienced  much  happiness, 
for  between  the  duke  and  JMiss  Chudleigh  there  was  a  strong  similarity  of 
disposition  ;  but  Fate  had  not  destined  them  for  each  other. 

Miss  Chudleigh  had  an  aunt,  whose  name  was  Hanmer  :  at  her  house 
the  Hon.  Mr.  Hervey,  son  of  the  Earl  of  Bristol,  and  a  captain  in  the 
royal  navy,  was  a  visitor.  To  this  gentleman  Mrs.  Hanmer  became  so 
exceedingly  partial,  that  she  favoured  views  which  he  entertained  towards 
herniece,  and  engaged  her  efforts  to  effect,  if  possible,  a  matrimonial  connexion. 
There  were  two  difficulties  which  would  have  been  insurmountable,  had 
they  not  been  opposed  by  the  fertile  genius  of  a  female — Miss  Chudleigh 
disliked  Captain  Hervey,  and  she  was  betrothed  to  the  Duke  of  Hamilton. 

No  exertions  which  could  possibly  be  made  were  spared  to  render  this 
latter  alliance  nugatory  ;  and  the  wits  of  this  woman  were  exerted  to  the 
utmost  to  favour  the  object  which  she  had  in  view.  The  letters  of  his 
grace  were  intercepted  by  Mrs.  Hanmer ;  and  his  supposed  silence  giving 
offence  to  her  niece,  she  worked  so  successfully  on  her  pride  as  to  induce 
her  to  abandon  all  thoughts  of  her  lover,  whose  passion  she  had  cherished 
with  delight.  A  conduct  the  reverse  of  that  imputed  to  the  duke  was 
observed  by  Captain  Hervey  :  he  was  all  that  assiduity  could  dictate  or 
attention  perform.  He  had  daily  access  to  Miss  Chudleigh ;  and  each 
interview  was  artfully  improved  by  the  aunt  to  the  promotion  of  her  own 
views.  The  letters  of  his  grace  of  Hamilton,  which  regularly  arrived, 
were  as  regularly  suppressed ;  until,  piqued  beyond  endurance.  Miss 
Chudleigh  was  pi-evailed  on  to  accept  the  hand  of  C-aptain  Hervey,  and  by 
a  private  marriage,  to  ensure  the  participation  of  his  future  honours  and 
fortune.  The  ceremony  was  performed  in  a  private  chapel  adjoining  the 
country  mansion  of  Mr.  Merrill,  at  Lainston,  near  Winchester,  in  Hamp- 
shire. 

On  a  review  of  life,  the  predominant  evil  experienced  may  be  easily 
traced  by  every  reflecting  mind  to  some  Avilful  error  or  injudicious  mistake, 
operating  as  a  determinate  cause,  and  giving  the  colour  to  our  fate.  This 
was  the  case  with  Miss  Chudleigh  ;  and  the  hour  at  which  she  became 
united  with  Captain  Hervey  proved  to  her  the  origin  of  every  subsequent 
unhappiness.  The  connubial  rites  were  attended  with  unhappy  conse- 
quences ;  and  from  the  night  following  the  day  on  which  the  marriage  was 
solemnized,  Miss  Chudleigh  resolved  never  to  have  any  further  connexion 
with  her  husband.    To  prevail  on  bim  not  to  claim  her  as  his  wife  required 


252  TUE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

all  the  art  of  which  she  was  mistress  ;  and  the  hest  dissuasive  was  the  loss 
of  her  situation  as  maid  of  honour,  should  the  marriage  become  publicly 
known.  The  circumstances  of  Captain  Hervey  were  not  in  a  flourishing 
condition,  and  were  ill  calculated  to  enable  him  to  ride  with  a  high  hand 
over  his  wife  ;  and  the  fear  of  the  loss  of  the  emoluments  of  her  office 
operated  most  powerfully  with  him  to  induce  him  to  obey  the  injunctions 
which  she  imposed  upon  him  in  this  respect.  His  conduct  even  now,  how- 
ever, exhibited  a  strong  desire  to  act  with  a  degree  of  harshness  most 
unusual  so  soon  after  the  performance  of  the  marriage  ceremony  ;  and  the 
consequence  was  that  any  feelings  of  respect  which  his  wife  may  have 
fancied  she  entertained  for  him  were  soon  dispelled.  Her  own  expression 
subsequently  was  that  "  her  misery  commenced  with  the  arrival  of  Captain 
Hervey  in  England  ;  and  the  greatest  joy  she  experienced  was  on  the 
intelligence  of  his  departure."  Her  marriage  being  unknown  to  mere 
outward  observers,  Miss  Chudleigh,  or  3Irs.  Hervey,  a  maid  in  appearance 
— a  wife  in  disguise — would  have  been  supposed  to  be  placed  in  a  most 
enviable  condition.  The  attractive  centre  of  the  circle  in  which  she  moved, 
the  hivigorating  spirit  of  the  life  of  tlie  society  formed  around  her,  she  was 
universally  admired.  Her  royal  mistress  smiled  upon  her  ;  the  friendship 
of  many  was  at  her  call ;  the  admiration  of  none  could  be  withheld  from 
her :  but  amidst  all  her  conquests  and  all  her  fancied  happiness  she  wanted 
that  peace  of  mind  which  was  so  necessary  to  support  her  against  the 
conflicts  which  arose  in  her  own  breast.  Nor  was  her  own  heart,  that 
inward  monitor,  the  only  source  of  her  trouble.  Her  husband,  quieted  for 
a  time,  grew  obstreperous  as  he  saw  the  jewel  admired  by  all,  which  was, 
he  felt,  entitled  only  to  his  love  ;  and  feeling  that  he  possessed  the  right  to 
iier  entire  consideration,  he  resolved  to  assert  its  power.  In  the  mean 
time  every  art  which  she  possessed  had  be(;n  jjut  into  operation  to  soothe 
liim  to  continued  silence  ;  but  her  further  endeavours  being  unsuccessful, 
sne  was  compelled  to  grant  his  request,  and  to  attend  an  interview  which 
he  appointed,  at  his  own  house,  and  to  which  he  enforced  obedience  by 
threatening  an  instant  and  full  disclosure  in  case  of  her  non-compliance. 
The  meeting  was  strictly  private,  all  persons  being  sent  from  the  house 
with  the  exception  of  a  black  servant ;  and  on  INIrs.  Hervey's  entrance  to 
the  apartment  in  which  her  husband  was  seated,  his  first  care  was  to 
prevent  all  intrusion  by  locking  the  door.  This  meeting,  like  all  others 
between  her  and  her  husband,  was  unfortunate  in  its  efiects  :  the  fruit  of 
it  was  the  birth  of  a  boy,  whose  existence  it  will  be  readily  supposed  she 
had  much  difficulty  in  concealing.  Her  removal  to  Brompton  for  a  change 
of  air  became  requisite  during  the  term  of  her  confinement  ;  and  she 
returned  to  Leicester-house,  perfectly  recovered  from  her  indisposition  ; 
but  the  infant  soon  sinking  in  the  arms  of  death,  left  only  the  tale  of  its 
existence  to  be  related. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  sum  of  her  unhappiness  had  been  completed  by 
the  return  of  the  Duke  of  Hamilton.  His  grace  had  no  sooner  arrived  in 
Enorland,  than  he  hastened  to  pay  his  adoration  at  the  feet  of  his  idol,  and 
to  learn  the  cause  of  her  silence,  wlien  his  letters  had  been  regularly  des- 
patched to  her.  An  interview  which  took  place  soon  set  the  character  of 
Mrs.  Hanmer  in  its  true  light ;  but  while  Miss  Chudleigh  was  convinced 
of  the  imposition  which  had  been  practised  upon  her,  she  was  unable  to 
accept  the  proffered  hand  of  her  illustrious  suitor,  or  to  explain  the  reason 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  253 

for  her  apparently  ungracious  rejection  of  his  addresses.  The  duke,  flighty 
as  he  was  in  otlier  respects,  in  his  love  for  Miss  Chudleigh  had  at  least 
been  sincere  ;  and  this  strange  conduct  on  the  part  of  his  betrothed,  fol- 
lowed as  it  was  by  a  request  on  her  part  that  he  would  not  again  intrude 
his  visits  upon  her,  raised  emotions  in  his  mind  which  can  hardly  be 
described.  The  rejection  of  his  grace  was  followed  by  that  of  several  other 
persons  of  distinction  ;  and  the  mother  of  Miss  Chudleigh,  who  was  quite 
unaware  of  her  private  marriage  with  Captain  Ilervey,  could  not  conceal 
her  regret  and  anger  at  the  supposed  folly  of  her  daughter. 

It  was  impossible  that  these  circumstances  could  long  remain  concealed 
from  the  society  in  which  Miss  Chudleigh  moved  ;  and,  in  order  to  relieve 
herself  from  the  embarrassments  by  which  she  was  surrounded,  she  deter- 
mined to  travel  on  the  Continent — trusting  that  time  would  eradicate  the 
impression  of  her  fickleness  which  she  left  behind  her,  and  that  change  of 
scene  would  remove  tlie  pain  which  every  day  spent  in  the  theatre  of  her 
former  operations  could  not  fail  to  sink  deeper  into  her  heart.  Germany 
was  the  place  selected  by  her  for  her  travels  ;  and  she,  in  turn,  visited  the 
chief  cities  of  its  principalities.  Possessed  as  she  was  of  introductions  of 
the  highest  class,  she  was  gratified  by  obtaining  the  acqviaintance  of  many 
crowned  heads.  Frederic  of  Prussia  conversed  and  corresponded  with  her. 
In  the  Electress  of  Saxony  she  found  a  friend  whose  affection  for  her  con- 
tinued to  the  latest  period  of  life.  The  electress  was  a  woman  of  sense, 
honour,  virtue,  and  religion ;  and  her  letters  were  replete  with  kindness. 
While  her  hand  distributed  presents  to  Miss  Chudleigh  out  of  the  treasury 
of  abundance,  her  heart  was  interested  for  her  happiness.  This  she  after 
v/ards  evinced  during  her  prosecution ;  for  at  that  time  a  letter  from  the 
electress  contained  the  following  passage  : — "  You  have  long  experienced 
my  love ;  my  revenue,  my  protection,  my  everything,  you  may  command. 
Come  then,  my  dear  life,  to  an  asylum  of  peace.  Quit  a  country  where 
if  you  are  bequeathed  a  cloak,  some  pretender  may  start  up,  and  ruin  you 
by  law  to  prove  it  not  your  property.     Let  me  have  you  at  Dresden." 

On  her  return  from  the  Continent  Miss  Chudleigh  ran  over  the  career 
of  pleasure,  enlivened  the  court  circles,  and  each  year  became  more  ingra- 
tiated with  the  mistress  whom  she  served.  She  was  the  leader  of  fashion, 
played  whist  with  Lord  Chesterfield,  and  revelled  with  Lady  Harrington 
and  Miss  Ashe.  She  was  a  constant  visitant  at  all  public  places,  and  in 
1742  appeared  at  a  masked  ball  in  the  character  of  Iphigenia. 

Reflection,  however,  pvit  oft"  for  the  day,  too  frequently  intruded  an 
unwelcome  visit  at  night.  Captain  Hervey,  like  a  perturbed  spirit,  was 
eternally  crossing  the  path  trodden  by  his  wife.  If  in  the  rooiris  at  Bath, 
he  was  sure  to  be  there.  At  a  rout,  ridotto,  or  ball,  this  destroyer  of  her 
peace  embittered  every  pleasure,  and  even  menaced  her  with  an  intimation 
that  he  would  disclose  the  marriage  to  the  princess. 

Miss  Chudleigh,  now  persuaded  of  the  folly  and  danger  of  any  longer 
concealment  from  her  royal  mistress,  determined  that  the  design,  which  her 
husband  had  formed  from  a  malicious  feeling,  should  be  carried  out  by 
herself  from  a  principle  of  rectitude ;  and  she,  in  consequence,  communicated 
to  the  princess  the  whole  of  the  circumstances  attending  her  unhappy  union. 
The  recital  was  one  which  could  excite  no  feeling  of  disrespect  or  of  anger  ; 
and  her  royal  mistress  pitied  her,  and  continued  her  patronage  up  to  the 
bour  of  her  death. 


254  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

At  length  a  stratagem  was  either  suggested,  or  it  occurred  to  Miss 
Chudleigh,  at  once  to  deprive  Captain  Hervey  of  the  power  to  claim  her 
as  his  wife.  The  clergyman  who  had  married  them  was  dead.  The 
register-book  was  in  careless  hands.  A  handsome  compliment  was  paid 
fur  the  inspection ;  and  while  the  person,  in  whose  custody  it  was,  listened 
to  an  amusing  story.  Miss  Chudleigh  tore  out  the  register.  Thus  imagin- 
ing the  business  accomplished,  she  for  a  time  bade  defiance  to  her  husband, 
whose  taste  for  the  softer  sex  having  subsided  from  some  unaccountable 
cause,  afforded  Miss  Chudleigh  a  cessation  of  inquietude. 

A  change  in  the  circumstances  of  the  captain,  however,  effected  an 
alteration  in  the  feelings  of  his  wife.  His  father  having  died,  he  succeeded 
to  the  title  of  the  Earl  of  Bristol,  and  his  accession  to  nobility  was  not 
unaccompanied  by  an  increase  of  fortune.  Miss  Chudleigh  saw  that  by 
assuming  the  title  of  Coimtess  of  Bristol  she  would  probably  command 
increased  respect,  and  would  obtain  greater  power  ;  and  with  a  degree  of 
unparalleled  blindness,  she  went  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Merrill,  the  clergy- 
man in  whose  chapel  she  had  been  married,  to  restore  those  proofs  of  her 
union  which  she  had  previously  taken  such  pains  to  destroy.  Her 
ostensible  reason  was  a  jaunt  out  of  town ;  her  real  design  was  to 
procure,  if  possible,  the  insertion  of  her  marriage  with  Captain  Hervey  in 
the  book  which  she  had  formerly  mutilated.  With  this  view  she  dealt  out 
promises  with  a  liberal  hand.  The  ofiiciating  clerk,  who  was  a  person  of 
various  avocations,  was  to  be  promoted  to  the  extent  of  his  wishes.  The 
book  was  managed  by  the  lady  to  her  content,  and  she  returned  to  London, 
secretly  exulting  in  the  excellence  and  success  of  her  machination.  "While 
this  was  going  on,  however,  her  better  fate  influenced  in  her  favour  the 
lieart  of  a  man  who  was  the  exemplar  of  amiability — this  was  the  Duke  of 
Kingston  :  but,  re-married  as  it  were  by  her  own  stratagem,  the  participa- 
iion  of  ducal  honours  became  legally  impossible.  The  chains  of  wedlock, 
which  the  lady  had  been  so  industrious  in  assuming  or  putting  off,  as 
seemed  most  suitable  to  her  views,  now  became  galling  in  the  extreme. 
Every  advice  was  taken,  every  means  tried,  by  which  her  liberation  might 
be  obtained  ;  but  all  the  efforts  which  were  made  proved  useless,  and  it 
was  found  to  be  necessary  to  acquiesce  in  that  which  could  not  be  opposed 
successfully  or  pass  unnoticed.  The  duke's  passion,  meanwhile,  became 
more  ardent  and  sincere  ;  and,  finding  the  apparent  impossibility  of  a 
marriage  taking  place,  he  for  a  series  of  years  cohabited  with  Miss 
Chudleigh,  although  with  such  external  observances  of  decorum,  that  their 
intimacy  was  neither  generally  remarked  nor  known. 

The  disagreeable  nature  of  tliese  proceedings  on  their  parts  was,  however, 
felt  by  both  parties,  and  efforts  were  again  made  by  means  of  which  a 
marriage  might  be  solemnised.  The  Earl  of  Bristol  was  sounded  ;  and  it 
was  found  that,  grown  weary  of  a  union  with  a  woman  whom  he  now  dis- 
liked, and  whom  he  never  met,  he  was  not  unwilling  to  accept  the  proposals 
held  out ;  but  upon  his  learning  the  design  with  which  a  divorce  was 
sought,  he  declared  that  he  would  never  consent  to  it,  for  that  his  countess"s 
vanity  should  not  be  flattered  by  her  being  raised  to  the  rank  of  a  duchess. 
The  negociations  were  thus  for  a  time  stopped ;  but  afterwards,  there  being 
a  lady  with  whom  he  conceived  that  he  could  make  an  advantageous 
match,  he  listened  to  the  suggestions  which  were  made  to  him  witli  more 
complacency,    and  at  length  declared  that  he  was   ready  to  adopt   any 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  255 

proceedings  v/hich  should  have  for  their  effect  the  annihilation  of  the  ties 
by  which  he  was  bound  to  I\liss  Chndleigh.  The  civilians  were  consulted, 
a  jactitation  suit  was  instituted ;  but  the  evidence  by  which  the  marriage 
could  have  been  proved  was  kept  back,  and  the  Earl  of  Bristol  failing,  as 
it  was  intended  he  should  fail,  in  substantiating  the  marriage,  a  decree  was 
made,  declaring  the  claim  to  be  null  and  unsupported.  Legal  opinions  now 
only  remained  to  be  taken  as  to  the  effect  of  this  decree,  and  the  lawyers 
of  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  highly  tenacious  of  the  rights  and  jurisdiction 
of  their  own  judges,  declared  their  opinion  to  be  that  the  sentence  could 
not  be  disturbed  by  the  interference  of  any  extrinsic  power.  In  the  con- 
viction, therefore,  of  the  most  perfect  safety,  the  marriage  of  the  Duke  of 
Kingston  with  JMiss  Chudleigh  was  publicly  solemnised.  The  wedding 
favours  v/ere  worn  by  persons  of  the  highest  distinction  in  the  kingdom  ; 
and  during  the  life-time  of  his  grace,  no  attempt  was  made  to  dispute  the 
legality  of  the  proceedings.  For  a  few  years  the  duchess  figured  in  the 
world  of  gaiety  without  apprehension  or  control.  She  was  raised  to  the 
pinnacle  of  her  fortune,  and  she  enjoyed  that  which  her  later  life  had  been 
directed  to  accomplish — the  parade  of  title,  but  without  that  honour  which 
integrity  of  character  can  alone  secure.  She  was  checked  in  her  career  of 
pleasure,  however,  by  the  death  of  her  duke.  The  fortune  which  his 
grace  possessed,  it  appears,  was  not  entailed,  and  it  was  at  his  option; 
therefore,  to  bequeath  it  to  the  duchess  or  to  the  heirs  of  his  family,  as 
seemed  best  to  his  inclination.  His  will,  excluding  from  every  benefit  an 
older,  and  preferring  a  younger  nephew  as  the  heir  in  tail,  gave  rise  to  thr 
prosecution  of  the  duchess,  which  ended  in  the  beggaiy  of  her  prosecutor 
and  her  own  exile.  The  demise  of  the  Duke  of  Kingston  was  neither 
sudden  nor  unexpected.  Being  attacked  with  a  paralytic  affection,  he 
lingered  but  a  short  time,  which  was  employed  by  the  duchess  in  journey- 
ing his  grace  from  town  to  town,  under  the  false  idea  of  prolonging  his  lif-^ 
by  change  of  air  and  situation.  At  last,  when  real  danger  seemed  to 
threaten,  even  in  the  opinion  of  the  duchess,  she  despatched  one  of  her 
swiftest-footed  messengers  to  her  solicitor,  Mr.  Field,  of  the  Temple, 
requiring  his  immediate  attendance.  He  obeyed  the  summons,  and  arriv- 
ing at  the  house,  the  duchess  })rivately  imparted  her  wishes,  which  were, 
that  he  would  procure  the  duke  to  execute,  and  be  himself  a  subscribing 
witness  to  a  v/ill,  made  without  his  knowledge,  and  more  to  the  taste  of 
the  duchess  than  that  which  had  been  executed.  The  difference  between 
these  two  wills  was  tliis  : — the  duke  had  bequeathed  the  income  of  his 
estates  to  liis  relict  during  her  life,  and  expressly  under  condition  of  her 
contmuing  in  a  state  of  widowhood.  Perfectly  satisfied,  however,  as  the 
diichess  seemed  with  whatever  was  the  inclination  of  her  dearest  lord,  she 
could  not  resist  the  opportunity  of  carrying  her  secret  wishes  into  effect. 
She  did  not  relish  the  temple  of  Hymen  being  shut  against  her.  Earnestly 
therefore,  did  she  press  Mr.  Field  to  have  her  own  will  immediately 
executed,  which  left  her  at  liberty  to  give  her  hand  to  the  conqueror  of 
her  heart ;  and  in  her  anxiety  to  have  the  restraint  shaken  off,  she  had 
nearly  deprived  herself  of  every  benefit  derivable  from  the  demise  of  the 
duke.  When  Mr.  Field  was  introdviced  to  his  grace,  his  intellects  were 
perceptibly  affected  ;  and,  although  he  knew  the  friends  who  approached 
him,  a  trans.'ent  knowledge  of  their  persons  was  the  only  indication  of  tl)e 
continuance  of  his  mental  powers  which  he  exhibited.     Mr.  Field  very 


25C  THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

properly  remonstrated  against  the  impropriety  of  introducing  a  will  fot 
execution  to  a  man  in  such  a  state  ;  but  this  occasioned  a  severe  reprehen- 
sion from  the  duchess,  who  reminded  him  that  his  business  was  only  to 
obey  the  instructions  of  his  employer.  Feeling  for  his  professional 
character,  however,  he  positively  refused  either  to  tender  the  will  or  to  be 
in  any  manner  concerned  in  endeavouring  to  procure  its  execution ;  and 
with  this  refusal  he  quitted  the  house,  the  duchess  beholding  him  with  an 
indionant  eye  as  the  annoyer  of  her  scheme,  when,  in  fact,  by  not  comply- 
in£f  with  it,  he  was  rendering  her  an  essential  service  :  for  had  the  will  she 
projjosed  been  executed,  it  would  most  indubitably  have  been  set  aside,  and 
the  heirs  would  consequently  have  excluded  the  relict  from  everything, 
except  that  to  whicli  the  right  of  dower  entitled  her  ;  and  the  marriage 
being  invalidated,  the  lady  in  this,  as  iu  other  respects,  would  have  been 
ruined  by  her  own  stratagem.  Soon  after  the  frustration  of  this  attempt 
the  Duke  of  Kingston  expired. 

No  sooner  were  the  funeral  rites  performed  than  the  duchess  adjusted 
lier  affairs,  and  embarked  for  the  Continent,  proposing  Rome  for  her 
temporary  residence.  Ganganelli  at  that  time  filled  the  papal  chair.  From 
the  moderation  of  his  principles,  the  tolerant  spirit  which  he  on  every 
occasion  displayed,  and  the  marked  attention  he  bestowed  on  the  English, 
he  acquired  the  title  of  the  Protestant  Pope ;  and  to  such  a  character  the 
duchess  was  a  welcome  visitor.  Ganganelli  treated  her  with  the  utmost 
civility — gave  her,  as  a  sovereign  prince,  many  privileges — and  she  was 
lodged  in  the  palace  of  one  of  the  cardinals.  Her  vanity  being  thus  grati- 
fied, her  grace,  in  return,  treated  the  Romans  with  a  public  spectacle. 
She  had  built  an  elegant  pleasure-yacht  ;  a  gentleman  who  had  served  in 
the  navy  was  the  commander.  Under  her  orders  he  sailed  for  Italy ;  and 
the  vessel,  at  considerable  trouble  and  expense,  was  conveyed  up  the 
Tiber.  The  sight  of  an  English  yacht  in  this  river  was  one  of  so  unusual 
a  character  that  it  attracted  crowds  of  admirers  ;  but  while  all  seemed 
happiness  and  pleasure  where  the  bark  rested  quietly  on  the  waters  of  the 
river,  proceedings  were  being  concocted  in  London  which  would  effectually 
put  a  stop  to  any  momentary  sensations  of  bliss  which  the  duchess  might 
entertain. 

Mrs.  Cradock,  who,  in  the  capacity  of  a  domestic,  had  witnessed  the 
marriage  which  had  been  solemnised  between  her  grace  and  the  Earl  of 
Bristol,  found  herself  so  reduced  in  circimistances  that  she  was  compelled 
to  apply  to  Mr.  Field  for  assistance.  The  request  was  rejected  ;  and,  not- 
withstanding her  assurance  that  she  was  perfectly  well  aware  of  all  the 
circumstances  attending  the  duchess's  marriage,  and  that  she  should  not 
hesitate  to  disclose  all  she  knew  in  a  quarter  where  she  would  be  liberally 
paid — namely,  to  the  disappointed  relations  of  the  Duke  of  Kingston — she 
was  set  at  defiance.  Tlius  refused,  starvation  stared  her  in  the  face  ;  and, 
stung  by  the  ingratitude  of  the  duchess'  solicitor,  she  immediately  set 
about  the  work  of  ruin  whicli  she  contemplated.  The  Duke  of  Kingston 
had  borne  a  marked  dislike  to  one  of  his  nephews,  Mr.  Evelyn  Meadows, 
one  of  the  sons  of  his  sister.  Lady  Frances  Pierpoint.  This  gentleman 
being  excluded  from  the  presumptive  heirship,  joyfully  received  the  intel- 
ligence that  a  method  of  revenging  himself  against  the  duchess  was  presented 
to  him.  He  saw  Mrs.  Cradock  ;  learned  from  her  the  particulars  of  the 
statdinentj  which  she  would  be  able  to  make  upon  oath  ;  and,  being  perfectly 


MeM^ 


</> 


A^^t'.'iir/zac^i^Z^,  yba-n/ie 


^/ 


HE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR,  257 

satisfied  of  its  truth,  he  preferred  a  bill  of  indictment  against  the  Duchess 
of  Kingston  for  bigamy,  which  was  duly  returned  a  true  bill.  Notice  wa« 
immediately  given  to  Mr.  Field  of  the  proceedings,  and  advices  were  forth- 
with sent  to  the  duchess  to  appear  and  plead  to  the  indictment,  to  prevent 
a  judgment  of  outlawry. 

The  duchess's  immediate  return  to  England  being  thus  required,  she  set 
about  making  the  necessary  preparations  for  her  journey ;  and  as  money 
was  one  of  the  commodities  requisite  to  enable  her  to  commence  her  home- 
ward march,  she  proceeded  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Jenkins,  the  banker  in 
Rome,  in  whose  hands  she  had  placed  security  for  the  advance  of  all  such 
sums  as  she  might  require.  The  opposition  of  her  enemies,  however,  had 
already  commenced  ;  they  had  adopted  a  line  of  policy  exactly  suited  to 
the  lady  with  whom  they  had  to  deal.  Mr.  Jenkins  was  out,  and  could 
not  be  found.  She  apprised  him,  by  letter,  of  her  intended  journey,  and 
her  consequent  want  of  money  ;  but  still  he  avoided  seeing  her.  Suspect- 
ing the  trick,  her  grace  was  not  to  be  trifled  with,  and  findincr  all  her 
eflForts  fail,  she  took  a  pair  of  pistols  in  her  pocket,  and  driving  to  Mr, 
Jenkins's  house,  once  again  demanded  to  be  admitted.  The  customary 
answer,  that  Mr.  Jenkins  was  out,  was  given  ;  but  the  duchess  declared 
that  she  was  determined  to  wait  until  she  saw  him,  even  if  it  should  not  be 
until  a  day,  month,  or  year,  had  elapsed;  and  she  took  her  seat  on  the 
steps  of  the  door,  which  she  kept  open  with  the  muzzle  of  one  of  her 
pistols,  apparently  determined  to  remain  there.  Slie  knew  that  business 
would  compel  his  return,  if  he  were  not  already  in-doors ;  and  at  length, 
Mr.  Jenkins,  finding  further  opposition  useless,  appeared.  The  nature  of 
her  business  was  soon  explained.  The  conversation  was  not  of  the  mildest 
kind.  Money  was  demanded,  not  asked.  A  little  prevarication  ensued  ; 
but  the  production  of  a  pistol  served  as  the  most  powerful  mode  of  reason- 
ing ;  and  the  necessary  sura  being  instantly  obtained,  the  duchess  quitted 
Rome.  Her  journey  was  retarded  before  she  reached  the  Alps ;  a  violent 
fever  seemed  to  seize  on  her  vitals  :  but  she  recovered,  to  the  astonishment 
of  her  attendants.  An  abscess  then  formed  in  her  side,  which  renderino-  it 
impossible  for  her  to  endure  the  motion  of  the  carriage,  a  kind  of  litter  was 
provided,  in  which  she  slowly  travelled.  In  this  situation  nature  was 
relieved  by  the  breaking  of  the  abscess ;  and,  after  a  painfully  tedious 
journey,  the  duchess  reached  Calais.  At  that  place  she  made  a  pause  ;  and 
there  it  was  that  her  apprehension  got  the  better  of  her  reason.  In  idea 
she  was  fettered  and  incarcerated  in  the  worst  cell  of  the  worst  prison  in 
London.  She  was  totally  ignorant  of  the  bailable  nature  of  her  ofieuct. 
and  therefore  expected  the  utmost  that  can  be  imagined.  Colonel  West,  a 
brother  of  the  late  Lord  Delaware,  whom  the  duchess  had  known  in 
England,  became  her  principal  associate  ;  but  he  was  not  lawyer  enough  to 
satisfy  her  doubts.  By  the  means  of  former  connexions,  and  through  a 
benevolence  in  his  own  nature,  the  Earl  of  Mansfield  had  a  private  meeting 
with  the  duchess  ;  and  the  venerable  peer  conducted  himself  in  a  manner 
which  did  honour  to  his  heart  and  character. 

Her  spirits  being  soothed  by  the  interview,  the  duchess  embarked  for 
Dover,  landed,  drove  post  to  Kingston-house,  and  found  friends  displaying 
both  zeal  and  alacrity  in  her  cause.  The  first  measure  taken  was  to  have 
the  duchess  bailed.  This  was  done  before  Lord  Mansfield  ;  the  Duke  of 
Newcastle,  Lord  ]Mountstuart,  Mr.  Glover,  and  other  characters  of  rank 
VOL.  I.  L  L 


2^8  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

attending.  The  prosecution  and  consequent  trial  of  the  duchess  becoming 
objects  of  magnitude,  the  public  curiosity  and  expectation  were  proportion- 
ably  excited.  The  duchess  had  through  life  distinguished  herself  as  a  most 
eccentric  character.  Her  turn  of  mind  was  original,  and  many  of  her 
actions  were  without  a  parallel.  Even  when  she  moved  in  the  sphere  of 
amusement,  it  was  in  a  style  peculiarly  her  own.  If  others  invited 
admiration  by  a  partial  display  of  their  charms  at  a  masquerade,  she  at 
once  threw  off  tlie  veil,  and  set  censure  at  defiance.  Thus,  at  midnight 
assemblies,  where  Bacchus  revelled,  and  the  altars  of  Venus  were  encircled 
by  the  votaries  of  love,  the  duchess,  then  Miss  Chudleigh,  appeared  almost 
in  the  unadorned  simplicity  of  primitive  nature.  The  dilemma,  therefore, 
into  which  she  was  thrown  by  the  pending  prosecution,  was,  to  such  a 
character,  of  the  most  perplexing  kind. 

She  had  already  in  a  manner  invited  the  disgrace,  and  she  now  neglected 
the  means  of  preventing  it.  Mrs.  Cradock,  the  only  existing  evidence 
against  her,  again  personally  solicited  a  maintenance  for  the  remaining 
years  of  her  life ;  and  voluntarily  offered,  in  case  a  stipend  should  be 
settled  on  her,  to  retire  to  her  native  village,  and  never  more  intrude.  The 
offer  was  rejected  by  the  duchess,  who  would  only  consent  to  allow  her 
twenty  pounds  a  year,  on  condition  of  her  sequestering  herself  in  someplace 
near  the  Peak  of  Derbyshire.  This  the  duchess  considered  as  a  most 
liberal  offer ;  and  she  expressed  her  astonisliment  that  it  should  be  rejected. 

Under  the  assurances  of  her  lawyers,  the  duchess  was  as  quiet  as  that 
troublesome  monitor,  her  own  heart,  would  permit  her  to  be ;  and  recon- 
ciled in  some  measure  to  the  encounter  with  which  she  was  about  to  meet, 
her  repose  was  most  painfully  disturbed  by  an  adversary,  who  appeared  in 
a  new  and  most  unexpected  quarter.  This  was  the  celebrated  Foote,  the 
actor,  who,  having  mixed  in  the  first  circles  of  fashion,  was  perfectly 
acquainted  with  the  leading  transactions  of  the  duchess's  life,  and  had 
resolved  to  turn  his  knowledge  to  his  own  advantage.  As,  in  the  opinion 
uf  Maude ville,  private  vices  are  public  benefits,  so  Foote  deemed  the  crimes 
and  vices  of  individuals  lawful  game  for  his  wit.  On  this  principle  he 
proceeded  with  the  Duchess  of  Kingston ;  and  he  wrote  a  piece,  founded 
on  her  life,  called  "  The  Trip  to  Calais."  The  scenes  w^ere  humorous  ;  the 
character  of  the  duchess  admirably  drawn  ;  and  the  effect  of  the  performance 
of  the  farce  on  the  stage  would  have  been  that  which  was  most  congenial 
to  the  tastes  of  the  scandal-mongers  of  the  day — namely,  to  make  the 
duchess  ashamed  of  herself.  The  real  object  of  JNIr.  Foote,  however, 
was  one  of  a  nature  more  likely  to  prove  advantageous  to  himself— it  was 
to  obtain  money  to  secure  the  suppression  of  the  piece  ;  and  witli  this  view 
he  contrived  to  have  it  communicated  to  her  grace  that  the  Haymarket 
Theatre  would  open  with  an  entertainment  in  which  she  was  taken  off  to 
the  life.  Alarmed  at  this,  she  sent  for  Foote,  who  attended  with  the  piece 
in  his  pocket ;  but  having  been  desired  to  read  it,  he  had  not  gone  far  before 
the  character  of  Lady  Kitty  Crocodile  being  introduced,  the  duchess  could 
no  longer  control  her  anger,  and  rising  in  a  violent  rage,  she  exclaimed, 
"•  Why,  this  is  scandalous ;  what  a  wretch  you  have  made  me."  Mr.  Foote 
assured  her  that  the  character  was  not  intended  to  "caricature  her  ;" — even 
in  his  serious  moments  being  unable  to  control  his  desire  to  pun — for  he  left 
her  to  infer  tliat  it  was  a  true  picture  ;  and  the  duchess,  having  taken  a  few 
turns  about  the  room,  became  more  composed,  and  requested  that  the  piece 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  2.59' 

might  be  left  for  her  perusal,  engaging  that  it  should  be  returned  by  the 
ensuing  evening.  The  actor  readily  complied,  and  retired  ;  but  the  lady 
being  left  to  consider  her  own  portrait,  was  so  displeased  with  tlie  likeness, 
that  she  determined,  if  possible,  to  prevent  its  exposure  on  the  stage.  The 
artist  had  no  objection  to  sell  his  work,  and  she  was  inclined  to  become  the 
jxirchaser ;  but  on  tho  former  being  questioned  as  to  the  sum  which  he 
should  expect  for  suppressing  the  piece,  he  proportioned  his  expectations  to 
what  he  deemed  the  duchess's  power  of  gratifying  thera,  and  demanded  two 
thousand  guineas,  besides  a  sum  to  be  paid  as  compensation  for  the  loss  of 
the  scenes,  which  had  been  painted  for  the  farce,  and  which  were  not 
applicable  to  any  other  purpose.  The  magnitude  of  the  demand,  as  well  it 
might,  staggered  the  duchess ;  and  having  intimated  her  extreme  astonish- 
ment at  so  exorbitant  a  proposition,  she  expressed  a  wish  that  the  sum 
might  be  fixed  at  one  within  the  bounds  of  moderation  and  reason.  The 
actor  was  positive  ;  concluding,  that  as  his  was  the  only  article  in  the 
market,  he  might  name  his  own  price :  but  the  result  Avas,  that  by 
demanding  too  much,  he  lost  all.  A  cheque  for  fourteen  hundred  pounds 
was  oftered  ;  the  amount  was  increased  to  sixteen  hundred  pounds,  and  a 
draft  oa  Messrs.  Drummond's  was  actually  signed ;  but  the  obstinacy  of 
the  actor  was  so  great,  that  he  refused  to  abate  one  guinea  from  his  original 
demand.  The  circumstance  might  at  any  other  time  have  passed  among 
the  indifferent  events  of  the  day,  and  as  wholly  undeserving  of  tho  public 
notice ;  but  those  long  connected  with  the  duchess,  and  in  haliits  of 
intimacy,  felt  tlie  attack  made  on  her  as  directed  by  a  ruffian  hand,  at  a 
moment  when  she  was  least  able  to  make  resistance.  His  grace  the  Duke 
of  Newcastle  was  consulted.  The  chamberlain  of  the  household  (the  Earl 
of  Hertford)  was  apprised  of  the  circumstance  ;  and  his  prohibitory  inter- 
ference was  earnestly  solicited.  He  sent  for  the  manuscript  copy  of  "  The 
Trip  to  Calais."  perused,  and  censured  it. 

But  besides  these  and  other  powerful  aids,  the  duchess  called  in  profes- 
sional advice.  The  sages  of  the  robe  were  consulted,  and  their  opinions 
were  that  the  piece  was  a  malicious  libel ;  and  that,  should  it  be  repre- 
sented, a  short-hand  writer  ought  to  be  employed  to  attend  on  the  night 
of  representation,  to  minute  each  offensive  passage,  as  the  groundwork  of  a 
prosecution.  This  advice  was  followed,  and  Foote  was  intimidated.  He 
denied  having  made  a  demand  of  two  thousand  guineas  ;  but  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Foster  contradicted  him  in  an  afiidavit.  Thus  defeated  in  point  of  fact, 
Foote  found  himself  baffled  also  in  point  of  design.  The  chamberlain 
would  not  permit  the  piece  to  be  represented. 

Foote  now  had  recourse  to  another  expedient : — He  caused  it  to  be 
intimated  •'  that  it  was  in  his  power  to  publish  if  not  to  perform  ;  but  were 
his  expenses  reimbursed  (and  the  sum  which  her  grace  had  formerly 
offered  would  do  the  business),  he  would  desist."  This  being  communi- 
cated to  the  duchess,  she  in  this,  as  in  too  many  cases,  asked  the  opinion 
of  her  friends,  with  a  secret  determination  to  follow  her  own.  Foote, 
finding  that  she  began  to  yield,  pressed  his  desire  incessantly  ;  and  she  had 
actually  provided  bills  to  the  amount  of  one  thousand  six  hundred  pounds, 
v/hich  she  would  have  given  him  but  for  the  Rev.  Mr.  Jackson,  who, 
being  asked  his  opinion  of  the  demand,  returned  this  answer  :  "  Instead  of 
complying  with  it,  your  grace  should  obtain  complete  evidence  of  the 
menace  and  demand,  and  then  consult  your  counsel  whether  a  prosecution 


260  TDE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

will  not  lie  for  endeavouring  to  extort  money  by  threats.  Your  grace 
must  remember  the  attack  on  the  first  Duke  of  Marlborough  by  a  stranger, 
who  had  formed  a  design  either  on  his  purse  or  his  interest,  and  endeavoured 
to  menace  him  into  a  compliance."  This  answer  struck  the  Earl  of  Peter- 
borough and  Mr.  Foster  very  forcibly,  as  in  perfect  coincidence  with  their 
own  opinions  ;  and  Mr.  Jackson  was  then  solicited  to  v/ait  on  Mr.  Foote; 
Mr.  Foster,  the  chaplain  of  the  duchess,  professing  himself  to  be  too  far 
advanced  in  years  to  enter  into  the  field  of  literary  combat.  Mr.  Jackson 
consented  to  be  the  champion  on  the  following  condition — that  the 
duchess  would  give  her  honour  never  to  retract  her  determination,  nor  to 
let  Foote  extort  from  her  a  single  guinea.  Her  grace  subscribina  to  this 
condition,  Mr.  Jackson  waited  on  Mr.  Foote  at  his  house  in  Suffolk- 
street,  and  intimated  to  him  the  resolution  to  which  the  duchess  had  come. 
The  actor,  however,  still  wished  to  have  matters  compromised ;  and  to 
this  end  he  addressed  a  letter  to  the  duchess,  which  began  with  stating 
"  that  a  member  of  the  privy  council  and  a  friend  of  her  grace  (by  whom 
lie  meant  the  Duke  of  Newcastle)  had  conversed  with  him  on  the  subject 
of  the  dispute  between  them  ;  and  that,  for  himself,  he  was  ready  to  have 
everything  adjusted."  This  letter  afforded  the  duchess  a  triumph.  Every 
line  contained  a  concession ;  and,  contrary  to  the  advice  of  her  friends,  she 
insisted  upon  the  publication  of  the  whole  correspondence. 

Tliis  circumstance  for  a  time  served  to  turn  the  current  of  attention  into  a 
new  channel.  But  while  the  public  notice  was  withdrawn  from  her  grace, 
she  felt  too  heavily  the  necessity  which  existed  to  adopt  some  course  to  enable 
her  either  to  evade  or  meet  the  impending  danger.  Her  line  of  procedure  was 
soon  determined  upon — she  affected  an  earnest  desire  to  have  the  trial,  ii 
possible,  accelerated,  while  in  secret  she  took  every  means  in  her  power 
to  evade  the  measures  which  her  opponents  had  taken  against  her.  Her 
conduct  in  other  respects  appears  to  have  been  strangely  inconsistent.  An 
opportunity  presented  itself  which  remained  only  to  be  embraced  to  secure 
her  object.  It  became  the  subject  of  a  discussion  in  the  House  of  Lords 
whether  the  trial  of  her  grace  shoidd  not  be  conducted  in  Westminster 
Hall ;  and  the  expense  which  would  necessarily  be  incurred  by  the  country 
v/as  by  many  urged  as  being  a  burden  which  ought  not  to  rest  upon  the 
public  purse.  Lord  JNIansfield,  privately  desiring  to  save  the  duchess  from 
the  disgrace  and  ignominy  of  a  public  trial,  strove  to  avail  himself  of  this 
objection  in  her  favour ;  and  so  great  had  become  the  differences  of  opinion 
entertained  upon  the  subject,  that  the  withdrawal  of  the  prosecution 
altogether  would  have  been  a  matter  which  would  have  been  considered 
desirable  rather  than  improper.  Here  then  was  the  critical  moment  at 
which  the  duchess  might  have  determined  her  future  fate.  A  hint  was 
privately  conveyed  to  her  that  the  sum  of  ten  thousand  pounds  would 
satisfy  every  expectation,  and  put  an  end  to  the  prosecution ;  and  doubts 
being  expressed  of  the  sincerity  of  the  proposal,  the  offer  was  made  in 
distinct  terms.  The  duchess  was  entreated  by  her  friends  to  accept  the 
proposition  which  was  made,  and  so  at  once  to  relieve  herself  and  them 
from  all  fear  of  the  consequences  which  might  result  to  her ;  but  through 
a  fatal  mistaken  confidence  either  in  the  legal  construction  of  her  case,  or 
in  her  own  machinations,  she  refused  to  accede  to  the  offers  which  were 
held  out.  Resting  assured  of  her  acquittal,  she  resisted  every  attempt  at 
dissuasion  from  her  purpose  of  going  to  trial ;  and  she  assumed  an  air  of 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  261 

itidifference  about  the  business  which  but  ill  accorded  with  the  doubtful 
nature  of  h(;r  position.  She  talked  of  the  absolute  necessity  of  setting  out 
for  Rome  ;  affected  to  have  some  material  business  to  settle  with  the  Pope ; 
and,  in  consequence,  took  every  means  and  urged  every  argument  in  her 
power  to  procure  the  speedy  termination  of  the  proceedings — as  if  tlie 
regular  course  of  justice  had  not  been  swift  enough  to  overtake  her.  In 
the  midst  of  her  confidence,  however,  she  did  not  abandon  her  manoeuvring ; 
but  at  the  very  moment  when  she  was  petitioning  for  a  speedy  trial,  she 
was  engaged  in  a  scheme  to  get  rid  of  the  principal  witness  against  her. 
JMrs.  Cradock,  to  whom  before  she  had  refused  a  trifling  remuneration, 
might  now  liave  demanded  thousands  as  the  price  of  her  evidence.  A 
negotiation  was  carried  on  tlirough  tlie  medium  of  a  relation  of  hers,  whp 
was  a  letter-carrier,  which  had  for  its  object  her  removal  from  England 
and  an  interview  was  arranged  to  take  place  between  her  and  tlie  duchess, 
at  whicli  the  latter  was  to  appear  disguised,  and  was  to  reveal  herself  only 
after  some  conversation,  the  object  of  which  was  that  terms  might  be  pro- 
posed ;  but  her  grace  was  duped  :  for  having  changed  her  clothes  to  those 
of  a  man,  she  waited  at  the  appointed  hour  and  place  without  seeing  either 
Mrs.  Cradock  or  the  person  who  had  promised  to  effect  the  meetino- ;  and 
she  afterwards  learned  that  every  particular  of  this  business  had  been 
communicated  to  the  prosecutors,  wlio  instructed  the  letter-carrier  to  pre- 
tend an  acquiescence  in  the  scheme. 

Thus  baffled  in  a  project  which  liad  a  plausible  appearance  of  success, 
tlie  only  method  left  was  the  best  possible  arrangement  of  matters  prepa- 
ratory to  the  trial.  On  the  15th  day  of  April,  1766,  the  business  came 
on  in  Westminster-hall,  when  the  queen  was  present,  accompanied 
by  the  prince  of  Wales,  princess  royal,  and  ethers  of  the  royal  family. 
Many  foreign  ambassadors  also  attended,  as  well  as  several  of  the  nobility. 
These  having  taken  their  seats,  the  ducliess  came  forward,  attended  by 
Mrs.  Edgerton,  Mrs.  Barrington,  and  ]\Iiss  Chudleigh,  three  of  the  ladies 
of  her  bedchamber,  and  her  chaplain,  physician,  and  apothecary  ;  and  as 
she  approached  the  bar  she  made  three  reverences,  and  then  dropped  on 
her  knees,  when  tlie  lord  high  steward  said,  "  JMadam,  you  may  rise." 
Having  risen,  she  courtesied  to  the  lord  high  steward  and  tlie  house  of 
peers,  and  lier  compliments  were  returned. 

Proclamation  being  made  for  silence,  the  lord  high  steward  mentioned  to 
the  prisoner  the  fatal  consequences  attending  the  crime  of  which  she  stood 
indicted,  signifying  that,  however  alarming  and  awful  her  present  circum- 
stances, she  might  derive  great  consolation  from  considering  that  she  was 
to  be  tried  by  the  most  liberal,  candid,  and  august  assembly  in  the 
universe. 

The  duchess  then  read  a  paper,  setting  forth  that  she  was  guiltless  of 
the  offence  alleged  against  her,  and  that  the  agitation  of  her  mind  aros*^, 
not  from  the  consciousness  of  guilt,  but  from  the  painful  circumstance  of 
being  called  before  so  awful  a  tribunal  on  a  criminal  accusation.  She 
begged,  therefore,  that  if  she  was  deficient  in  the  observance  of  any  cere- 
monial points,  her  failure  might  not  bo  understood  as  proceeding  from  wilful 
disrespect,  but  should  be  attributed  to  the  unfortunate  peculiarity  of  her 
situation.  It  was  added,  that  she  had  travelled  from  Rome  in  so  dangerous 
a  state  of  health  that  it  was  necessary  for  her  to  be  conveyed  in  a  litter  ; 
and  that  she  was  perfectly  satisfied  that  she  should  have  a  fair  trial,  since 


262  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

ihe  determination  respecting  her  cause,  on  which  materially  depended  her 
honour  and  fortune,  would  proceed  from  the  most  unprejudiced  and  augiLst 
assembly  in  the  world. 

The  lord  high  steward  then  desired  the  lady  to  give  attention  while  she 
was  arraigned  on  an  indictment  for  bigamy  ;  and  proclamation  for  silence 
having  been  again  made,  the  duchess  (who  had  been  permitted  to  sit) 
arose,  and  read  a  paper,  representing  to  the  Court  tliat  she  was  advised  by 
her  counsel  to  plead  the  sentence  of  the  Ecclesiastical  Court  in  the  year 
1769  as  a  bar  to  her  being  tried  on  the  present  indictment.  The  lord  high 
steward  informed  her  that  she  must  plead  to  the  indictment ;  in  consequence 
of  which  she  was  arraigned  ;  and  being  asked  by  the  clerk  of  the  crown 
whether  slie  was  guilty  of  the  felony  with  which  she  stood  charged,  she 
answered,  with  great  firmness,  "  Not  guilty,  my  lords.''  The  clerk  of  the 
crown  then  asking  her  how  she  would  be  tried,  she  said,  "  By  God  and 
my  peers  ;  "  on  which  the  clerk  said,  "  God  send  your  ladysliip  a  good 
deliverance." 

Four  days  were  occupied  in  arguments  of  counsel  respecting  the 
admission  or  rejection  of  a  sentence  of  the  Spiritual  Court  ;  but  the  peers 
having  decided  that  it  could  not  be  admitted,  the  trial  proceeded.  The 
first  witness  examined  was 

Anne  Cradock,  whose  testimony  was  as  follows  : — I  have  known  her 
grace  the  Dncliess  of  Kingston  ever  since  the  year  1742,  at  which  time 
she  came  on  a  visit  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Merrill,  at  Lainston,  in  Hamp- 
shire, daring  the  Winchester  races.  At  that  time  I  lived  in  the  service  of 
Mrs.  Haunier,  Miss  Chudleigh's  aunt,  who  was  then  on  a  visit  at  Mr. 
JMerriU's,  where  Mr,  Hervey  and  Miss  Chudleigh  first  met,  and  soon 
conceived  a  mutual  attachment  for  each  other.  They  were  privately 
married  one  evening  at  about  eleven  o'clock  in  Ijainston  church,  in  the 
presence  of  j\lr.  Mountney,  ]\Irs.  Hanmer,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ames,  the  rector, 
who  performed  the  ceremony,  and  myself.  I  was  ordered  out  of  the 
chui'ch  to  entice  Mr.  Merrill's  servants  out  of  the  way.  I  saw  the  bride 
and  bridegroom  put  to  bed  together,  and  Mrs.  Hanmer  obliged  them  to 
rise  again  ;  they  went  to  bed  together  the  following  night.  In  a  few  days 
Mr.  Hervey  was  under  the  necessity  of  going  to  Portsmouth  in  order  to 
join  Sir  John  Danvers's  fleet,  in  which  he  was  then  a  lieutenant ;  and 
being  ordered  to  caU  him  at  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  I  went  into  the 
bedchamber  at  the  ap^jointed  hour,  and  found  him  and  his  lady  sleeping 
in  bed  togetlier,  I  was  unwilling  to  disturb  them,  as  I  thought  that  the 
delay  of  an  houi'  or  two  would  make  no  difference,  but  they  afterwards 
parted.  ^ly  husband,  to  whom  I  was  not  then  married,  accompanied  Mr. 
Hervey  in  tlie  capacity  of  servant.  When  Mr.  Hervey  returned  from  tin? 
Slediterranean,  he  and  his  lady  lived  together,  and  I  then  thought  that  she 
was  pregnant.  Some  months  after,  Mr.  Hervey  went  again  to  sea,  and 
during  his  absence  I  was  informed  that  the  lady  was  brought  to  bed ;  and 
I  was  afterwards  confirmed  in  the  information  by  the  lady  herself,  who 
said  that  slie  had  a  little  boy  at  nurse,  whose  features  greatly  resembled 
those  of  Mr.  Hervey. 

In  answer  to  questions  put  by  the  Duke  of  Grafton,  the  witness  said 
that  she  had  never  seen  the  child ;  that  it  was  dark  when  the  marriage 
took  place  in  the  church,  and  that  Mr.  Mountney  carried  a  wax  light 
attarhcd  to  the  crown  of  his  hat.     Upon  being  asked   by  the    Earl  of 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  263 

Hilsborongh  wliether  she  had  not  received  a  letter  containing  some  offer  to 
induce  her  to  appear  now  as  a  witness,  she  admitted  that  Mr.  Fossard  of 
Piccadilly  had  written  to  her,  offering  her  a  sinecure  place  on  condition  of 
her  coming  forward  to  give  evidence  against  her  grace,  and  stating  that 
she  might,  if  she  pleased,  exhibit  the  letter  to  the  Earl  of  Bristol.  The 
cross-examination  of  the  witness  on  this  point  was  continued  during  the 
remainder  of  the  sitting  of  their  lordships  ;  and  on  the  following  day  (the 
iJOth  of  April)  it  was  resumed,  the  Earls  of  Derby,  Hilsborough,  and 
Buckinghamshire  questioning  her  with  considerable  acumen.  She  at 
length  confessed  that  pecuniary  offers  had  been  made  to  her  to  induce  her 
to  appear,  and  that  she  had  acceded  to  the  terms  proposed. 

Mrs.  Sophia  Pettiplace  was  examined  as  to  the  facts  deposed  to  by  Mrs. 
Cradock  ;  but  she  was  able  to  afford  no  positive  information  upon  the 
subject.  Slie  lived  with  her  grace  at  the  time  of  the  supposed  marriage, 
but  was  not  present  at  the  ceremony,  and  only  believed  that  the  duchess 
had  mentioned  the  circumstance  to  her. 

Caesar  Hawkins,  Esq.  deposed  that  he  had  been  acquainted  with  the 
duchess  several  years,  he  believed  not  less  than  thirty.  He  had  heard  of  a 
marriage  between  JSIr.  Hervey  and  the  lady  at  the  bar,  which  circumstance 
was  afterwards  mentioned  to  him  by  botii  parties,  previous  to  Mr, 
Hervey's  last  going  to  sea.  By  the  desire  of  her  grace,  he  was  in  the  room 
when  the  issue  of  the  marriage  was  born,  and  once  saw  the  child.  He 
was  sent  for  by  Mr.  Hervey  soon  after  his  return  from  sea,  and  desired  by 
him  to  wait  upon  the  lady,  with  proposals  for  procuring  a  divorce,  which 
he  accordingly  did  ;  when  her  grace  declared  herself  absolutely  determined 
against  listening  to  such  terms  ;  and  he  knew  that  many  messages  passed 
on  the  subject.  Her  grace  some  time  after  informed  him,  at  his  own  house, 
that  she  had  instituted  a  jactitation  suit  against  Mr.  Hervey  in  Doctors' 
Commons.  On  another  visit  she  appeared  very  grave,  and  desiring  him 
to  retire  into  another  apartment,  said  she  was  exceedingly  unhappy,  in 
consequence  of  an  oath,  which  she  had  long  dreaded,  having  been  tendered 
to  her  at  Doctors'  Commons  to  disavow  her  marriage,  which  she  would 
,  not  do  for  ten  thousand  worlds.  Upon  another  visit,  a  short  time  after, 
she  informed  him  that  a  sentence  had  passed  in  her  favour  at  Doctors' 
Commons,  which  would  be  irrevocable  unless  Mr.  Hervey  pursued  certain 
measures  within  a  limited  time,  which  she  did  not  apprehend  he  would  do. 
Hereupon  he  inquired  how  she  got  over  the  oath  ;  and  her  reply  was,  that 
the  circumstance  of  her  marriage  was  so  blended  with  falsities,  that  she 
could  easily  reconcile  the  matter  to  her  conscience ;  since  the  ceremony 
was  a  business  of  so  scrambling  and  shabby  a  nature,  that  she  could  as 
safely  swear  she  was  not  as  that  she  was  married. 

Judith  Philips,  being  called,  swore  that  she  was  the  widow  of  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Ames  ;  that  she  remembered  when  her  late  husband  performed  the 
marriage  ceremony  between  Mr.  Hervey  and  the  prisoner  ;  that  she  was 
not  present,  but  dei-ived  her  information  from  her  husband ;  that  some 
tinie  after  the  marriage  the  lady  desired  her  to  prevail  upon  her  husband 
to  grant  a  certificate,  which  she  said  she  believed  her  husband  would  not 
refuse ;  that  Mr.  Merrill,  who  accompanied  the  lady,  advised  her  to 
consult  his  attorney  from  Worcester  ;  that  in  compliance  v/xih  the  attor- 
ney's advice,  a  register-book  was  purchased,  and  the  marriage  inserted 
therein,  with  some  late  burials  in  the  parish.  The  book  was  here  produced. 
and  the  witness  swore  to  the  writing  of  her  late  husband. 


264  TKE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

The  writing  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ames  was  also  proved  by  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Tnchin  and  the  Rev.  Mr,  Dennis ;  and  the  entry  of  a  caveat  to  the  duke's 
will  was  proved  by  a  clerk  from  Doctors'  Commons.  The  book  in  which 
the  marriage  of  tlie  Duke  of  Kingston  with  the  lady  at  the  bar  was  regis- 
tered on  the  8th  of  ^Nlarch,  1769,  was  produced  by  the  Rev.  3Ir.  Trebeck, 
of  St.  Margaret's,  Westminster ;  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Samuel  Harpur,  of  the 
British  Museum,  swore  that  he  performed  the  marriage  ceremony  between 
the  parties  on  the  day  mentioned  in  the  books  produced  by  Mr.  Trebeck. 

Monday,  the  22nd  of  April,  after  the  attorney-general  had  declared  the 
evidence  on  behalf  of  the  prosecution  to  be  concluded,  the  lord  high 
steward  called  upon  the  prisoner  for  her  defence.^  which  she  read ;  and  the 
followinor  are  the  most  material  arguments  it  contained  to  invalidate  the 
evidence  adduced  for  the  prosecvitor  : — She  appealed  to  the  Searcher  of  aL 
hearts,  that  she  never  considered  herself  as  legally  married  to  Mr.  Hervey ; 
she  said  that  she  considered  herself  as  a  single  woman,  and  as  such  was 
addressed  by  the  late  Duke  of  Kingston  ;  and  that,  influenced  by  a  legiti- 
mate attachment  to  his  grace,  she  instituted  a  suit  in  the  Ecclesiastical 
Court,  when  her  supposed  marriage  with  3Ir.  Hervey  was  declared  null 
and  void  ;  but,  anxious  for  every  conscientious  as  well  as  legal  sanction, 
she  submitted  an  authentic  statement  of  her  case  to  the  Archbishop  of 
Canterbury,  who,  in  the  most  decisive  and  unreserved  manner,  declared 
that  she  was  at  liberty  to  marry,  and  afterwards  granted,  and  delivered  to 
Dr.  Collier,  a  special  licence  for  her  marriage  with  the  late  Duke  of 
Kingston.  She  said  that  on  her  marriage  she  experienced  every  mark  of 
gracious  esteem  from  their  majesties,  and  her  late  royal  mistress,  the 
Princess  Dowager  of  Wales,  and  was  publicly  recognized  as  Duchess  of 
Kinorston.  Under  such  respectable  sanctions  and  virtuous  motives  for  the 
conduct  she  pursued,  strengthened  by  a  decision  that  had  been  esteemed 
conclusive  and  irrevocable  for  the  space  of  seven  centuries,  if  their  lord- 
ships should  deem  her  guilty  on  any  rigid  principle  of  law,  she  hoped,  nay, 
she  was  conscious,  they  would  attribute  her  failure  as  proceeding  from  a  mis- 
taken judgment  and  erroneous  advice,  and  would  not  censure  her  for  inten- 
tional guilt.  She  bestowed  the  highest  encomiums  on  the  deceased  duke, 
and  solemnly  assured  the  Court  that  she  had  in  no  one  instance  abused  her 
ascendency  over  him  ;  and  that  so  far  from  endeavouring  to  engross  his 
possessions,  she  had  declared  herself  amply  provided  for  by  that  fortune  for 
life  which  he  was  extremely  anxious  to  bequeath  to  her  in  perpetuity.  As  to 
the  neglect  of  the  duke's  eldest  nephew,  she  said  it  was  entirely  the  conse- 
quence of  his  disrespectful  behaviour  to  her  ;  and  she  was  not  dissatisfied 
at  a  preference  to  another  nephew,  whose  respect  and  attention  to  her  had 
been  such  as  the  duke  judged  to  be  her  due  on  her  advancement  to  the 
honour  of  being  the  wife  of  his  grace. 

The  lord  high  steward  then  desired  IMr.  Wallace  to  proceed  with  the 
evidence  on  behalf  of  the  duchess.  The  advocate  stated  the  nature  of  the 
evidence  he  meant  to  produce  to  prove  that  Anne  Cradock  had  asserted  to 
different  people  that  she  had  no  recollection  of  the  marriage  between  Mr. 
Hervey  and  the  lady  at  the  bar ;  and  that  she  placed  a  reliance  on  » 
promise  of  having  a  provision  made  for  her  in  consequence  of  the  evidence 
she  was  to  give  on  tlie  present  trial :  and  to  invalidate  the  depositions  of 
Judith  Philips,  he  ordered  the  clerk  to  read  a  letter,  wherein  she  supplicated 
her  grace  to  exert  her  influence  to  prevent  her  husband's  discharge  from 
the  duke's  service  ;  and  observed,  that   Mrs.  Philips  had,  on  the  preceding 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  265 

flaj',  sworn  that  licr  Ini^hand  was  not  dismissed,  but  voluntarily  quittpd 
his  station  in  the  lionsehold  of  his  grace. 

Mr.  WalUice  calkd  Mr.  Berkley,  Lord  Bristol's  attorney,  who  said  his 
lordship  told  him  he  was  desirous  of  obtaining  a  divorce,  and  directed  him 
to  Anne  Cradock,  saying  she  was  the  only  person  then  living  who  was 
present  at  his  marriage  ;  and  that  a  sliort  time  previous  to  the  commence- 
ment of  the  jactitation  suit,  he  waited  upon  Anne  Cradock,  who  informed 
him  that  her  memory  was  bad,  and  tliat  she  could  remember  nothing 
perfectly  in  relation  to  the  marriage,  which  must  have  been  a  long  time 
before. 

Anne  Pritchard  deposed,  that  about  three  months  before  she  had  been 
informed  by  Mrs.  Cradock  that  she  expected  to  be  provided  for  soon  after 
the  trial,  and  that  she  expected  to  be  enabled  to  procure  a  place  in  the 
Custom-house  for  one  of  her  relations. 

This  being  the  whole  of  the  evidence  to  be  produced  on  behalf  of  her 
grace,  the  lord  high  steward  addressed  their  lordships,  saying,  that  the 
evidence  on  both  sides  having  been  heard, it  nowbecame  their  lordships'  duty 
to  proceed  to  the  consideration  of  the  case;  that  the  importance  and  solemnity 
of  the  occasion  required  that  they  should  severally  pronounce  their  opinions 
in  the  absence  of  the  prisoner  at  the  bar,  and  that  it  was  for  the  junior 
baron  to  speak  first. 

The  prisoner  having  then  been  removed,  their  lordships  declared  that 
they  found  her  guilty  of  the  offence  imputed  to  her. 

Proclamation  was  then  made  that  the  usher  of  the  black  rod  should 
replace  the  prisoner  at  the  bar ;  and  immediately  on  her  appearing,  the 
lord  high  steward  informed  her  that  the  lords  had  maturely  considered  tlie 
evidence  adduced  against  her,  as  well  as  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses 
who  had  been  called  on  her  behalf,  and  that  they  had  pronounced  her 
guilty  of  the  felony  for  which  she  was  indicted.  He  then  inquired  whether 
she  had  anything  to  say  why  judgment  should  not  be  pronounced  against 
her  ? 

The  duchess  immediately  handed  in  a  paper  containing  the  words,  "  I 
plead  the  privilege  of  the  peerage,"  which  were  read  by  the  clerk  at  the 
table. 

The  lord  high  steward  then  informed  her  grace  that  the  lords  had  consi- 
dered the  plea,  and  agreed  to  allow  it,  adding,  "  Madam,  you  will  be 
discharged  on  paying  the  usual  fees." 

The  duchess  during  the  trial  appeared  to  be  perfectly  collected,  but  on 
sentence  being  pronounced  she  fainted,  and  Avas  carried  out  of  court. 

This  solemnity  was  concluded  on  the  22nd  of  April,  1776  ;  but  the  prose- 
cutors still  had  a  plan  in  embryo  to  confine  the  person  of  the  Countess  of 
Bristol,  for  to  this  rank  she  was  now  again  reduced,  to  the  kingdom,  and  to 
deprive  her  of  her  personal  property;  and  a  writ  oine  exeat  re(/nowas  actually 
in  the  course  of  preparation  :  but  private  notice  being  conveyed  to  her  of 
this  circumstance,  she  was  advised  immediately  to  quit  the  country.  In 
order  to  conceal  her  flight,  she  caused  her  carriage  to  be  driven  publicly 
through  the  streets,  and  invited  a  large  party  to  dine  at  her  house ;  but, 
without  waiting  to  apologise  to  her  guests,  she  drove  to  Dover  in  a  post- 
chaise,  and  there  entering  a  boat  with  Mr.  Harvey,  the  captain  of  her 
yacht,  she  accompanied  him  to  Calais.  Circumstances  of  which  she  had 
been  advised,  and  which  had  occurred  during  the  period  of  her  absence 

VOL.     I.  M  M 


26o  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

from  Rome,  rendered  her  immediate  presence  in  that  city  necessary ,  and 
procecdino;  thither,  without  loss  of  time,  she  found  that  a  Spanish  friar, 
whom  she  had  left  in  charge  of  her  palace  and  furniture,  had  found  means 
to  convert  her  property  into  money,  and  after  having  seduced  a  young 
Entrlish  frii'l,  who  had  also  been  left  in  the  palace,  had  absconded.  Having 
now  obtained  the  whole  of  her  plate  from  the  public  bank  where  she  had 
deposited  it,  she  returned  to  Calais,  which  she  adopted  as  the  best  place 
at  which  she  could  fix  her  residence,  in  consequence  of  the  expeditious 
communication  which  existed  between  that  town  and  London,  by  means  of 
which  she  might  be  afforded  the  earliest  intelligence  of  the  proceedings  of 
her  opponents.  Their  business  was  now  to  set  aside,  if  possible,  the  will 
of  the  Duke  of  Kingston.  There  was  no  probability  of  the  success  of  the 
attempt,  but  there  was  sufficient  doubt  upon  the  subject  in  the  mind  of 
the  countess  to  keep  all  her  apprehensions  alive. 

The  will  of  his  grace  of  Kingston,  however,  received  every  confirmation 
which  the  courts  of  justice  could  give,  and  the  object  of  the  countess  now 
was  to  dissipate  rather  than  expend  the  income  of  his  estates.  A  house 
which  she  had  purchased  at  Calais  was  not  sufiicient  for  her  purpose  ;  a 
mansion  at  Mont  Martre,  near  Paris,  was  fixed  on,  and  the  purchase  of  it  was 
negotiated  in  as  short  a  time  as  the  duchess  could  desire.  There  were 
only  a  few  obstacles  to  enjoyment  which  were  not  considered  until  the 
purchase  was  completed.  The  house  was  in  so  ruinous  a  condition  as  to 
be  in  momentary  danger  of  falling.  The  land  was  more  like  the  field  of 
the  slothful  than  the  vineyard  of  the  industrious  ;  and  these  evils  were  not 
perceived  by  the  countess  till  she  was  in  possession  of  her  wishes.  A  law- 
suit with  the  owner  of  the  estate  was  the  consequence,  and  the  countess 
went  to  St.  Petersburgh,  and  there  turned  brandy  distiller,  and  returned  to 
Paris  before  it  was  concluded.  The  possession  of  such  a  place,  however, 
was  not  sufficient  for  the  countess,  and  she  proceeded  to  make  a  second 
purchase  of  a  house,  built  upon  a  scale  of  infinite  grandeur.  The  brother 
of  the  existing  French  king  was  the  owner  of  a  domain,  suited  in  every 
respect  for  the  residence  of  a  person  of  such  nobility,  and  the  countess 
determined  to  become  its  mistress.  It  was  called  the  territory  of  St. 
Assise,  and  was  situated  at  a  pleasant  distance  from  Paris,  abounding  in 
game  of  all  descriptions,  and  rich  in  all  the  luxuriant  embellishments  of 
nature.  The  mansion  was  of  a  size  which  rendered  it  fit  for  the  occupa- 
tion of  a  king ;  it  contained  three  hundred  beds.  The  value  of  such  an 
estate  was  too  considerable  to  be  expected  in  one  payment :  she  therefore 
agreed  to  discharge  the  whole  of  the  sum  demanded,  which  was  fifty-five 
thousand  pounds,  by  instalments.  The  purchase  on  the  part  of  the  countess 
was  a  good  one.  It  aftorded  not  only  game,  but  rabbits  in  plenty  ;  and 
finding  them  of  superior  quality  and  flavour,  her  ladyship,  during  the  first 
week  of  her  possession,  had  as  many  killed  and  sold  as  brought  her  three 
hundred  guineas.  At  St.  Petersburgh  she  had  been  a  distiller  of  brandy  ; 
and  now  at  Paris  she  turned  rabbit-merchant. 

Such  was  her  situation,  when  one  day,  while  she  was  at  dinner,  her 
servants  received  the  intelligence  that  judgment  respecting  the  house  near 
Paris  had  been  av»-arded  against  her.  The  sudden  communication  of  the 
news  produced  an  agitation  of  her  whole  frame.  She  flew  into  a  violent 
passion,  and  burst  an  internal  blood-vessel :  but  slie  appeared  to  have 
surmounted  even  this,  until  a  few  days  afterwards,  when  preparing  to  ri«e 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  26? 

from  her  bed,  a  servant  who  had  long  been  with  her  endeavoured  to 
dissuade  her  from  her  purpose.  Tlie  countess  said,  "  I  am  not  very  well, 
but  1  v;ill  rise  ;"  and  on  a  remonstrance  being  attempted,  she  said,  "  At 
your  peril  disobey  me:  I  will  get  up  and  walk  about  the  room  ;  ring  for 
the  secretary  to  assist  me."  She  was  obeyed,  dressed,  and  the  secretary 
entered  the  chamber.  The  countess  then  walked  about,  complained  of 
thirst,  and  said,  "  I  could  drink  a  glass  of  my  fine  Madeira,  and  eat  a 
slice  of  toasted  bread.  I  shall  be  quite  well  afterwards  ;  but  let  it  be  a 
large  glass  of  wine."  The  attendant  reluctantly  brought,  and  the  countess 
drank  the  wine.  She  then  said,  "  I  am  perfectly  recovered  ;  I  knew  the 
Madeira  would  do  me  good.  My  heart  feels  oddly.  I  will  have  another 
glass."  The  servant  here  observed  that  such  a  quantity  of  wine  in  the 
'vorning  might  intoxicate  rather  than  benefit.  The  countess  persisted  in 
her  orders,  and  the  second  glass  of  Madeira  being  produced,  she  drank  that 
also,  and  pronounced  herself  to  be  charmingly  indeed.  She  then  walked  a 
little  about  the  room,  and  afterwards  said,  "  I  will  lie  down  on  the  couch  ; 
I  can  sleep,  and  after  that  I  shall  be  entirely  recovered."  She  seated 
herself  on  the  couch,  a  female  having  hold  of  each  hand.  In  this  situation 
she  soon  appeared  to  have  fallen  into. a  sound  sleep,  until  the  women  felt 
her  hands  colder  than  ordinary,  and  she  was  found  to  have  expired.  She 
died  August  26th,  1796. 


PETER  LE  MAITRE. 

CONVICTED    OF    ROBBING    THE    ASHMOLEAN    MUSEUM     AT    OXFORD. 

When  Lord  Thurlow  was  chancellor  of  England  some  villains  broke 
into  his  house,  in  Great  Ormond-street,  and  stole  the  great  seal  of  England, 
which  was  never  recovered,  nor  were  the  thieves  known.  We  have  heard 
also  of  a  valuable  diamond  being  stolen  from  the  late  Duke  of  Cumberland, 
when  pressing  into  the  theatre  in  the  Haymarket  to  see  the  bubble  of  the 
bottle  conjurer.  It  is  also  a  fact  that  the  Duke  of  Beaufort  was  robbed 
of  his  diamond  order  of  St.  George  as  he  went  to  Court  on  a  royal  birthday  ; 
but  we  have  yet  to  tell  that  a  museum  was  robbed  of  its  curious  medals. 

Peter  Le  Maitre,  the  thief,  was  a  French  teacher  at  Oxford,  and  being 
supposed  to  be  a  man  of  industry  and  good  morals,  he  was  induloed  witli 
free  admission  to  the  Ashraolean  Museum.  Thither  he  frequently  went,  and 
appeared  very  studious  over  the  rare  books,  and  other  valuable  articles 
there  deposited.  He  was  frequently  left  alone  to  his  researches.  At  one 
of  sucli  times  he  stole  two  medals,  and  at  another  he  secreted  himself  until 
the  doors  were  locked  for  the  night.  When  all  had  retired  he  came  from 
his  lurking-place,  and  broke  open  the  cabinet  where  the  medals  were 
locked  up,  and  possessed  himself  of  its  contents  ;  he  then  wrenched  a  ba- 
from  the  window,  and,  unsuspected,  made  his  escape. 

The  college  was  thrown  into  tlie  utmost  consternation  on  findino*  theii 
Museum  thus  plundered.  Some  were  suspected,  but  least  of  all  Le  Maitre 
until  it  was  discovered  that  he  had  privately  left  the  city  in  a  post-chaise 
and  four,  and  that  he  had  pledged  two  of  the  stolen  medals  to  pay  the 
post-boys.  This  left  little  doubt  that  he  was  the  ungrateful  thief.  H? 
was  advertised  and  described,  and  by  this  means  apprehended  in  Ireland. 


268  THE    NEW    NKWGATE    CALENDAR. 

He  was  conveyed  back  to  Oxford,  in  order  to  take  his  trial ;  and  it 
appeared  that  two  of  the  stolen  medals  were  found  in  a  bureau  in  his 
lodgings,  of  which  he  had  tlie  use ;  and  two  more  were  traced  to  the 
persons  to  wliom  he  Iiad  sold  them. 

He  had  little  to  offer  in  extenuation  of  his  crime,  and  on  the  clearest 
evidence  he  was  found  gudty  on  the  7th  March,  1777  ;  and  he  paid  the 
penalty  of  his  offence  by  enduring  five  years'  hard  labour  at  ballast-heaving 
on  the  river  Thames. 

Whether  the  ungrateful  depredation  of  Le  Maitre  stimulated  others  to 
the  commission  of  similar  crimes  we  know  not,  but  it  is  certain  that  soon 
afterwards  IMagdalen  College  Chapel,  Oxford,  was  broken  open  by  two 
thieves,  who  stole  from  the  altar  a  pair  of  large  silver  candlesticks  and  a 
silver  dish,  with  which  they  escaped  undetected. 


DAVID  BROWN  DIGNUM. 

CONVICTED    OF    PRETENDING    TO    SELL    PLACES    UNDER    GOVERNMENT. 

The  case  of  this  offender  may  be  well  looked  upon  as  a  warning  to  many 
of  those  whose  advertisements  are  daily  seen  in  the  newspapers  of  the 
present  day,  offering  a  premium  to  any  person  who  will  find  a  situation  for 
the  advertiser.  Many  persons  have  recently  been  duped  in  their  search 
after  employment,  by  fellows  who  have  obtained  their  money  by  means  of 
false  pretences ;  but  few  have  gone  the  length  to  pretend  to  put  the 
advertiser  in  possession  of  the  place  which  he  sought. 

Dignum  was  indicted  on  the  5th  of  April,  1777,  at  the  Guildhall,  West- 
minster, for  defrauding  Mr.  John  Clarke  of  the  sum  of  one  hundred  poxmds 
two  shillings  and  tenpence,  which  he  had  obtained  from  him  under 
pretence  of  investing  him  with  the  office  of  clerk  of  the  minutes  in  his 
majesty's  custom-house  in  Dublin.  The  evidence  in  the  case  was  very 
simple.  The  negotiation  was  commenced  between  Mr.  Clarke  and  the 
prisoner  at  an  early  period  in  the  year ;  and  the  money  having  been  paid 
over,  the  prisoner  handed  to  the  prosecutor  a  stamped  paper  or  warrant, 
bearing  the  signature  of  Lord  Weymouth,  and  countersigned  by  "  Thomas 
Daw,"  which  he  told  him  would  enable  him  to  assume  the  office  which  it 
mentioned.  LTpon  his  proceeding  to  do  so,  however,  he  was  found  to  have 
been  hoaxed  ;  and  upon  inquiry,  he  discovered  that  the  signatures  were 
forged,  and  that  the  seals  attached  to  the  warrant  had  been  taken  from 
some  other  instrument.  The  jury  immediately  found  the  prisoner  guilty  ; 
but  the  magistrates  hesitated  a  long  time  on  the  punishment  which  should 
be  inflicted  on  such  an  offender,  and  at  length  sentenced  him  to  work  five 
years  on  the  river  Thames. 

The  prisoner,  while  in  Tothill-fields  Bridewell,  tried  every  means  in 
his  power  to  effect  his  escape,  and  offered  to  bribe  an  attendant  in  the 
prison  with  a  bank-note  of  ten  pounds,  to  favour  his  escape  in  a  large 
chest.  Upon  his  conviction,  no  time  was  now  lost  in  conveying  him  on 
board  the  ballast-lighter.  Being  possessed  of  plenty  of  money,  and  having 
high  notions  of  gentility,  he  went  to  Woolwich  in  a  post-chaise,  with  his 
negro  servant  behind,  expecting  that  his  money  would  procure  every 
indulgence  in  his  favour,  and  that  his  servant  would  be  still  admitted  to 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


269 


attend  him  :  but  in  this  he  was  egregiously  mistaken.  The  keepers  of  the 
lighter  would  not  permit  him  to  come  on  board,  and  Dignum  was  imme- 
diately put  to  the  duty  of  the  wheelbarrow. 

On  Monday,  the  5th  of  May,  Dignum  sent  a  forged  draft  for  five 
hundred  pounds  for  acceptance  to  Mr.  Drummond,  banker,  at  Charing- 
cross,  who,  discovering  the  imposition,  carried  the  publishers  before  Sir 
John  Fielding  :  but  they  were  discharged  ;  and  it  was  intended  to  procure 
an  habeas  corpus  to  remove  Dignum  to  London  for  examination. 

This  plan,  however,  was  soon  seen  through  ;  for,  on  consideration,  it 
seemed  evident  that  Dignum,  by  sending  the  forged  draft  from  on 
board  the  lighter,  pieferred  the  chance  of  escape,  even  though  death 
])re6ented  itself  on  the  other  side,  to  his  situation ;  so  that  no  further  steps 
were  taken  in  the  affair,  and  he  remained  at  work  for  the  period  to  which 
he  was  sentenced  by  the  laws  of  his  country. 


JAMES  HILL,  alias  HIND,  alius  ATKINS,  alias  JOHN 
THE  PAINTER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FIRING    PORTSMOUTH    DOCK-YARD. 

A  MORE  dangerous  character  than  this  has  rarely  existed.  His  offence 
was  of  a  nature  aimed  at  the  very  safety  of  the  kingdom,  and,  if  successful, 
and  followed  up  by  the  operations  of  his  more  powerful  friends,  for  whose 
benefit  it  eventually  appeared  that  he  had  committed  the  foul  crime  of 
which  he  was  guilty,  the  most  disastrous  consequences  might  have  ensued. 

Hill,  it  appears,  was  a  Scotchman  by  birth,  and  was  by  trade  a  painter  ; 
from  which  circumstance  he  obtained  the  name  by  which  he  is  generally 
known,  of  "  John  the  Painter."  Having  gone  to  America  at  an  early  age, 
during  a  residence  there  of  some  years,  he  imbibed  principles  opposed  to  the 
interests  of  his  own  country.  Transported  with  party  zeal,  he  formed  the 
desperate  resolution  of  committing  a  most  atrocious  crime  against  the 
welfare  of  England — namely,  the  burning  of  the  dock -yards  at  Portsmouth 
and  Plymouth.  At  about  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon  of  the  7th  of 
December,  1776,  a  fire  broke  out  in  the  round-house  of  Portsmouth  dock, 
by  which  the  whole  of  that  building  was  consumed,  and  from  whosb 
ravages  the  rest  of  the  surrounding  warehouses  were  with  difficulty  saved. 
The  fire  was  at  first  attributed  to  accident ;  but  on  the  5th  of  January 
following,  three  men,  who  were  engaged  in  the  hemp-house,  discovered  a 
tin  machine,  somewhat  resembling  a  tea-canister,  and  near  the  same  spot  a 
wooden  box,  containing  various  kinds  of  combustibles.  This  circumstance 
being  communicated  to  the  commissioner  of  the  dock,  and  circulated 
among  the  public,  several  vague  and  indefinite  suspicions  fell  upon  Hill, 
who  had  been  lurking  about  the  dock-yard,  where  he  was  distinguished  by 
the  appellation  of  "  John  the  Painter." 

In  consequence  of  advertisements  in  the  newspapers,  offering  a  reward 
of  fifty  pounds  for  apprehending  him,  he  was  secured  at  Odiham,  and  on 
the  17th  of  February  the  prisoner  was  examined  at  Sir  John  Fielding's 
office.  Bow -street,  where  John  Baldwin,  who  exercised  the  trade  of  a 
painter  in  different  parts  of  America,  attended,  by  the  direction  of  Lord 
Temple.  The  prisoner's  conversations  with  Baldv,un  operated  very  materially 
to  secure  his  conviction 


070  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

He  had  said  he  had  taken  a  view  of  most  of  the  dock-yards  and  fortifi- 
cations about  England,  the  number  of  ships  in  the  navy,  and  had  observed 
their  weight  of  metal  and  their  number  of  men,  and  had  been  to  France 
two  or  tliree  times  to  inform  Silas  Deane,  the  American  envoy,  of  his  dis- 
coveries ;  that  Deane  gave  him  bills  to  the  amount  of  three  hundred  pounds, 
and  letters  of  recommendation  to  a  merchant  in  the  city,  which  he  had 
burned,  lest  they  should  lead  to  a  discovery.  He  informed  Baldwin 
further,  that  he  had  instructed  a  tinman's  apprentice  at  Canterbury  to  make 
him  a  tin  canister,  which  he  carried  to  Portsmouth,  where  he  hired  a 
lodging  at  one  Mrs.  Boxall's,  and  tried  his  preparations  for  setting  fire  to 
the  dock-yard.  After  recounting  the  manner  of  preparing  matches  and 
combustibles,  he  said  that,  on  the  6th  of  the  preceding  December,  he  got 
into  the  hemp-house,  and  having  placed  a  candle  in  a  wooden  box,  and  a 
tin  canister  over  it,  and  sprinkled  turpentine  over  some  of  the  hemp,  he 
proceeded  to  the  rope-house,  where  he  placed  a  bottle  of  turpentine  among 
the  loose  hemp,  which  he  sprinkled  also  with  turpentine ;  and  having  laid 
matches,  made  of  paper  daubed  over  with  powdered  charcoal  and  gun- 
powder diluted  Avith  water,  and  other  combustibles,  about  the  place,  he 
returned  to  his  lodgings.  These  matches  were  so  contrived  as  to  continue 
burning  for  twenty-four  hours,  so  that  by  cutting  them  into  proper  lengths 
he  might  provide  for  his  escape,  knowing  the  precise  time  when  the 
fire  would  reach  the  combustibles.  He  had  hired  lodgings  in  two  other 
houses  to  whicli  he  also  intended  to  set  fire,  that  the  engines  might  not  be 
all  employed  together  in  quenching  the  conflagration  at  the  dock.  On  the 
7th  he  again  went  to  the  hemp-house,  intending  to  set  it  on  fire ;  but 
he  was  unalile  to  effect  his  object,  owing  to  a  halfpenny-worth  of 
common  house  matches  that  he  had  bought  not  being  sufficiently  dry. 
This  disappointment,  he  said,  rendered  him  exceedingly  uneasy,  and  he 
went  from  the  hemp-house  to  the  rope-house,  and  set  fire  to  the  matches 
he  had  placed  there.  His  uneasiness  was  increased  because  he  could  not 
return  to  his  lodging,  where  he  had  left  a  bundle  containing  an  "  Ovid's 
Metamorphoses,"  a  "  Treatise  on  War  and  making  Fireworks,"  a  "  Justin," 
a  pistol,  and  a  French  passport,  in  which  his  real  name  was  inserted ;  and 
also  because  he  could  not  fire  them  too,  in  accordance  with  his  original 
plan. 

When  he  had  set  fire  to  the  rope-house  he  proceeded'  towards  London, 
deeply  regretting  his  failure  in  attempting  to  fire  the  other  building,  and 
was  strongly  inchned  to  discharge  a  pistol  into  the  windows  of  the  women 
who  had  sold  him  the  bad  matches.  He  jumped  into  a  cart,  and  gave  tlie 
woman  who  drove  it  sixpence  to  induce  her  to  drive  quick  ;  and  when  he 
had  passed  the  sentinels,  he  observed  that  the  fire  had  made  so  rapid  a 
progress  that  the  elements  seemed  in  a  blaze.  At  about  ten  o'clock  the 
next  morning  he  arrived  at  Kingston,  and  having  remained  there  until 
dusk,  at  that  time  he  proceeded  on  towards  London  in  the  stage.  Soon 
after  his  arrival,  he  went  to  the  house  of  the  gentleman  on  whom  the  biUs 
had  been  drawn,  but  having  related  his  story,  he  was  received  with  distrust, 
and  therefore  went  away.  On  his  reaching  Hammersmith  he  wrote  back 
to  the  merchant,  saying  that  he  was  going  to  Bristol ;  and  he  added,  that 
"  the  handy  works  he  meant  to  perform  there  would  soon  be  known  to  the 
public."  Soon  after  his  arrival  in  Bristol,  he  set  fire  to  several  houses, 
wiiich  were  all  burning  at  one  time  and  the  flames  were  not  extlnguislied 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  271 

until  damage  to  the  amount  of  15,000/,  had  been  caused.  He  also 
set  fire  to  some  combustibles  which  h(^  had  placed  among  the  oil-barrels  on 
the  quay ;  but  in  this  instance  without  the  effect  which  he  desired. 

His  trial  commenced  on  the  6tli  of  March,  1777,  at  Winchester  Castle, 
when  witnesses  were  produced  from  different  parts  of  the  country,  who 
proved  the  whole  of  his  confession  to  Baldwin  to  be  true,  and  gave  other 
evidence  of  his  guilt. 

When  called  upon  for  his  defence,  he  complained  of  the  reports  circulated 
to  his  prejudice;  and  observed,  that  it  was  easy  for  such  a  man  as  Baldwin 
to  feign  the  story  he  had  told,  and  for  a  number  of  witnesses  to  be  collected 
to  give  it  support.  He  declared  that  God  alone  knew  whether  he  was,  or 
was  not,  the  person  who  set  fire  to  the  dock-yard  ;  and  begged  it  might  be 
attended  to  how  far  Baldwin  ought  to  be  credited :  that  if  he  had  art 
enough,  by  lies,  to  insinuate  anything  out  of  him,  his  giving  it  to  the 
knowledge  of  others  was  a  breach  of  confidence ;  and  if  he  would  speak 
falsely  to  deceive  him,  he  might  also  impose  upon  a  jury. 

The  learned  judge  having  delivered  his  charge  to  the  jury,  after  a 
moment's  consideration,  they  returned  a  verdict  of  Guilty.  The  sentence 
of  death  was  immediately  passed  upon  the  prisoner,  and  he  was  ordered  for 
execution  on  the  10th  of  March  following,  when  he  was  hano-ed  within 
sight  of  the  ruins  which  he  had  occasioned. 

His  body  for  several  years  hung  in  chains  on  Blockhouse  Point,  on  the 
opposite  side  of  the  harbour  to  the  town. 

To  these  particulars  we  shall  add  his  confession.  On  the  morning  after 
his  condemnation  he  informed  the  turnkey,  of  his  own  accord,  that  he  felt 
an  earnest  desire  to  confess  his  crime,  and  to  lay  the  history  of  his  life 
before  the  public ;  and  that  by  discovering  the  whole  of  his  unaccountable 
plots  and  treasonable  practices,  he  might  make  some  atonement  to  his 
injured  country  for  the  wrongs  he  had  done  it,  of  which  he  was  now  truly 
sensible. 

This  requfist  being  made  known  to  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  then  first  lord 
of  the  admiralty,  that  nobleman  directed  Sir  John  Fielding  to  send  down 
proper  persons  to  take  and  attest  his  confession. 

He  said  that  the  diabolical  scheme  of  setting  fire  to  the  dock-yards  and 
the  shipping  originated  in  his  own  wicked  mind,  on  the  very  breaking  out 
of  the  rebellion  in  America ;  and  he  had  no  peace  until  he  proceeded  to  put 
it  in  practice.  The  more  he  thought  of  it,  the  more  practicable  it  appeared  ; 
and  with  this  wicked  intent  he  crossed  the  Atlantic.  He  had  no  sooner 
landed  than  he  proceeded  to  take  surveys  of  the  different  dock-yards  ;  and 
he  then  went  to  Paris,  and  had  several  conferences  with  Silas  Deane,the  rebel 
minister  to  the  court  of  France.  Deane  was  astonished  at  Hill's  proposals, 
which  embraced  the  destruction  of  theEnglish  dock-yards  and  the  shipping; 
but  finding  the  projector  an  enthusiast  in  the  cause  of  America,  and  a  man 
of  daring  spirit,  he  gradually  listened  to  his  schemes,  and  supplied  him 
with  money  to  enable  him  to  carry  them  into  execution,  procured  him  a 
French  passport,  and  gave  him  a  letter  of  credit  on  a  merchant  in  London. 
He  then  confirmed  the  evidence  given  against  him,  and  in  particular  that 
of  the  witness  Baldwin  ;  and  he  added,  that  had  he  been  successful  in  his 
attempt  upon  Portsmouth  and  Plymouth  dock  -yards,  he  should  have  been 
rewarded  with  a  commission  in  the  American  navy. 


272  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


FRANCIS  MERCIER,  alias  LOUIS  DE  BUTTE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  criminal  was  attended  by  circumstances  of  very  great 
atrocity.  The  malefactor  and  hisimfortunate  victim  were  natives  of  France. 

Tlie  unfortunate  Jacques  Mondroyte  was  a  jeweller  and  watchmaker  of 
Paris,  and  had  made  a  journey  to  London,  in  order  to  find  a  market  for 
ditferent  articles  of  his  manufacture.  His  stock  consisted  of  curious  and 
costly  trinkets,  worth,  as  was  computed,  a  few  thousand  pounds.  He 
took  lodgings  in  Prince's-street,  and  engaged  Mercier,  who  had  resided 
some  time  in  London,  as  his  interpreter,  on  a  liberal  gratuity,  and  treated 
him  as  a  friend. 

It  appeared  that  the  ungrateful  villain  had  long  determined  upon 
murdering  his  employer,  in  order  to  possess  himself  of  the  whole  of  his 
valuable  property.  To  this  diabolical  end,  he  gave  orders  for  an  instru- 
ment to  be  made  of  a  singular  construction,  whicli  was  a  principal  means 
of  leading  to  his  discovery  as  the  murderer.  It  was  shaped  somewhat 
like  an  Indian  tomahawk  ;  and  this  instrument  of  death  he  concealed  until 
an  opportunity  oftered  to  eflect  his  detestable  purpose. 

One  day,  his  employer.  Monsieur  Mondroyte,  invited  him  to  spend  the 
evening :  they  played  at  cards,  sang  some  French  songs,  and  took  a 
cheerful  glass,  but  with  that  moderation  peculiarly  observable  among 
Frenchmen  ;  and  a  late  hour  having  arrived,  the  kind  heart  of  the  host 
forbade  his  dismissing  his  friend  without  oft'ering  him  a  bed  for  the  night. 
The  offer  was  accepted  after  some  hesitation,  and  both  parties  retired  to 
rest.  As  soon  as  the  neighbours  were  wrapped  in  sleep,  ]\Iei-cier  took  from 
the  lining  of  his  coat,  where  it  had  remained  constantly  concealed,  the 
fatal  weapon  which  had  been  prepared,  and  with  it  he  struck  his  victim 
repeated  blows  on  the  head  until  he  killed  him.  He  then  thrust  the  body 
into  one  of  the  trunks  in  which  the  owner  had  brought  over  his  merchan- 
dise, and  having  ransacked  and  plundered  the  apartments,  he  locked  the 
doors  and  made  his  escape. 

On  the  next  day  he  had  the  hardihood  to  return  to  the  house,  and  to 
inquire  whether  Monsieur  Mondroyte  had  set  off,  pretending  that  he  had 
proposed  a  journey  into  the  country  ;  and  the  people  of  the  house  con- 
cluding that  he  had  let  himself  out  before  they  had  risen,  and  that  this 
accounted  for  their  finding  the  street  door  on  the  latch,  replied  that  he 
must  have  departed,  giving  that  circumstance  as  a  reason  for  such  belief. 
This  audacious  farce  was  acted  by  the  murderer  for  some  days,  during 
which  time  he  frequently  called  to  know  whether  his  friend  had  returned. 
The  family,  however,  beginning  to  entertain  suspicions  of  some  foul  play, 
procured  a  ladder,  entered  the  chamber  window  of  their  unfortunate  lodger, 
and  soon  discovered  the  body  crammed  into  the  trunk,  which  was  only  two 
feet  four  inches  long,  already  beginning  to  putrefy.  There  appeared  on  the 
head  several  deep  wounds. 

A  warrant  was  thereupon  granted  to  apprehend  IMercier,  who  was  taken 
just  as  he  was  alighting  from  a  post-chaise,  in  which  he  had  been  jaunting 
with  a  woman  of  the  town.  In  his  lodgings,  and  on  his  person,  were 
fotiud    sixteen   gold    watches,    some  of  great  value ;    a  great  number  of 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  273 

brilliant  diamond  and  other  rings ;  a  variety  of  gold  trinkets ;  and 
seventy-five  guineas. 

On  his  examination  he  confessed  his  guilt,  which,  added  to  the  proof 
taat  the  manufactured  articles  had  been  the  property  of  Mondroyte, 
secured  his  conviction.  He  was  subsequently  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey,  and 
a  verdict  of  Guilty  being  returned,  he  was  sentenced  to  be  hanged  on  the 
following  Monday. 

He  was  carried  to  execution  opposite  the  place  where  he  committed  the 
murder ;  and  no  man  ever  met  death  with  more  dread.  He  used  every 
evasion  to  prolong  the  fatal  hour,  repeatedly  craving  time  for  his  devotions, 
until  the  sheriff,  perceiving  his  motive,  gave  the  signal,  and  he  was  turned 
off,  on  the  8th  of  December  1777,  amidst  the  execrations  of  the  surround- 
ing spectators. 


JOHN  HOLMES  AND  PETER  WILLIAMS. 

WHIPPED    FOR    STEALING  DEAD  BODIES. 

These  impious  robbers  were  of  a  class  now,  happily,  no  longer  in 
existence,  thanks  to  the  exertions  of  modern  legislators,  who  have  made 
such  enactments  as  render  the  stealing  dead  bodies  no  longer  profitable. 
Tlie  names  by  which  such  fellows  were  formerly  known  were  "  resurrec- 
tionists," and  "body-snatchers  ;"  and  so  common — nay,  so  necessary  was 
their  trade  for  the  purposes  of  science,  that  it  was  carried  on  without  the 
smallest  attempt  at  concealment.  A  monthly  publication,  in  March  1776, 
says,  "  The  remains  of  more  than  twenty  dead  bodies  were  discovered  in  a 
shed  in  Tottenham-court-road,  supposed  to  have  been  deposited  there  by 
traders  to  the  surgeons,  of  whom  there  is  one,  it  is  said,  in  the  Borough, 
who  makes  an  open  profession  of  dealing  in  dead  bodies,  and  is  well  known 
by  the  name  of  "  The  Resurrectionist." 

It  is  notorious  that  when  Hunter,  the  famous  anatomist,  was  in  full 
practice,  he  had  a  surgical  theatre  behind  his  house  in  Windmill-street, 
where  he  gave  lectures  to  a  very  numerous  class  of  pupils,  demonstrating 
upon  stolen  "  subjects."  To  this  place  such  numbers  of  dead  bodies  were 
brought  during  the  winter  season,  that  the  mob  rose  several  times,  and 
were  upon  the  point  of  pulling  down  his  house.  Numberless  were  the 
instances  of  dead  bodies  being  seized  on  their  way  to  the  surgeons  ;  and  it 
was  known  that  hackney-coachmen,  for  an  extra  fare,  and  porters  with 
hampers,  were  often  employed  by  the  resurrection-men  to  convey  their 
plunder  to  its  market. 

In  more  recent  days  the  establishment  of  Brookes,  which  was  carried  on 
for  a  purpose  exactly  similar  to  that  of  Hunter,  has  been  equally  well 
known  to  be  supplied  in  the  same  manner.  But  at  the  same  time  that 
such  a  trade  must  have  been  most  disgusting,  and  its  effects  most  harrow- 
ing to  persons,  the  bodies  of  whose  friends  or  relations  may  have  been  carried 
off'  to  be  placed  under  the  knife  of  the  anatomist,  every  excuse  must  be 
made  for  those  by  whom  it  was  supported.  The  advancement  of  science 
was  most  desirable  to  be  obtained,  and  most  important  for  the  existing 
generation ;  and  where  the  law  was  deficient  in  providing  the  proper  means 
of  obtaining  this  great  end,  it  became  requisite  that  measuree,  unlawful  ic 

VOL.  I.  N  N 


274  THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

tliemselves,  it  must  be  owned,  should  be  adopted  to  secure  an  object,  the 
absolute  necessity  of  which  was  universally  admitted. 

Provisions  have  recently  been  made  by  Parliament,  by  which  all  body- 
stealing  has  been  effectually  stopped.  The  bodies  of  unclaimed  paupers 
and  suicides  are  now  submitted  to  the  anatomist  ;  and  under  the  excellent 
arrangements  of  a  superintendant  officer  who  is  appointed,  all  hospitals 
and  schools  are  well  supplied,  the  number  of  bodies  at  his  disposal  being 
generally  more  than  adequate  to  meet  tlie  demand.  It  should  be  added, 
that  the  remains  are  invariably  buried  with  all  that  decorum  and  resptect, 
which  would  be  observed  in  the  interment  of  a  body  under  other  circum- 
stances. 

But  to  proceed  to  the  case  now  before  us.  Holmes,  the  principal 
offender,  was  grave-digger  of  St.  George's,  Bloomsbury ;  Williams  was  his 
assistant ;  and  a  woman  named  Esther  Donaldson  was  charged  as  an 
accomplice.  They  were  all  indicted,  in  December  1777,  for  stealing  the 
body  of  Mrs.  Jane  Sainsbury,  who  departed  this  life  on  the  9th  of  October 
then  last  past,  and  whose  corpse  had  been  interred  in  the  burying-ground 
of  St.  George's  on  the  Monday  following.  They  were  detected  before  they 
could  secure  their  booty  ;  and  the  widower,  however  unpleasant,  deter- 
mined to  prosecute  them.  In  order  to  secure  their  conviction,  he  had  to 
undergo  the  painful  task  of  viewing  and  identifying  the  remains  of  his 
wife. 

The  grave-digger  and  his  deputy  were  convicted  on  the  fullest  evidence  ; 
and  the  acquittal  of  the  woman  was  much  regretted,  as  no  doubt  remained 
of  her  equal  guilt.  She  was  therefore  released  ;  but  Holmes  and  Williams 
were  sentenced  to  six  months'  imprisonment,  and  to  be  whipped  twice  on 
their  bare  backs  from  the  end  of  Kingsgate-street,  Holborn,  to  Dyot- 
street,  St.  Giles's,  a  distance  of  half  a  mile.  The  sentence  was  duly  carried 
out,  amidst  crowds  of  well- satisfied  and  approving  spectators. 


DR.  WILLIAM  DODD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

The  character  and  the  offence  of  this  unfortunate  divine  are  too  well 
known  to  render  it  necessary  that  any  introduction  to  the  recital  of  the 
circumstances  of  his  case  should  be  attempted. 

Dr.  Dodd  was  the  eldest  son  of  a  clergyman  who  held  the  vicarage  of 
Bourne  in  the  county  of  Lincoln,  and  was  born  at  Bourne  on  the  29th 
of  May  1729;  and  after  finishing  his  school  education,  was  admitted  a 
sizar  of  Clare  Hall,  Cambridge,  in  the  year  1745,  under  the  tuition  of  Mr, 
John  Courtail,  afterwards  Archdeacon  of  Lewes.  At  the  University  he 
acquired  the  approbation  of  his  superiors  by  his  close  attention  to  his 
studies;  and  at  the  close  of  the  year  1749  he  took  his  first  degree  of 
bachelor  of  arts  with  considerable  reputation,  his  name  being  included  in 
the  list  of  wranglers.  It  was  not  only  in  his  academical  pursuits,  however, 
that  he  was  emulous  of  distinction.  Having  a  pleasing  manner,  a  genteel 
address,  and  a  lively  imagination,  he  was  equally  celebrated  for  his  accom- 
plishments and  his  learning.  In  particular  he  was  fond  of  the  elegances 
of  dress,  and  became,  as  he  ludicrously  expressed  it,  "  a  zealous  votary  of 


'^l.€<i^^y^^yte^i'^'?^^^  ^■' 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  275 

the  god  of  Dancing,"  to  whose  service  he  dedicated  much  of  that  time 
which  he  could  borrow  from  his  more  important  avocations. 

The  talent  which  he  possessed  was  very  early  displayed  to  the  public  ; 
and  by  the  time  he  had  attained  the  age  of  eighteen  years,  prompted  by 
the  desire  of  fame,  and  perhaps  also  to  increase  his  income,  he  commenced 
author,  in  which  character  he  began  to  obtain  some  degree  of  reputation. 
At  this  period  of  his  life,  young,  thoughtless,  volatile  and  inexperienced, 
he  precipitately  quitted  the  University,  and,  relying  entirely  on  his  pen, 
removed  to  the  metropolis,  where  he  entered  largely  into  the  gaieties  of  the 
town,  and  followed  every  species  of  amusement  with  the  most  dangerous 
avidity.  In  this  course,  however,  he  did  not  continue  long.  To  the 
surprise  of  his  friends,  who  least  suspected  him  of  taking  such  a  step, 
without  fortune,  and  destitute  of  all  means  of  supporting  a  family,  he 
hastily  imited  himself,  on  the  13th  of  April  1751,  in  marriage  with  Miss 
Mary  Perkins,  daughter  of  one  of  the  domestics  of  Sir  John  Dolben,  a 
young  lady  then  residing  in  Frith-street,  Soho,  who,  though  endowed  with 
personal  attractions,  was  deficient  in  those  of  birth  and  fortune.  To  a 
person  circumstanced  as  i\Ir.  Dodd  then  was,  no  measure  could  be  more 
imprudent,  or  apparently  more  ruinous  and  destructive  to  his  future 
prospects  in  life.  He  did  not,  however,  seem  to  view  it  in  that  light,  but, 
with  a  degree  of  thoughtlessness  natural  to  him,  he  immediately  took  and 
furnished  a  house  in  Wardour-street.  His  friends  now  began  to  be  alarmed 
at  his  situation,  and  his  father  came  to  town  in  great  distress  upon  the 
occasion ;  and  in  consequence  of  the  advice  which  he  gave  him,  liis  son 
quitted  his  house  before  the  commencement  of  winter,  and,  urged  by 
the  same  preceptor,  he  was  induced  to  adopt  a  new  plan  for  his  future  sub- 
sistence. On  the  19th  of  October  in  the  same  year,  he  was  ordained  a 
deacon  by  the  Bishop  of  Ely,  at  Cains  College,  Cambridge ;  and,  with  more 
prudence  than  he  had  ever  shoNvn  before,  he  now  devoted  himself  with 
great  assiduity  to  the  study  and  duties  of  his  profession.  In  these  pursuits 
he  appeared  so  sincere,  that  he  even  renounced  all  his  attention  to  his 
favourite  objects — polite  letters.  At  the  end  of  his  preface  to  the 
"  Beauties  of  Shakspoare,"  published  in  this  year,  he  says,  "  For  my  owq 
part,  better  and  more  important  things  henceforth  demand  my  attention ; 
and  I  here  with  no  small  pleasure  take  leave  of  Shakspeare  and  the  critics. 
As  this  work  was  begun  and  finished  before  I  entered  upon  the  sacred 
function  in  which  I  am  now  happily  employed,  let  me  trust  this  juvenile 
performance  will  prove  no  objection,  since  graver,  and  some  very  eminent, 
members  of  the  Church  have  thought  it  no  improper  employ  to  comment 
upon,  explain,  and  publish  the  works  of  their  own  country  poets." 

The  first  service  in  which  he  was  engaged  as  a  clergyman  was  to  assist 
the  Rev.  Mr.  Wyatt,  vicar  of  West  Ham,  as  his  curate  :  thither  he  removed, 
and  there  he  spent  the  happiest  and  more  honourable  moments  of  his  life. 
His  behaviour  was  proper,  decent,  and  exemplary.  It  acquired  for  him  the 
respect  and  secured  for  him  the  favour  of  his  parishioners  so  far,  that  on  the 
death  of  their  lecturer,  in  17.52,  he  was  chosen  to  succeed  him.  His  abili- 
ties had  at  this  time  every  opportunity  of  being  shown  to  advantage  ;  and 
his  exertionswere  so  properly  directed,  that  he  soon  became  a  favourite  and 
popular  preacher.  Those  who  were  at  this  period  of  his  life  acquainted 
with  his  character  and  his  talents,  bear  testimony  to  the  indefatigal)le  zeal 
frhich  he  exhibited  in  his  ministry,  and  the  success  with  which  his  elforta 


276  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

were  crowned.  The  follies  of  his  youth  seemed  entirely  past,  and  his 
friends  viewed  the  alteration  in  his  conduct  with  the  greatest  satisfaction  ; 
while  the  world  promised  itself  an  example  to  hold  out  for  the  imitation  of 
others.  At  this  early  season  of  his  life,  he  entertained  sentiments  favour- 
able towards  the  opinions  of  Mr.  Hutchinson,  and  he  was  suspected  to 
incline  towards  Methodism ;  but  subsequent  consideration  confirmed  his 
belief  in  the  doctrines  of  the  Established  Church.  In  1752  he  was  selected 
lecturer  of  St.  James,  Garlick-hill,  which,  two  years  afterwards,  he 
exchanged  for  the  same  post  at  St.  Olave,  Hart-street ;  and  about  the 
same  time  he  was  appointed  to  preach  Lady  Moyer's  lectures  at  St.  Paul's, 
where,  from  the  visit  of  the  three  angels  to  Abraham,  and  other  similar 
passages  in  the  Old  Testament,  he  endeavoured  to  prove  the  commonly- 
received  doctrine  of  the  Trinity.  On  the  establishment  of  the  Magdalen 
House  in  1758,  he  was  amongst  the  first  and  most  active  promoters  of  that 
excellent  charitable  institution,  which  derived  great  advantage  from  his 
zeal  for  its  prosperity,  and  which,  even  up  to  the  unhappy  termination 
of  his  life,  continued  to  be  materially  benefited  by  the  exercise  of  his 
talents  in  its  behalf.  His  exertions,  however,  were  not  confined  to  this 
hospital,  but  he  w^as  also  one  of  the  promoters  of  the  Society  for  the  Relief 
of  Poor  Debtors,  and  of  the  Humane  Society  for  the  recovery  of  persons 
apparently  drowned. 

From  the  time  that  he  entered  upon  the  service  of  the  Church,  Dr.  Dodd 
had  resided  at  West  Ham,  and  made  up  the  deficiency  in  his  income  by 
superintending  the  education  of  a  few  young  gentlemen  who  were  placed 
under  his  care  ;  an  occupation  for  which  he  was  well  fitted.  In  1759  he 
took  the  degree  of  Master  of  Arts,  and  in  1763  he  was  appointed  chaplain 
in  ordinary  to  the  King ;  and  about  the  same  time  he  became  acquainted 
with  Dr.  Squire,  the  bishop  of  St.  David's,  who  received  him  into  his 
patronage,  presented  him  to  the  prebend  of  Brecon,  and  recommended  him 
to  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield  as  a  proper  person  to  be  intrusted  with  the 
tuition  of  his  successor  in  the  title.  The  following  year  saw  him  chaplain 
to  the  King;  and  in  1766  he  took  the  degree  of  Doctor  of  Laws  at 
Cambridge. 

The  expectations  which  he  had  long  entertained  of  succeeding  to  the 
rectory  of  "West  Ham  now  appeared  hopeless ;  and  having  given  up  all 
prospect  of  their  being  realised,  after  having  been  twice  disappointed,  he 
resigned  his  lectureship  both  there  and  in  the  City,  and  quitted  the  place — 
"  a  place,"  said  he  to  Lord  Chesterfield  in  a  dedication  to  a  sermon  entitled 
"  Popery  inconsistent  vpith  the  natural  Rights  of  Men  in  general,  and  English- 
men in  particular,"  published  in  1768,  "  ever  dear,  and  ever  regretted  by 
me,  the  loss  of  which,  truly  afi'ecting  to  my  mind  (for  there  I  was  useful, 
and  there  I  trust  I  was  loved),  nothing  but  your  lordship's  friendship  and 
connexion  could  have  counterbalanced."  The  "  Thoughts  in  Prison"  of  the 
unfortunate  gentleman  contain  a  passage  of  a  similar  tendency,  from  which 
it  may  be  inferred  that  he  was  compelled  to  quit  this  his  favourite 
residence;  a  circumstance  which  he  pathetically  laments,  and  probably 
with  great  reason,  as  the  first  step  to  that  change  in  his  situation  which  led 
him  insensibly  to  his  last  fatal  catastrophe. 

On  his  quitting  West  Ham,  he  removed  to  a  house  in  Southampton- row ; 
and  at  the  same  time  he  launched  out  into  scenes  of  expense,  which  his 
income,  although  now  by  no  means  a  small  one,  was  inadequate  to  support. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  277 

He  provided  himself  with  a  conntry-house  at  Ealing,  and  exchanged  his 
chariot  for  a  coach,  in  order  to  accommodate  his  pupils,  who,  hesides  liia 
noble  charge,  were  in  general  persons  of  family  and  fortune.  About  the 
same  time  it  was  his  misfortune  to  obtain  a  prize  of  1000/.  in  the  state 
lottery ;  and  elated  with  his  success,  he  engaged  with  a  builder  in  a  plan 
to  erect  a  chapel  near  the  palace  of  the  Queen,  from  whom  it  took  its  name. 
He  entered  also  into  a  like  partnership  at  Charlotte  Chapel,  Bloomsbury  , 
and  both  these  schemes  were  for  some  time  very  beneficial  to  him,  though 
their  proceeds  were  much  inferior  to  his  expensive  habits  of  living.  His 
expectations  from  the  former  of  these  undertakings  were  extremely 
sanguine.  It  is  reported  that  in  fitting  up  his  chapel  near  the  palace,  he 
flattered  himself  with  the  hopes  of  having  some  young  royal  auditors,  and 
in  that  expectation  assigned  a  particular  pew  or  gallery  for  the  heir- 
apparent.    But  in  this,  as  in  many  other  of  his  views,  he  was  disappointed. 

In  the  year  1772  he  obtained  the  rectory  of  Hockliffe  in  Bedfordshire, 
the  first  cure  of  souls  he  ever  had.  With  this  also  he  held  tlie  vicarage  of 
Chalgrove ;  and  the  two  were  soon  after  consolidated.  An  accident  hap- 
pened about  this  time,  from  v/hich  he  narrowly  escaped  with  his  life. 
Returning  from  Barnet,  he  was  stopped  near  St.  Pancras  by  a  hiorhwayman, 
■who  discharged  a  pistol  into  the  carriage,  which,  happily,  only  broke  the 
glass.  For  this  fact  the  delinquent  was  tried,  and,  on  Mrs.  Dodd's  evidence, 
con\'icted  and  hanged.  Early  in  the  next  year  Lord  Chesterfield  died,  and 
was  succeeded  by  Dr.  Dodd's  pupil,  who  appointed  his  preceptor  to  be  his 
chaplain. 

At  this  period  Dr.  Dodd  appears  to  have  been  in  the  zenith  of  his  popu- 
larity and  reputation.  Beloved  and  respected  by  all  orders  of  people,  he 
would  have  reached,  in  all  probability,  the  situation  which  was  the  object 
of  his  wishes,  had  he  possessed  patience  enough  to  have  waited  for  it,  and 
prudence  sufiicient  to  keep  himself  out  of  those  difficulties  which  might 
prove  fatal  to  his  integrity.  But  the  habits  of  dissipation  and  expense  had 
acquired  too  great  an  influence  over  him ;  and  he  had  by  their  means 
involved  himself  in  considerable  debts.  To  extricate  himself  from  them,  he 
was  tempted  to  an  act  which  entirely  cut  oft"  every  hope  which  he  could 
entertain  of  rising  in  his  profession,  and  totally  ruined  him  in  the  opinion 
of  the  world.  On  the  translation  of  Bishop  Moss,  in  February  1774, 
to  the  see  of  Bath  and  Wells,  the  valuable  rectory  of  St.  George,  Hanover- 
square,  fell  to  the  disposal  of  the  Crown,  by  virtue  of  the  King's  prerogative. 
Whether  from  the  suggestion  of  his  own  mind,  or  from  the  persuasion  of 
some  friend,  is  uncertain  ;  but  on  this  occasion  he  took  a  step  of  all  others 
the  most  wild  and  extravagant,  and  the  least  likely  to  be  attended  with 
success.  He  caused  an  anonymous  letter  to  be  sent  to  Lady  Apsley,  offer- 
ing the  sum  of  three  thousand  pounds  if  by  her  means  he  could  be  presented 
to  the  living.  The  letter  was  immediately  communicated  to  the  chancellor, 
and,  after  being  traced  to  the  writer,  was  laid  before  his  majesty.  The 
insult  ofi"ered  to  so  high  an  ofiicer  by  the  proposal  was  followed  by  instant 
punishment.  Dr.  Dodd's  name  was  ordered  to  be  struck  out  of  the  list  of 
chaplains.  The  press  teemed  with  satire  and  invective ;  he  was  abused  and 
ridiculed  in  the  papers  of  the  day  ;  and  to  crown  the  whole,  the  trans- 
action became  a  subject  of  entertainment  in  one  of  Mr.  Foote's  pieces  at  the 
Haymarket. 

As  no  explanation  could  justify  so  absurd  a  measure,  so  no  apology 


278  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

could  palliate  it.     An  evasive  letter  in  the  newspapers,  promising  a  jurtifi- 
cation  at  a  future  day,  was  treated  with   universal  contempt ;  and  stung 
with  remorse,  and  feelingly  alive  to  the  disgrace  he  had  brought  on  himself, 
he  hastily  quitted   the  place  where  neglect  and   insult  only  attended  him, 
and  (Toinor  to  Geneva  to  his  late  pupil,  he  was  presented  by  him  with  the 
livino-  of  Wincre  in  Buckinghamshire,  which  he  held  with  that  of  Hockliffe, 
by  virtue  of  a  dispensation.     Though  encumbered   with  debts,  he  might 
still   liave   retrieved     his   circumstances,    if  not    his    character,    had     he 
attended  to  the   dictates  of  prudence  ;    but  his   extravagance    continued 
undiminished,  and  drove  him  to  pursue  schemes  which  overwhelmed  him 
with  additional  infamy.     He  became  the  editor  of  a  newspaper  ;  and  it  is 
said  that  he  even  attempted,  by  means  of  a  commission  of  bankruptcy,  to 
clear  himself  from  his  debts ;  an   attempt  in   which,   however,  he  failed. 
From  this   period  it  would  appear  that   every  step  which  he  took  led  to 
complete  his  ruin.     In  the  summer  of  1776,  he  went  to  France,  and  there, 
with  little  regard  to  decency  or  the  observances  proper  to  be  maintained  by 
a  minister  of  religion,  he  paraded  himself  in  a  phaeton  at  the  races  on  the 
plains  of  Sablons,  dressed  in  all  the  foppery  of  the  kingdom  in  which  be 
was    temporarily  resident.     At  the   beginning  of  winter  he  returned  to 
London,  and  continued  there  to  exercise  the  duties  of  his  profession  until 
the  very  moment  of  his  committing  the  offence  for  which  his  life  was  sub- 
sequently forfeited  to  the   offended   laws  of  his   country.     On  the  2nd  of 
February   1777,   he  preached  his   last  sermon   at  the   Magdalen  Chapel, 
where  he  was  still  heard  with   approbation  and  pleasure ;  and  on  the  4th 
of  the  same  month   he   forged  a  bond,   purporting  to  be  tliat  of  his  late 
pupil,  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  for  4200Z.    Pressed  by  creditors,  and  unable 
any  lono-er  to  meet  their   demands  or  soothe  their  importunities,  he  was 
driven  to  commit  this  crime,  as  the  only  expedient  to  which  he  could  have 
recourse  to  aid  him  in  his  escape  from  his  difficulties.     The  method  which 
he  adopted  in  completing  the  forgery  was  very  remarkable.     He  pretended 
that  the  noble  earl  had  urgent  occasion  to  borrow  4000/.,  but  that  he  did 
not   choose  to  be  his  own  agent,  and   he  begged  that  the  matter  therefore 
might  be  secretly  and  expeditiously  conducted.     A  person  named  Lewis 
Robertson  was  the  person  wliom  he  employed  as  broker  to  negotiate  the 
transaction  ;  and  he  presented  to  him  a  bond,  not  filled  up  or  signed,  that 
he  might  find  a  person  ready  to  advance  the  sum  required,  as  he  directed 
him  to  say,  to  a  young  nobleman   who  had  lately  come  of  age.     Several 
applications  were  made  by  Robertson  without  success,  the  persons  refusing 
because  they  were  not  to  be  present  when  the  bond  was  executed  ;  but  at 
lencrth  the  agent,  confiding  in  tlie  honour  and  integrity  of  his   employer 
went  to   Messrs.  Fletcher  and  Peach,  who   agreed  to  advance  the  money. 
Mr.  Robertson  then  carried  the  bond  back  to  the  doctor,  in  order  that  it 
might  be  filled  up  and  executed  ;  and  on  the  following  day  it  was  returaed, 
bearing  the  signature  of  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield,  and  attested  by  the  doctor 
himself.      j\Ir.  Robertson,   knowing  that  Mr.  Fletcher  was  a  man   who 
required  all  legal  observances  to  be  attended  to,  and  that  he  would  there- 
fore object  to  the  bond  as  bearing  the  name  of  one  witness  only,  put  his 
name  under  that  of  Dr.  Dodd,  and  in  that  state  he  carried  the  bond  to  him, 
and  received  from  him  the  sum   of  4000/.   in  return,  which  he  paid  over 
to  his  employer. 

Ine  bond  was  subsequently  produced  to  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield ;  but 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  279 

immediately  on  his  seeing  it,  he  disowned  it,  and  expressed  himself  at  a  loss 
to  know  by  whom  such  a  forgery  upon  him  could  have  been  committed. 
It  was  evident,  however,  that  the  supposed  attesting  witnesses  must,  if 
their  signatures  were  genuine,  be  acquainted  with  its  author ;  and  Mr. 
Manly,  his  lordship's  agent,  went  directly  to  consult  Mr.  Fletcher  upon 
the  best  course  to  be  taken  ;  and  after  some  deliberation,  ]\Ir.  Fletcher,  a 
Mr.  Innis,  and  Mr,  Manly  proceeded  to  Guildhall  to  prefer  an  information 
with  regard  to  the  forgery  against  Dr.  Dodd  and  Mr.  Robertson.  Mr. 
Kobertson  was  without  difficulty  secured ;  and  then  Fletcher,  Innis,  and 
Manly,  accompanied  by  two  of  the  lord  mayor's  officers,  went  to  the  house 
of  the  doctor  in  Argyle-street,  whither  he  had  recently  removed. 

Upon  their  explaining  the  nature  of  their  business  to  him,  he  appeared 
much  struck  and  affected,  and  declared  his  willingness  to  make  any  repara- 
tion in  his  power.  Mr.  Manly  told  him  that  his  instantly  retiirning  the 
money  was  the  only  mode  which  remained  for  him  to  save  himself;  and  he 
immediately  gave  up  six  notes  of  5001.  each,  making  3000^.,  and  he  drew 
on  his  banker  for  500/,  more.  The  broker  then  returned  100/.  and  the 
doctor  gave  a  second  draft  on  his  banker  for  200/.,  and  a  judgment  on  his 
goods  for  the  remaining  400/.  All  tliis  was  done  by  the  doctor  in  full 
reliance  on  the  honour  of  the  parties  that  the  bond  should  be  returned  to 
him  cancelled ;  but,  notwithstanding  this  restitution,  he  was  taken  before 
the  lord  mayor,  and  charged  with  the  forgery.  The  doctor  declared  that 
he  had  no  intention  to  defraud  Lord  Cliesterfield  or  the  gentlemen  who 
advanced  the  money,  and  hoped  that  the  satisfaction  he  had  made  in  return- 
ing it  would  atone  for  his  offiiuce.  He  was  pressed,  he  said,  exceedingly  for 
300/.  to  pay  some  bills  due  to  tradesmen,  and  took  this  step  as  a  temporary 
resource,  and  would  have  repaid  the  money  in  half  a  year.  "  My  Lord 
Chesterfield,"  added  he,  "  cannot  but  have  some  tenderness  for  me  as  my 
pupil.  I  love  him,  and  he  knows  it.  There  is  nobody  wishes  to  prosecute. 
I  am  sure  my  Lord  Chesterfield  don't  want  my  life, — I  hope  he  will  show 
clemency  to  me.  Mercy  should  triumph  over  justice."  Clem.ency,  how- 
ever, was  denied  ;  and  the  doctor  was  committed  to  the  Compter  in  prepa- 
ration for  his  trial.  On  the  19th  of  February,  Dr.  Dodd,  being  put  to  the 
bar  at  the  Old  Bailey,  addressed  the  Court  in  the  following  words  : — 

"  My  lords, — I  am  informed  that  the  bill  of  indictment  against  me  has 
been  found  on  the  evidence  of  ]Mr.  Robertson,  who  was  taken  out  of 
Newgate,  without  any  authority  or  leave  from  your  lordships,  for  the 
purpose  of  procuring  the  bill  to  be  found.  Mr.  Robertson  is  a  subscribing 
witness  to  the  bond,  and,  as  I  conceive,  would  be  swearing  to  exculpate 
himself  if  he  should  be  admitted  as  a  witness  against  me  ;  and  as  the  bill 
has  been  found  upon  his  evidence,  which  was  surreptitiously  obtained,  I 
*ubmit  to  your  lordships  that  I  ought  not  to  be  compelled  to  plead  on  this 
indictment  ;  and  upon  this  question  I  beg  to  be  heard  by  my  counsel.  I 
beg  leave  also  further  to  observe  to  your  lordships,  that  the  gentlemen  on 
the  other  side  of  the  question  ai'e  bound  over  to  prosecute  Mr.  Robertson.' 

Previously  to  the  arguments  of  the  counsel,  an  order  which  had  been 
surreptitiously  obtained  from  an  officer  of  the  court,  dated  "Wednesday, 
February  19,  and  directed  to  the  keeper  of  Newgate,  commanding  him  to 
carry  Lewis  Robertson  to  Hicks's  Hall,  in  order  to  his  giving  evidence 
before  the  grand  inquest  on  the  present  bill  of  indictment — as  well  as  a 
resolution  of  the  Court,  reprobating  the  said  order — and  also  the  recogni- 


280  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAK. 

zance  entered  into  by  Mr.  Manly,  Mr.  Peach,  ]Mr.  Innis,  and  tlie  Riglit 
Hon.  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield  to  prosecute  and  give  evidence  against  Dr. 
Dodd  and  Lewis  Robertson  for  forgery — were  ordered  to  be  read ; 
and  the  clerk  of  the  arraigns  was  directed  to  inform  the  Court  whether 
the  name  "  Lewis  Robertson"  was  indorsed  as  a  witness  on  the  back  of  the 
indictment,  which  was  answered  in  the  afiirmative. 

The  counsel  now  proceeded  in  their  arguments  for  and  against  the 
prisoner.  Mr.  Howarth,  one  of  Dr.  Dodd's  advocates,  contended  that  no 
person  ought  to  plead  or  answer  to  an  indictment,  if  it  appeared  upon  the 
face  of  that  indictment  that  the  evidence  upon  whicji  the  bill  was  found 
was  not  legal,  or  competent  to  have  been  adduced  before  the  grand  jury. 

Mr.  Cooper  and  Mr.  BuUer,  on  the  same  side,  pursued  the  same  line  of 
argument  with  equal  ingenuity,  and  expressed  a  hope  that  Dr.  Dodd 
would  not  be  called  upon  to  plead  to  an  indictm  !nt  found  upon  such  evi- 
dence as  had  been  pointed  out,  but  that  the  indictment  would  be  ordered 
to  be  quashed. 

The  counsel  for  the  prosecution  advanced  various  arguments  in  oppo- 
sition to  those  employed  on  the  other  side,  and  the  learned  judge  having 
taken  a  note  of  the  objection,  it  was  agreed  that  the  trial  sliould  proceed, 
the  question  of  the  competency  of  Mr.  Robertson  as  a  witness  being 
reserved  for  the  consideration  of  the  twelve  judges. 

The  doctor  was  then  arraigned  upon  the  indictment,  which  charged 
him  in  the  usual  terms  with  the  forgery  upon  the  Earl  of  Chesterfield ; 
and  the  evidence  in  proof  of  the  facts  above  stated  having  been  given,  the 
Court  called  upon  the  prisoner  for  his  defence.  He  addressed  the  Court 
and  jury  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  My  lords  and  gentlemen  of  the  jury, — Upon  the  evidence  which  has 
this  day  been  produced  against  me,  I  find  it  very  difiicult  to  address  your 
lordships.  There  is  no  man  in  the  world  who  has  a  deeper  sense  of  the 
heinous  nature  of  the  crime  for  which  I  stand  indicted  than  myself: 
I  view  it,  my  lords,  in  all  its  extent  of  malignancy  towards  a  commercial 
state  like  ours ;  but,  my  lords,  I  humbly  apprehend,  though  no  lawyer, 
that  the  moral  turpitude  and  malignancy  of  the  crime  always,  both  in  the 
eye  of  the  law  and  of  religion,  consists  in  the  intention.  I  am  informed, 
my  lords,  that  the  act  of  parliament  on  this  head  runs  perpetually  in  this 
style,  icith  an  intention  to  defraud.  Such  an  intention,  my  lords  and 
gentlemen  of  the  jury,  I  believe,  has  not  been  attempted  to  be  proved 
upon  me,  and  the  consequences  that  have  happened,  which  have  appeared 
before  you,  sufiiciently  prove  that  a  perfect  and  ample  restitution  has  been 
made.  I  leave  it,  my  lords,  to  you  and  the  gentlemen  of  the  jury  to 
consider,  that  if  an  unhappy  man  ever  deviates  from  the  law  of  right,  yet 
if  in  the  single  first  moment  of  recollection  he  does  all  that  he  can  to  make 
a  full  and  perfect  amends,  what,  my  lords  and  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  can 
God  and  man  desire  further  ?  My  lords,  there  are  a  variety  of  little 
circumstances  too  tedious  to  trouble  you  with,  with  respect  to  this  matter. 
Were  I  to  give  loose  to  my  feelings,  I  have  many  things  to  say  which 
I  am  sure  you  would  feel  with  respect  to  me ;  but  as  it  appears  on  all 
hands,  that  no  injury,  intentional  or  real,  has  been  done  to  any  man 
living,  I  hope  that  you  will  consider  the  case  in  its  true  state  of  clemency. 
I  must  observe  to  your  lordships,  that  though  I  have  met  with  all 
candour  in  this  court,  yet  I  have  been  pursued  with  excessive  cruelty ; 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  281 

I  liave  been  prosecuted  after  the  most  express  engagements,  after  the  most 
solemn  assurances,  after  the  most  delusive,  soothing  arguments  of  Mr. 
Manly ;  I  have  been  prosecuted  with  a  cruelty  scarcely  to  be  paralleled. 
A  person  avowedly  criminal  in  the  same  indictment  with  myself  has  been 
brought  forth  as  a  capital  witness  against  me ;  a  fact,  I  believe,  totally 
unexampled.  My  lords,  oppressed  as  I  am  w^th.  infamy,  loaded  as  I  am 
with  distress,  sunk  under  this  cruel  prosc-ciiion,  your  lordships  and  the 
gentlemen  of  the  jury  cannot  think  life  a  matter  of  any  value  to  me.  No, 
my  lords,  I  solemnly  protest,  that  death  of  all  blessings  would  be  the 
most  pleasant  to  me  after  this  pain.  I  have  yet,  my  lords,  ties  which  call 
upon  me — ties  which  render  me  desirous  even  to  continue  this  miserable 
existence.  I  have  a  wife,  my  lords,  who,  for  twenty-seven  years,  has 
lived  an  unparalleled  example  of  conjugal  attachment  and  fidelity,  and 
v/hose  behaviour  during  this  trying  scene  would  draw  tears  of  approbation, 
I  am  sure,  even  from  the  most  inhuman.  My  lords,  I  have  creditors, 
honest  men,  who  will  lose  much  by  my  death.  I  hope,  for  the  sake  of 
justice  towards  them,  some  mercy  will  be  shown  to  me.  If,  upon  the 
whole,  these  considerations  at  all  avail  with  you — if,  upon  the  most 
impartial  survey  of  matters,  not  the  slightest  intention  of  injury  can  appear 
to  any  one — (and  I  solemnly  declare  it  was  in  my  power  to  replace  it  in 
three  months — of  this  I  assured  Mr.  Robertson  frequently,  and  had  his 
solemn  assurances  that  no  man  should  be  privy  to  it  but  ]Mr.  Fletcher  and 
himself) — and  if  no  injury  was  done  to  any  man  upon  earth,  I  tlien  hope, 
1  trust,  I  fully  confide  myself  in  the  tenderness,  humanity,  and  protection, 
of  my  country." 

The  jury  retired  for  about  ten  minutes,  and  then  returned  with  a  verdict 
that  "  the  prisoner  was  guilty  ;"  but  at  the  same  time  presented  a  petition, 
humbly  recommending  the  doctor  to  the  royal  mercy. 

It  was  afterwards  declared  that  upon  the  reserved  point,  the  opinion  of 
the  judges  w^as,  that  he  had  been  legally  convicted.  On  the  last  day  of 
the  sessions  Dr.  Dodd  was  again  put  to  the  bar  to  receive  judgment. 
The  clerk  of  the  arraigns  then  addressed  him,  saying, 

"  Dr.  William  Dodd,  you  stand  convicted  of  forgery,  what  have  you  to 
say  why  this  court  should  not  give  you  judgment  to  die,  according  to  law  ?" 

In  reply  Dr.  Dodd  addressed  the  court  as  follows  :— c- 

"  My  lord, — I  new  stand  before  you  a  dreadful  example  of  human 
infirmity.  I  entered  upon  public  life  with  the  ovpfctations  common  to 
young  men  whose  education  has  been  liberal,  and  whose  abilities  have 
been  flattered;  and,  when  I  became  a  clergyman,  i  considered  myself  as 
not  impairing  the  dignity  of  the  order.  I  was  not  an  idle,  nor,  I  hope, 
an  useless  minister :  I  taught  the  truths  of  Christianity  with  the  zeal 
of  conviction  and  the  authority  of  innocence. 

"  My  labours  were  approved,  my  pulpit  became  popular,  and  I  have 
reason  to  believe  that,  of  those  who  heard  me,  some  have  been  preserved 
from  sin,  and  some  have  been  reclaimed.  Condescend,  my  lord,  to  think, 
if  these  considerations  aggravate  my  crime,  how  much  they  must  embitter 
my  punishment !  Being  distinguished  and  elevated  by  the  confidence 
of  mankind,  I  had  too  much  confidence  in  myself;  and,  thinking  my 
integrity — what  others  thought  it — established  in  sincerity,  and  fortified 
by  religion,  I  did  not  consider  the  danger  of  vanity,  nor  suspect  the 
deceitfulness  of  mine  own  heart.     The  day  of  conflict  came,  in  which 

VOL.    I.  o   o 


282  THE   NEW  NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

temptation  seized  and  overwhelmed  me  I  I  committed  the  crime,  which 
I  entreat  your  lordship  to  believe  that  my  conscience  hourly  represents 
to  me  in  its  full  bulk  of  mischief  and  malignity.  Many  have  been  over- 
})owered  by  temptation,  who  are  now  among  the  penitent  in  heaven  !  To 
an  act  now  waiting  the  decision  of  vindictive  justice  I  will  now  presume 
to  oppose  the  counterbalance  of  almost  thirty  years  (a  great  part  of  the 
life  of  man)  passed  in  exciting  and  exercising  charity — in  relieving  such 
distresses  as  I  now  feel — in  administering  those  consolations  which  I  now 
want.  I  will  not  otherwise  extenuate  my  offence  than  by  declaring,  what 
I  hope  will  appear  to  many,  and  what  many  circumstances  make  probable, 
that  I  did  not  intend  finally  to  defraud :  nor  will  it  become  me  to  appor- 
tion my  own  punishment,  by  alleging  that  my  sufterings  have  been  not 
much  less  than  m.y  guilt;  I  have  fallen  from  reputation  which  ought 
to  have  made  me  cautious,  and  from  a  fortune  which  ought  to  have  given 
me  content.  I  am  sunk  at  once  into  poverty  and  scorn ;  my  name  and 
my  crime  fill  the  ballads  in  the  streets  ;  the  sport  of  the  thoughtless,  and 
the  triumph  of  the  wicked  !  It  may  seem  strange,  my  lord,  that,  remem- 
berinw  what  I  have  lately  been,  I  should  still  wish  to  continue  what  I  am  ! 
but  contempt  of  death,  how  speciously  soever  it  may  mingle  with  heathen 
virtues,  has  nothing  in  it  suitable  to  Christian  penitence.  Many  motives 
impel  me  to  beg  earnestly  for  life.  I  feel  the  natural  horror  of  a  violent 
death,  the  imiversal  dread  of  imtimely  dissolution.  I  am  desirous  to 
recompense  the  injury  I  have  done  to  the  clergy,  to  the  world,  and  to 
religion,  and  to  efface  the  scandal  of  my  crime,  by  the  example  of  my 
repentance  :  but,  above  all,  I  wish  to  die  with  thoughts  more  composed, 
and  calmer  preparation.  The  gloom  and  confusion  of  a  prison,  the 
anxiety  of  a  trial,  the  horrors  of  suspense,  and  the  inevitable  vicissitudes 
of  passion,  leave  not  the  mind  in  a  due  disposition  for  the  holy  exercises 
of  praver  and  self-examination.  Let  not  a  little  life  be  denied  me,  in 
which  I  may,  by  meditation  and  contrition,  prepare  myself  to  stand  at  the 
tribunal  of  Omnipotence,  and  support  the  presence  of  that  Judge,  who 
sliall  distribute  to  all  according  to  their  works  :  who  will  receive  and 
pardon  the  repentinw  sinner,  and  from  whom  the  merciful  shall  obtain 
mercy  !  For  these  reasons,  my  lords,  amidst  shame  and  misery,  I  yet 
wish  to  live ;  and  most  humbly  implore,  that  I  may  be  recommended  by 
your  lordship  to  the  clemency  of  his  majesty." 

Here  he  sunk  down  overcome  with  mental  agony,  and  some  time 
elapsed  before  he  was  sufficiently  recovered  to  hear  the  dreadful  sentence 
of  the  law,  which  the  Recorder  pronounced  upon  him  in  the  following 
words : 

"  Dr.  William  Dodd, 

"  You  have  been  convicted  of  the  offence  of  publishing  a  forged  and 
counterfeit  bond,  knowing  it  to  be  forged  and  counterfeited  ;  and  you 
have  had  the  advantage  which  the  laws  of  this  country  afford  to  every 
man  in  your  situation,  a  fair,  an  impartial,  and  an  attentive  trial.  The 
jury,  to  whose  justice  you  appealed,  have  found  you  guilty;  their  verdict 
has  undergone  the  consideration  of  the  learned  judges,  and  they  foiind  no 
ground  to  impeach  the  justice  of  that  verdict;  you  yourself  have  admitted 
the  justice  of  it ;  and  now  the  very  painful  duty  that  the  necessity  of  the 
law  imposes  upon  the  court,  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  that  law  against 
you,  remains  only  to  be  performed.    You  appear  to  entertain  a  very  proper 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  283 

sense  of  the  enormity  of  the  offence  which  you  have  comTnitted ;  yon 
appear,  too,  in  a  state  of  contrition  of  mind,  and,  I  doubt  not,  have  duly 
reflected  how  far  the  dangerous  tendency  of  the  offence  you  have  been 
guilty  of  is  increased  by  the  influence  of  example,  in  being  committed  by 
a  person  of  your  character,  and  of  the  sacred  function  of  which  you  are 
a  member.  These  sentiments  seem  to  be  yours  ;  I  would  wish  to  cultivate 
such  sentiments ;  but  I  would  not  wish  to  add  to  the  anguish  of  your 
mind  by  dwelling  upon  your  situation.  Your  application  for  mercy  must 
be  made  elsewhere  ;  it  would  be  cruel  in  the  court  to  flatter  you  ;  tliere  is 
a  power  of  dispensing  mercy,  where  you  may  apply.  Your  own  good 
sense,  and  the  contrition  you  express,  will  induce  you  to  lessen  the  influ- 
ence of  the  example  by  publishing  your  hearty  and  sincere  detestation  of 
the  offence  of  which  you  are  convicted ;  and  will  sliow  you  that  to  attempt 
to  palliate  or  extenuate  it,  would  indeed  add  to  the  influence  of  a  crime 
of  tills  kind  being  committed  by  a  person  of  your  character  and  known 
abilities.  I  would  therefore  warn  you  against  anything  of  that  kind. 
Now,  having  said  this,  I  am  obliged  to  pronounce  the  sentence  of  the 
law,  which  is — That  you,  Doctor  AVilliam  Dodd,  be  carried  from  hence 
■k>  the  place  frum  whence  you  came ;  that  from  thence  you  be  carried  to 
the  place  of  execution,  and  that  there  you  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  you 
are  dead."  To  this  Dr.  Dodd  replied,  "Lord  Jesus,  receive  my  soul!" 
and  was  immediately  conveyed  frcm  the  bar. 

Great  exertions  were  now  made  to  save  Dr.  Dodd.  The  newspapers 
were  filled  with  letters  and  paragraphs  in  his  favour ;  individuals  of  all 
»-anks  exerted  themseVes  in  his  behalf ;  the  members  of  several  charities 
which  had  been  benefited  by  him  joined  in  application  to  the  throne  for 
mercy;  parish  oflicers  went  in  mourning  from  house  to  house,  to  procure 
subscriptions  to  a  petition  to  the  king ;  and  this  petition,  which,  with  the 
names  of  nearly  thirty  thousand  persons,  filled  twenty-three  sheets  of 
parchment,  was  actually  presented.  Even  the  lord  mayor  and  common 
council  went  in  a  body  to  St.  James's,  to  solicit  mercy  for  the  convict. 
These  v,-ere,  however,  of  no  avail.  On  the  loth  of  June  the  privy  council 
assembled,  and  deliberated  on  the  cases  of  the  several  prisoners  then  under 
condemnation;  and  in  the  end  a  warrant  was  ordered  to  be  made  out  for  the 
execution  of  Dr.  Dodd,  with  two  others  (one  of  whom  was  afterwards  re- 
prieved), on  the  27th  of  the  same  month. 

Having  been  flattered  with  the  hopes  of  a  pardon,  he  appeared  to  be 
much  shocked  at  the  intimation  of  his  approaching  destiny  ;  but  resumed 
in  a  short  time  a  degree  of  fortitude  sufiicient  to  enable  him  to  pas?  through 
the  last  scene  of  his  life  with  firmness  and  decency.  On  the  26th  he  took 
leave  of  his  wife  and  some  friends,  and  he  afterwards  declared  himself  ready 
to  atone  for  the  oft'ence  he  had  given  to  the  world.  His  deportment  was 
meek,  humble,  and  devout,  expressive  of  resignation  and  contrition,  and 
calculated  to  inspire  sentiments  of  respect  for  his  person,  and  concern  for  his 
unhappy  fate. 

He  was  attended  to  the  fatal  spot,  in  a  mourning-coach,  by  the  Rev.  JMr. 
Villette,  Ordinary  of  Newgate,  and  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dobey.  Another  cri- 
minal, named  John  Harris,  was  executed  at  the  same  time.  It  is  impos- 
sible to  give  an  idea  of  the  immense  crowds  of  people  that  thronged  the 
streets  from  Newgate  to  Tyburn.  When  the  prisoners  arrived  at  the  fatal 
tree,  and  were  placed  iu  the  cart,  Dr.  Dodd  exhorted  his  fellow  sufferer  in 


284  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

SO  generous  a  manner,  as  testified  tliat  be  had  not  forgotten  his  duty  as  a 
clergyman  ;  and  \w  was  also  very  fervent  in  the  exercise  of  his  own  devo- 
tions. Just  before  he  was  turned  off,  he  was  observed  to  whisper  to  the 
executioner;  and,  although  we  have  not  the  means  of  ascertaining  the  pre- 
cise purport  of  his  remark,  it  is  pretty  obvious  from  the  fact,  that  as  soon 
as  the  cart  had  been  drawn  away  from  the  gibbet,  he  ran  immediately 
under  the  scaffold  and  tool?  hold  of  the  doctor's  legs  as  if  to  steady  his  body, 
and  the  unfortunate  gentleman  appeared  to  die  without  pain. 

Of  his  behaviour  before  execution  a  particular  account  was  given  by  Mr. 
Villette,  Ordinary  of  Newgate,  in  the  following  terms: — 

"  On  the  morning  of  his  death  I  went  to  him,  with  the  Rev.  Mr.  Dobey, 
Chaplain  of  the  Magdalen,  whom  he  desired  to  attend  him  to  the  place  of 
execution.  He  appeared  composed;  and  when  I  asked  him  how  he  had 
been  supported,  he  said  that  he  had  had  some  comfortable  sleep,  by  which 
he  should  be  the  better  enabled  to  perform  his  duty. 

"As  we  went  from  his  room,  in  our  way  to  the  chapel,  we  were  joined 
by  his  friend,  who  had  spent  the  foregoing  evening  with  him,  and  also  by 
another  clergvman.  When  we  were  in  the  Vestry  adjoining  the  Chapel, 
he  exhorted  his  fellow-sufterer,  who  had  attempted  to  destroy  himself,  but 
had  been  prevented  by  the  vigilance  of  the  keeper.  He  spoke  to  him  with 
great  tenderness  and  emotion  of  heart,  entreating  him  to  consider  that  he 
had  but  a  short  time  to  live,  and  that  it  was  highly  necessary  that  he,  as' 
well  as  himself,  made  good  use  of  their  time,  implored  pardon  of  God  under 
a  deep  sense  of  sin,  and  looked  to  that  Lord  by  whose  merits  alone  sinners 
can  be  saved.  He  desired  me  to  call  in  the  other  gentlemen,  who  likewise 
assisted  him  to  move  the  heart  of  the  poor  youth ;  but  the  Doctor's  words 
were  the  most  pathetic  and  effectual.  He  lifted  up  his  hands,  and  cried 
out  '  Oh  !  Lord  Jesus,  have  mercy  upon  us!  and  give,  oh!  give  unto  him, 
my  fellow  sinner,  that,  as  we  suffer  together,  we  may  go  together  to 
Heaven!'  His  conversation  to  this  poor  youth  was  so  moving,  that  tears 
flowed  from  the  eyes  of  all  present. 

"  When  we  went  into  the  chapel  to  prayer  and  the  holy  communion, 
true  contrition  and  warmth  of  devotion  appeared  evident  in  him  through- 
out the  whole  service.  After  it  was  ended,  he  again  addressed  himself  to 
Harris  in  the  most  moving  and  persuasive  manner,  and  not  without  effect; 
for  he  declared  that  he  was  glad  that  he  had  not  made  away  with  himself, 
and  said  he  was  easier,  and  hoped  he  should  now  go  to  Heaven.  The 
Doctor  told  him  how  Christ  had  suffered  for  them;  and  that  he  himself  was 
a  greater  sinner  than  he,  as  he  had  sinned  more  against  light  and  convic- 
tion, and  therefore  his  guilt  was  greater;  and  that  as  he  was  confident  that 
mercy  was  shown  to  his  soul,  so  he  should  look  to  Christ  and  trust  in  his 
merits. 

"  He  prayed  God  to  bless  his  friends  who  were  present  with  him,  and  to 
give  his  blessinor  to  all  his  brethren  the  clergy;  that  he  would  pour  out  his 
spirit  upon  them,  and  make  th^m  true  ministers  of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that 
they  mi  slit  follow  the  divine  precepts  of  their  heavenly  Master.  Turning 
to  one  who  stood  near  him,  he  stretched  out  his  hand,  and  said,  '  Now, 
my  dear  friend,  speculation  is  at  an  end;  all  must  be  real!  What  poor  igno- 
rant beings  we  are!'  He  prayed  for  the  jMagdalens,  and  wished  they  were 
there,  to  sing  for  him  the  23d  Psalm. 

"  After  he  had  waited  some  time  for  the  officers,  he  asked  what  o'clock 


THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  285 

it  was;  and,  being  told  that  it  was  half  an  hour  after  eight,  he  said  '  I  wish 
they  were  ready,  for  1  long  to  be  gone/  He  requested  of  his  friends,  who 
were  in  tears  about  him,  to  pray  for  him;  to  which  he  was  answered,  by 
two  of  them,  '  We  pray  more  than  language  can  utter.'  He  replied,  '  I 
believe  it.' 

"  At  length  he  was  summoned  to  go  down  into  a  part  of  the  yard  which 
is  enclosed  from  the  rest  of  the  gaol,  where  the  two  unhappy  convicts  and 
the  friends  of  the  doctor  were  alone.  On  his  seeing  two  prisoners  looking 
out  of  the  windows,  he  went  to  them,  and  exhorted  them  so  pathetically, 
that  they  both  wept  abundantly.  He  said  once,  '  I  am  now  a  spectacle 
to  men,  and  shall  soon  be  a  spectacle  to  angels.' 

"  Just  before  the  sheriff's  officers  came  with  the  halters,  one  who  was 
walking  with  him  told  him  that  there  was  yet  a  little  ceremony  he  must 
pass  through  before  he  went  out.  He  asked  '  What  is  that?'  '  You 
will  be  bound.'  He  looked  up,  and  said,  '  Yet  I  am  free;  my  freedom 
is  there,'  pointing  upwards.  He  bore  it  with  Christian  patience,  and  be- 
yond what  might  have  been  expected;  and,  when  the  men*  oftered  to  ex- 
cuse tying  his  hands,  he  desired  them  to  do  their  duty,  and  thanked  them 
for  their  kindness.  After  he  was  bound,  I  oflPered  to  assist  him  with  my 
arm  in  conducting  him  through  the  yard,  where  several  people  were 
assembled  to  see  him;  but  he  replied,  with  seeming  pleasure,  '  No,  I  am  as 
lirm  as  a  rock.'  As  he  passed  along  the  yard,  the  spectators  and  prisoners 
wept  and  bemoaned  him;  and  he,  in  return,  prayed  God  to  bless  them. 

"  On  the  way  to  execution  he  consoled  himself  in  reflecting  and  speaking 
on  what  Christ  had  suffered  for  him;  lamented  the  depravity  of  human 
nature,  which  made  sanguinary  laws  necessary;  and  said  he  could  gladly 
have  died  in  the  prison-yard,  as  being  led  cut  to  public  execution  tended 
greatly  to  distress  him.  He  desired  me  to  read  to  him  the  3 1st  Psalm,  and 
also  pointed  out  an  admirable  penitential  prayer  from  '  Rossell's  Pri- 
soner's Director.'  He  prayed  again  for  the  king,  and  likewise  for  the 
people. 

"  When  he  came  near  the  street  where  he  formerly  dwelt  he  was  much 
affected,  and  wept.  He  said,  probably  his  tears  would  seem  to  be  the 
effect  of  cowardice,  but  it  was  a  weakness  he  could  not  well  help;  and 
added,  he  hoped  he  was  going  to  a  better  home. 

"  When  he  arrived  at  the  gallows  he  ascended  the  cart,  and  spoke  to  his 
fellow-sufferer.  He  then  prayed,  not  only  for  himself,  but  also  for  his  wife, 
and  the  unfortunate  youth  that  suffered  with  him;  and,  declaring  that  he 
died  in  the  true  faith  of  the  Gospel  of  Christ,  in  perfect  love  and  charity 
with  all  mankind,  and  with  thankfulness  to  his  friends,  he  was  launched 
iuto  eternity,  imploring  mercy  for  his  soul  for  the  sake  of  his  blessed 
Redeemer." 

A  paper,  of  which  the  following  is  a  copy,  had  been  delivered  by  Dr 
Dodd  to  Mr.  Villette  to  be  read  at  the  place  of  execution,  but  was  omitted 
as  it  seemed  impossible  to  make  all  present  aware  of  its  contents. 

"  To  the  words  of  dying  men  regard  has  always  been  paid.  I  am  brought 
hither  to  suffer  death  for  an  act  of  fraud,  of  which  I  confess  myself  guilty 

*  "  It  was  done  in  the  passage  leading  to  the  cbapel,  by  order  of  Mr.  Akerman,  the  keeper, 
to  prevent  his  being  gazed  at;  to  wnom  he  desired  I  would  returu  his  sincere  thanks  for  all  his 
civilities  to  him,  even  to  the  last." 


286  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR, 

with  shame,  such  as  my  former  state  of  life  naturally  produces,  and  I  hope 
with  such  sorrow  as  He,  to  whom  the  heart  is  known,  will  not  disregard. 
I  repent  that  I  have  violated  the  laws  hy  which  peace  and  confidence  are 
established  among  men  ;  I  repent  that  I  have  attempted  to  injure  my  fellow- 
creatures  ;  and  I  repent  that  I  have  brought  disgrace  upon  my  order,  and 
discredit  upon  religion  :  but  my  offences  against  God  are  without  number, 
and  can  admit  only  of  general  confession  and  general  repentance.  Grant, 
Almighty  God,  for  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ,  that  my  repentance,  however 
late,  however  imperfect,  may  not  be  in  vain ! 

"  The  little  good  that  now  remains  in  my  power  is  to  warn  others  against 
those  temptations  by  which  I  have  been  seduced.  I  have  always  sinned 
aorainst  conviction  ;  my  principles  have  never  been  shaken;  I  have  always 
considered  tlie  Christian  religion  as  a  revelation  from  God,  and  its  divine 
Author  as  the  Saviour  of  the  world;  but  the  laws  of  God,  though  never 
disowned  by  me,  have  often  been  forgotten.  I  was  led  astray  from  religious 
strictness  by  the  delusion  of  show  and  the  delights  of  voluptuousness.  I 
never  knew  or  attended  to  the  calls  of  frugality,  or  the  needful  minuteness 
of  painful  economy.  Vanity  and  pleasure,  into  which  I  plunged,  required 
expense  disproportionate  to  my  income;  expense  brought  distress  upon  me; 
and  distress,  importunate  distress,  urged  me  to  temporary  fraud. 

"  For  this  fraud  I  am  to  die;  and  I  die  declaring,  in  the  most  solemn 
manner,  that,  however  I  have  deviated  from  my  own  precepts,  I  have 
taught  others,  to  the  best  of  my  knowledge,  and  with  all  sincerity,  the  true 
way  to  eternal  happiness.  My  life,  for  some  few  unhappy  years  past,  has 
been  dreadfully  erroneous;  but  my  ministry  has  been  always  sincere.  I 
have  constantly  believed;  and  I  now  leave  the  world  solemnly  avowing 
mv  conviction,  that  there  is  no  other  name  under  Heaven  by  which  we  can 
be  saved  but  only  the  name  of  the  Lord  Jesus;  and  I  entreat  all  Avho  are 
here  to  join  with  me  in  my  last  petition,  that,  for  the  sake  of  that  Lord 
Jesus  Christ,  my  sins  may  be  forgiven,  and  my  soul  received  into  his  ever- 
lasting kingdom. 

"  June  27,  1777."  "  William  Dodd." 

The  body  of  the  Doctor  was  on  the  Monday  following  carried  to  Cowley, 
in  Buckinghamshire,  and  deposited  in  the  church  there. 

During  the  doctor's  confinement  in  Newgate  (a  period  ot  several  months) 
he  chiefly  employed  himself  in  writing  various  pieces,  which  show  at  once 
his  piety  and  talent.  The  principal  of  these  were  his  "Tlioughts  in  Prison," 
in  five  parts,  from  which  we  cannot  doubt  but  that  our  readers,  in  finish- 
incr  our  life  of  so  eminent,  yet  unfortunate,  a  man,  will  be  gratified  by  the 
insertion  of  a  few  short  extracts.  "  I  began  these  Thoughts,"  says  the  un- 
happy man,  writing  in  Newgate,  under  date  of  the  28d  of  April,  1777, 
after  his  condemnation,  "  merely  from  the  impression  in  my  mind,  without 
plan,  purpose,  or  motive,  more  than  the  situation  of  my  soul. 

"  I  continued  thence  on  a  thoughtful  and  regular  plan ;  and  I  have  been 
enabled  wonderfully,  in  a  state  which  in  better  days  I  should  have  sup- 
posed would  have  destroyed  all  power  of  reflection,  to  bring  them  nearly  to 
a  conclusion.  I  dedicate  them  to  God,  and  the  reflecting  serious  among 
my  fellow- creatures;  and  I  bless  the  Almighty  for  the  ability  to  go  tlirouoh 
them  amidst  the  terrors  of  this  dire  place  (Sewgate),  and  tlie  bitter  anguish 
of  my  disconsolate  mind!     The  thinking  will  easily  pardon  all  inaccura- 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  287 

cies,  as  I  am  neither  able  nor  willing  to  read  over  these  melancholy  lines 
with  a  curious  or  critical  eye.  They  are  imperfect,  but  in  the  language  of 
the  heart;  and,  had  I  time  and  inclination,  might,  and  should  be,  im- 
proved.— But 

(Signed;  "  W.  D." 

The  unfortunate  author's  Thoughts  on  his  Imprisonment  are  thus  in 
troduced: — 

"  My  friends  are  gone!  harsh  on  its  sullen  hinge 
Grates  the  dread  door:  the  massy  bolts  respond 
Tremendous  to  the  surly  keeper's  touch  : 
The  dire  keys  clang,  with  movement  dull  and  slow, 
While  their  behest  the  ponderous  locks  perform: 
And,  fasten'd  firm,  the  object  of  their  care 
Is  left  to  solitude — to  sorrow  left. 

"  But  wherefore  fasten'd  ?     Oh !  still  stronger  bonds 
Than  bolts,  or  locks,  or  doors  of  molten  brass. 
To  solitude  and  sorrow  could  consign 
His  anguish'd  soul,  and  prison  him,  though  free! 
For  whither  should  he  fly,  or  where  produce 
In  open  day,  and  to  the  golden  sun. 
His  hapless  head !   wiience  every  laurel  torn, 
On  his  bald  brow  sits  grinning  infamy: 
And  all  in  sportive  triumpli  twines  around 
The  keen,  the  stinging  arrows  of  disgrace." 

After  dwelling  on  the  miseries  of  that  dreary  confinement,  at  sight  ol 
which  he  formerly  started  back  with  horror,  he  adds, 

"  O  dismal  change !  now  not  in  friendly  sort 
A  Christian  visitor,  to  pour  the  balm 
Of  Christian  comfort  in  some  wretch's  ear — 
I  am  that  wretch  myself!  and  want,  much  want, 
That  Christian  consolation  I  besLow'd; 
So  cheerfully  bestovv'd!      Want,  want,  my  God, 
Fiom  thee  the  mercy,  which,  thou  know'st  my  gladsome socil 
Ever  sprang  forth  with  transport  to  impart. 

"  Why  then,  mysterious  Providence,  pursued 
With  such  unfeeling  ardour?      Why  pursued 
To  death's  dread  bourn,  by  men  to  me  unknown! 
Why — stop  the  deep  question ;  it  o'erwhelms  my  soul : 
It  reels,  it  staggers!   Earth  turns  round!   My  brain 
Whirls  in  confusion  !   My  impetuous  heart 
Throbs  with  pulsation  not  to  De  restraiu'd ; 
Why  ? — Where  ? — O  Chesterfield,  my  son,  my  soq  I" 

The  unfortunate  divine  afterwards  thus  proceeds : — 

"  Nay,  talk  not  of  composure!   I  had  thought 
In  older  time.,  that  my  weak  heart  was  soft, 
And  pity's  self  might  break  it.     I  had  thought 
That  marble-eyed  Severity  would  crack 
The  slender  nerves  which  guide  my  reins  of  sense. 
And  give  me  up  to  madness!  'Tis  not  so; 
My  heart  is  callous,  and  my  nerves  are  tough; 
It  will  noi,  break;   they  will  not  crack;  or  else 
What  more,  just  heaven !  was  wanting  to  the  daeij 


288  THE  NEW  NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

Than  to  behold — Oh!  that  eternal  night 
Had  in  that  moment  screened  from  myself! 
My  Stanhope  to  behold  !   Ah!  piercing  sight! 
Forget  it;   'tis  distraction  :  speak  who  can! 
But  I  am  lost !  a  criminal  adjudged  !" 

It  is  not  a  little  singular  that  Dr.  Dodd,  a  few  years  before  his  death, 
published  a  Sermon,  intitled,  "  The  frequency  of  capital  punishments  in- 
consistent with  justice,  sound  policy,  and  religion."  This,  he  says,  was 
intended  to  have  been  preached  at  the  Chapel-royal,  at  St.  James's;  but 
omitted  on  account  of  the  absence  of  the  court,  during  the  author's  month 
of  waiting. 

The  following  extract  will  show  the  unfortunate  man's  opinion  on  this 
subject,  although  there  is  no  reason  to  suppose  that  he  then  contemplated 
the  commission  of  the  crime  for  which  he  suffered.     He  says, 

"  It  would  be  easy  to  show  the  injustice  of  those  laws  which  demand 
blood  for  the  slightest  offences;  the  superior  justice  and  propriety  of  in- 
flicting perpetual  and  laborious  servitude;  the  greater  utility  hereof  to  the 
sufferer,  as  well  as  to  the  state,  especially  wherein  we  have  a  variety  of 
necessary  occupations,  peculiarly  noxious  and  prejudicial  to  the  lives  of  the 
honest  and  industrious,  and  in  which  they  might  be  employed,  who  had 
forfeited  their  lives  and  their  liberties  to  society." 


THOMAS  HORNER  AND  JAMES  FRYER, 

EXECUTED  FOR    BURGLARY. 

The  offence  of  these  prisoners  was  attended  by  circumstances  of  great 
daring.  From  the  evidence  adduced  at  their  trial,  which  took  place  at  the 
Old  Bailey  Sessions  in  the  month  of  April,  1778,  it  appeared  that  on  the 
eveninor  of  the  1st  of  ]\Iarch,  the  prisoners,  with  three  other  men,  were  seen 
at  Finchley  together,  and  that  while  drinking  in  a  public-house  they  made 
many  inquiries  of  the  persons  present  with  regard  to  the  house  and  family 
of  a  Mr.  Clewen,  a  gentleman  of  respectability  who  resided  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood. On  the  same  night,  between  twelve  and  one  o'clock,  Mr 
Clewen's  house  was  entered  by  five  persons,  whose  faces  were  disguised, 
and  the  noise  created  by  their  rushing  up  stairs  being  heard  by  Miss 
(Jlewen  and  her  servant,  they  immediately  ran  out  of  their  bed-chambers 
to  see  what  was  the  matter.  They  were  forced  to  return,  however,  and 
three  of  the  men  having  entered  their  room,  compelled  them  to  cover  their 
heads  with  the  bed-clothes,  uttering  loud  threats  in  case  of  their  offering 
any  resistance.  The  men-servants,  who  slept  at  the  top  of  the  house,  being 
now  alarmed,  the  thieves  proceeded  to  their  apartment,  and  one  of  them 
named  Quick  having  got  up,  he  received  a  severe  blow  with  an  iron  bar, 
and,  like  his  mistress,  was  compelled,  with  his  fellows,  to  cover  himself  up 
wdth  the  bed-clothes.  Two  fellows  then  remained  to  watch  them,  while 
the  rest  went  to  Mr.  Clewen's  room,  and  treated  him  in  the  same  manner, 
and  then  they  proceeded  to  the  bed-chamber  of  his  son,  whom  they  forced 
to  go  to  his  father's  bed,  holding  his  hands  before  his  eyes,  so  that  he 
ehould  not  distinguish  who  were  his  assailants.  They  then  ransacked  the 
house,  and  in  about  half-an-hour  returned,  saying  that  if  young  Clewen 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  289 

would  tell  thorn  where  the  money  was,  they  would  give  him  his  watch, 
which  they  had  taken  from  under  his  pillow,  but  this  being  refused,  tliey 
went  away,  sayino-  that  they  were  only  going  for  some  victuals,  and  would 
return.  The  house  was  then  immediately  examined  by  Mr.  Clewen  ;  and 
it  was  found  that  the  thieves  had  effected  an  entrance  by  means  of  the 
back-door,  and  that  they  had  fastened  up  that  as  well  as  the  front  entrance 
by  nailino-  staples  over  the  locks.  It  was  afterwards  discovered  that  they 
had  carried  off  twenty-two  guineas,  fifty  pounds  in  bank  notes,  a  quantity 
of  plate,  several  gold  rings,  a  silver  watch,  and  other  property  to  a  consi- 
derable amount.  Information  of  the  robbery  was  immediately  conveyed 
to  Sir  John  Fielding,  whose  officers,  recognising  the  offenders  from  the 
description  given  of  their  persons,  succeeded  in  securing  the  prisoners : 
Fryer  at  a  small  house  which  he  occupied  in  the  City  Road,  where  there 
wi're  found  a  number  of  picklock  keys,  and  a  hanger ;  and  Horner  at  his 
lodgings  in  Perkins'  Rents,  Westminster,  a  cutlass  being  concealed  under 
his  bed.  Two  supposed  accomplices,  named  Condon  and  Jordan,  were  also 
apprehended,  but  nothing  distinct  being  proved  against  them  they  escaped; 
Jordan,  however,  being  afterwards  convicted  for  a  second  burglary  in 
Copenhagen  House,  for  which  he  received  sentence  of  death. 

Conviction  having  followed  the  production  of  this  evidence,  sentence  of 
death  was  passed.  Upon  the  sacrament  being  administered  to  Horner  and 
Fryer,  they  admitted  their  guilt,  and  were  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the 
24th  of  June,  1778.  The  other  offenders  were  subsequently  also  appre- 
hended and  executed. 


THE  REY.  JAMES  HACKMAN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  unfortunate  gentleman  was  long  the  topic  of  genera) 
conversation.  Pamphlets  and  poems  were  written  on  the  subject ;  and  the 
fate  of  Mr.  Hackman  was  generally  pitied,  as  it  was  conceived  that  he  was 
the  victim  of  an  insane  love — a  conclusion  which  will  now  be  the  more 
readily  arrived  at  when  the  circumstances  under  which  the  murder,  of 
which  he  was  found  guilty,  was  committed  are  considered. 

It  appears  that  JMr.  Hackman  was  born  at  Gosport  in  Hampshire,  and 
was  originally  designed  for  trade,  in  which  his  father  was  engaged.  It 
was  found,  however,  that  his  disposition  was  of  too  volatile  a  nature  to 
admit  of  his  success  in  any  business ;  and  his  parents,  willing  to  promote 
his  interests  to  the  extent  of  their  power,  purchased  for  him  a  commission 
as  ensign  in  the  68th  regiment  of  foot.  He  had  not  been  lonof  in  the 
service  before  he  was  entrusted  with  the  command  of  a  recruiting  party, 
and  going  to  Huntingdon,  in  pursuance  of  his  instructions,  he  there  became 
known  to  the  Earl  of  Sandwich,  who  had  a  seat  in  the  neighbourhood,  and 
by  whom  he  was  frequently  invited  to  dinner.  It  appears  that  he  now 
.first  became  acquainted  with  the  object  of  his  passion,  and  the  victim  of 
his  crime. 

Miss  Reay  was  the  daughter  of  a  staymaker  in  Covent  Garden,  and 
served  her  apprenticeship  to  a  mantuamaker,  in  George's-court,  St. 
John's  lane,  Clerkenwell.  She  was  bound  when  only  thirteen;  and 
iiiring   her  apprenticeship  was  taken  notice  of  by  the  nobleman  above 

VOL.    I  p  p 


290  THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR 

mentioned,  who  took  her  under  his  protection,  and  treated  her  with  every 
mark  o^  tenderness.  At  the  time  of  her  being  introduced  to  Mr.  Hackman, 
she  had  lived  witli  her  noble  protector  during  a  period  of  nineteen  years, 
and  in  the  course  of  that  time  had  borne  him  nine  children  ;  but  although 
she  was  nearly  twice  the  age  of  Mr.  Hackman,  no  sooner  had  he  seen  her 
than  he  became  violently  enamoured  of  her. 

It  was  while  he  was  tormented  by  this  unhappy  and  ungovernable 
passion  that  he  found  that  any  hopes  which  he  might  entertain  of  prefer- 
ment in  the  army  were  not  likely  to  be  realised,  and  he  determined  to  turn 
his  thoughts  to  the  church.  In  pursuance  of  this  design  he  took  orders, 
and  he  obtained  the  living  of  Wiverton,  in  Norfolk,  only  about  Christmas 
preceding  the  shocking  deed  which  cost  him  his  life. 

How  long  he  had  been  in  London  previous  to  this  affair  is  not  certainly 
known  ;  but  at  the  time  of  its  occun-ence  he  lodged  in  Duke's-court, 
St.  Martin's-lane.  On  the  morning  of  the  7th  of  Api'il,  1779,  he  sat  for  a 
considerable  time  in  his  closet,  reading  "  Blair's  Sermons :"  but  in  the 
evening  he  took  a  walk  to  the  Admiralty,  where  he  saw  Miss  Reay  go 
mto  the  coach  along  with  Signora  Galli,  who  attended  her.  The  coach 
drove  to  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  where  the  ladies  stayed  to  seethe  perform- 
ance of  "  Love  in  a  Village,"  and  Mr.  Hackman  went  into  the  theatre  at 
the  same  time ;  but  not  being  able  to  contain  the  violence  of  his  passion, 
he  returned,  and  again  went  to  his  lodgings,  and  having  loaded  two  pistols 
went  to  the  playhouse,  where  he  waited  till  the  play  was  over.  Seeing 
Miss  Reay  ready  to  step  into  the  coach,  he  took  a  pistol  in  each  hand,  one 
of  which  he  discharged  against  her,  which  killed  her  on  the  spot,  and  the 
other  at  himself,  which,  however,  did  not  take  effect.  He  then  beat  him- 
self with  the  butt-end  on  his  head,  in  order  to  destroy  himself,  so  fully 
was  he  bent  on  the  destruction  of  both ;  but  after  a  struggle  he  was 
secured,  his  wounds  dressed,  and  then  he  was  carried  before  Sir  John 
Fielding,  who  committed  him  to  Tothillfields'  Bridewell,  and  next  to 
Newgate,  where  a  person  was  appointed  to  attend  him,  lest  he  should  lay 
violent  hands  on  himself.  In  Newgate,  as  he  knew  he  had  no  favour  tc 
expect,  he  prepared  himself  for  the  awful  change  which  was  about  to  take 
place.  He  had  dined  with  his  sister  on  the  day  on  which  the  murder  was 
committed,  and  in  the  afternoon  he  wrote  a  letter  to  her  husband,  Mr. 
Booth,  an  eminent  attorney,  informing  him  of  his  intention  to  destroy 
himself,  and  desiring  him  to  sell  what  effects  he  had,  in  order  to  pay  a 
email  debt  which  he  owed ;  but  it  appears  that  the  letter  was  not 
despatched,  as  it  was  found  in  his  pocket. 

The  prisoner  was  indicted  at  the  ensuing  Old  Bailey  sessions,  and  it  wa« 
proved  by  Mr.  MacNamara,  that  on  AYednesday,  the  7  th  of  April,  he  was 
quitting  the  theatre,  when  seeing  Miss  Reay,  with  whom  he  was  slightly 
acquainted,  he  offered  her  his  assistance  in  reaching  her  carriage.  She 
accepted  his  preferred  arm,  and  just  as  they  were  in  the  piazza  he  heard 
the  report  of  a  pistol,  wheu  he  directly  felt  his  arm  compressed  by  the 
lady's  hand,  and  Sxia  then  immediately  fell  to  the  ground.  He  thought  at 
first  that  the  lady  had  fallen  from  fright  only,  but  on  stooping  to  raise  her 
up,  he  found  that  his  hand  was  bloody,  and  he  then  saw  that  she  was 
wounded.  He  immediately  conveyed  her  into  the  Shakspeare  Tavern, 
whither  the  prisoner  soon  after  followed  in  custody.  He  asked  him  some 
questions  about  his  reason  for  shooting  Miss  Reay,  but  the  only  answir 
jhich  he  gave  was,  that  that  was  not  the  place  to  satisfi'  him.     Tlif 


THE  NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR-  291 

prisoner  afterwards  said  that  his  name  was  Hackman ;  and  he  sent  for 
Mr.  Booth,  who  lived  in  Craven-street.  Other  evidence  was  also  adduced, 
from  which  it  appeared  that  the  prisoner  followed  Miss  Reay  out  of  the 
theatre,  and  having  tapped  her  on  the  shoulder  to  attract  her  attention,  he 
suddenly  drew  two  pistols  from  his  pocket,  one  of  wnich  he  discharged  at 
her  and  tlie  other  at  himself.  They  both  fell  feet  to  feet,  and  the  prisonei 
then  beat  himself  about  the  head,  and  called  out  for  some  one  to  kill  him. 
He  was  secured  by  a  Mr.  McMahon,  who  dressed  his  wounds,  and 
conveyed  him  to  the  Shakspeare  Tavern,  where  ]\Iiss  Reay  almost  imme- 
diately afterwards  died. 

On  his  being  called  upon  for  his  defence,  the  prisoner  addressed  the 
Court  in  the  following  terras : — "  I  should  not  have  troubled  the  Court 
with  the  examination  of  Avitnesses  to  support  the  charge  against  me,  had  I 
not  thought  that  the  pleading  guilty  to  the  indictment  gave  an  indication 
of  contemning  death  not  suitable  to  my  present  condition,  and  was,  in  some 
measure,  being  accessory  to  a  second  peril  of  my  life  :  and  I  therefore 
thought  that  the  justice  of  my  country  ought  to  be  satisfied  by  suffering 
my  offence  to  be  proved,  and  the  fact  established  by  evidence. 

"  I  stand  here  this  day  the  most  wretched  of  human  beings,  and  confess 
myself  criminal  in  a  high  degree  ;  yet  while  I  acknowledge,  with  shame 
and  repentance,  that  my  determination  against  my  own  life  was  formal  and 
complete,  I  protest,  with  that  regard  to  truth  which  becomes  my  situation, 
that  the  will  to  destroy  her,  who  was  ever  dearer  to  me  than  life,  was 
never  mine  till  a  momentary  frenzy  overcame  me,  and  induced  me  to  commit 
the  deed  I  now  deplore.  The  letter  which  I  meant  for  my  brother-in-law 
after  my  decease  will  have  its  due  weight  as  to  this  point  with  good  men. 

"  Before  this  dreadful  act  I  trust  nothing  will  be  found  in  the  tenor  of 
nay  life  which  the  common  charity  of  mankind  will  not  excuse.  I  have  no 
wish  to  avoid  the  punishment  which  the  laws  of  my  country  appoint  for 
my  crime ;  but  being  already  too  unhappy  to  feel  a  punishment  in  death 
or  a  satisfaction  in  life,  I  submit  myself  with  penitence  and  patience  to  the 
disposal  and  judgment  of  Almighty  God,  and  to  the  consequences  of  this 
inquiry  into  my  conduct  and  intention." 
The  following  letter  was  then  read  : — 

"  My  dear  Frederic, — When  this  reaches  you  I  shall  be  no  more ;  but 
do  not  let  my  unhappy  fate  distress  you  too  much  :  I  have  strove  against 
it  as  long  as  possible,  but  it  now  overpowers  me.  You  well  know  where 
my  affections  were  placed  :  my  having  by  some  means  or  other  lost  hers 
(an  idea  which  I  could  not  support)  has  driven  me  to  madness.  The  world 
will  condemn  me,  but  your  good  heart  will  pity  me.  God  bless  you,  my 
dear  Frederic !  ^\^ould  I  had  a  sum  to  leave  you  to  convince  you  of  my 
great  regard !  You  was  my  only  friend.  I  have  hid  one  circumstance 
from  you  which  gives  me  great  pain.  I  owe  Mr.  Knight  of  Gosport  one 
hundred  pounds,  for  which  he  has  the  writings  of  my  houses  ;  but  I  hope 
in  God,  when  they  are  sold  and  all  other  matters  collected,  there  will  be 
nearly  enough  to  settle  our  account.  May  Almighty  God  bless  you  and 
yours  with  comfoi't  and  happiness ;  and  may  you  ever  be  a  stranger  to  the 
pangs  I  now  feel !  May  Heaven  protect  my  beloved  woman,  and  forgive 
this  act,,  which  dlone  could  relieve  me  from  a  world  of  misery  I  have  long 
endia'cd !  Oh !  if  it  should  ever  be  in  your  power  to  do  her  an  act  of 
friendship,  rem.eraber  your  faithful  friend,  "  J.  Hackman." 


292  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

Tlie  jury  immediately  returned  their  fatal  verdict.  The  unhappy  man 
heard  the  sentence  pronounced  against  him  with  calm  resignation  to  his 
fate,  and  employed  the  very  short  time  allowed  murderers  after  conviction 
in  repentance  and  prayer. 

During  the  procession  to  the  fatal  tree  at  Tyburn  he  seemed  much 
affected,  and  said  but  little ;  and  when  he  arrived  at  Tyburn,  and  got  out 
of  the  coach  and  mounted  the  cart,  he  took  leave  of  Dr.  Porter  and  the 
Ordinary  in  the  most  affectionate  manner. 

After  some  time  spent  in  prayer,  he  was  turned  off,  on  April  the  19th 
1779  ;  and  having  hung  the  usual  time,  his  body  was  carried  to  Surgeons 
Hall  for  dissection. 


JAMES    DONALLY. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

This  offender  was  one  of  a  class  of  the  most  mischievous  and  most 
daring  robbers ;  and  the  case  which  we  have  to  relate,  is  one  of  a  most 
atrocious  nature, — the  extortion  of  money  by  means  of  threats  to  charge 
the  person  imposed  upon  with  a  detestable  crime,  an  offence  which,  we 
regret  to  say,  has  been  but  too  prevalent  in  later  years. 

In  the  month  of  February,  1779,  James,  alias  Patrick  Donally,  was 
indicted  at  the  sessions  held  at  the  Old  Bailey,  for  "  that  he,  on  the  king's 
highway,  in  and  upon  the  Honourable  Charles  Fielding,  did  make  an 
assault,  putting  him  in  corporeal  fear  and  danger  of  his  life,  and  did  steal 
from  his  person,  and  against  his  will,  half-a-guinea,  on  the  18th  of 
January  :"  and  there  was  also  a  second  count,  which  imputed  to  him 
a  similar  offence  on  the  20th  of  the  same  month,  in  robbing  the  prosecutor 
of  a  guinea. 

From  the  evidence  adduced,  it  appeared  that  the  prosecutor  was  the 
second  son  of  the  Earl  of  Denbigh.  Between  six  and  seven  o'clock  on  the 
evening  of  the  18th  of  January,  he  was  going  from  the  house  of  a  lady,  with 
whom  he  had  dined,  to  Covent  Garden  Theatre,  when,  on  passing  through 
Soho-square,  the  prisoner  came  up  to  him  and  demanded  some  money. 
Mr.  Fielding  was  surprised  at  this  address,  and  requested  to  know  upon 
what  ground  he  applied  to  him  ;  upon  which  the  prisoner  immediately 
said,  that  if  he  did  not  comply,  he  would  take  him  before  a  magistrate, 
and  impute  to  him  the  commission  of  a  foul  crime.  Terrified  by  the 
insinuation,  he  handed  half-a-guinea  to  him,  which  was  all  the  money 
then  in  his  possession,  and  returning  to  the  house  which  he  had  just 
quitted,  he  borrowed  half-a~guinea  of  the  servant,  in  order  that  he  might 
pursue  his  original  intention  of  going  to  the  theatre.  On  the  20th  of  the 
same  month  he  was  in  Oxford-road,  when  the  prisoner  again  accosted  him, 
and  saying  that  he  could  not  have  forgotten  what  passed  the  other  night 
in  Soho-square,  declared  that  he  must  have  money,  or  else,  that  he 
would  follow  up  the  intention  which  he  had  before  expressed,  and  added 
that  he  knew  it  would  go  hard  with  him,  unless  he  could  prove  an  alibi. 
Mr.  Fielding  at  this  time  was  without  money,  but  going  to  Mr.  Waters, 
a  grocer  in  Bond-street,  he  borrowed  a  guinea  from  him,  which,  under  the 
influence  of  fear,  he  handed  to  the  prisoner.  On  the  12th  February,  a 
third  attempt  at  extortion  was  made  by  the  prisoner ;  but  in  this  instance, 


THE   NEW    MSWGATE    CALENDAR.  293 

jwlng  to  the  great  resemblance  between  Mr.  Fielding  and  his  brother 
Lord  Fielding,  he  mistook  the  latter  for  the  former ;  Lord  Fielding  wan 
on  Hay-hill,  when  the  prisoner  accosted  him  in  terms  implying  that  he 
had  seen  him  before.  His  lordsliip,  however,  expressed  himself  at  a  loss  to 
know  what  he  meant,  when  he  asked  him  if  he  did  not  remember  giving 
him  a  half-guinea  in  Soho-square,  and  a  guinea  at  the  grocer's  in  Bond- 
street  ?  Lord  Fielding  utterly  denied  all  recollection  of  either  affair,  and 
said  that  the  prisoner  sliould  go  before  a  magistrate  to  explain  his  meaning. 
The  prisoner  assented,  and  they  proceeded  together  in  the  direction  of 
Bow-street ;  but  they  had  not  gone  many  paces  before  the  prisoner  held 
back,  and  said  that  he  would  go  no  further.  Lord  Fielding  became  rather 
alarmed,  and,  being  terrified  by  the  prisoner's  threats,  he  allowed  him  to 
escape.  On  the  Tuesday  following,  however,  as  he  was  passing  near  the 
same  spot,  a  voice,  which  he  recognised  as  that  of  the  prisoner,  called  out, 
"  My  Lord,  I  have  met  you  again,"  and  the  prisoner  at  the  same  time 
coming  from  behind  liim,  his  Lordship  seized  him  by  the  collar;  the 
prisoner  declared  that  he  had  been  used  ill  when  he  last  saw  his  Lordship, 
upon  which  the  latter  declared  that  he  had  used  him  too  well,  and  would 
take  care  now  that  he  should  not  get  away  again. 

Donally  now  desired  to  be  treated  like  a,  gentleman^  saying  he  would  not 
be  dragged,  but  would  go  quietly,  and  Lord  Fielding,  not  seeing  any 
person  who  was  likely  to  assist  him,  and  apprehending  a  rescue,  told  him 
that,  if  he  would  walk  along  quietly  to  the  next  coffee-house,  he  would 
not  drag  him.  They  walked  down  Dover-street  together ;  but  tlie  prisoner 
increasing  his  pace.  Lord  Fielding  followed,  and  seized  him.  He  fell  down 
twice,  but  was  again  seized  as  soon  as  he  arose. 

By  this  time  a  crowd  was  assembled ;  Major  Hartly,  and  two  other 
gentlemen,  happened  to  come  by,  and  with  their  aid,  the  prisoner  waa 
secured,  and  conveyed  to  Bow-street,  where  tlie  magistrates,  on  hearing 
the  evidence,  thought  that  tlie  crime  amounted  to  a  highway  robbery,  and 
committed  liim  for  trial  accordingly. 

Donally  in  his  defence,  acknowledged  that  he  had  met  Lord  Fielding 
twice ;  that  he  had  addressed  him  with  decency,  and  desired  him  to  hear 
something  respecting  his  brother ;  and  that  Sir  John  Fielding  had  made 
the  Honourable  Charles  Fielding  carry  on  the  prosecution.  He  did  not 
deny  the  receipt  of  the  guinea  at  the  grocer's  in  Bond-Street ;  but  averred 
that  he  did  not  deserve  death  on  account  of  the  charge  against  him. 

The  jury,  having  considered  the  whole  evidence,  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
"  Guilty ;"  but  Mr.  Justice  Buller,  before  whom  the  offender  was  tried, 
reserved  the  case  for  the  opinion  of  the  judges  on  a  point  of  law. 

On  the  29th  of  April,  1779,  the  judges  met,  and  gave  their  opinion  on 
this  case,  pronouncing  it  a  new  species  of  robbery  to  evade  the  law,  but 
which  was  not  to  be  evaded;  and  the  prisoner  therefore  underwent  its  sen- 
tence, which  he  had,  with  most  abominable  wickedness,  brought  upon  his 
own  head. 

Another  diabolical  villain  of  tliis  description,  named  John  Staples,  was, 
on  the  6th  of  December,  1779,  hanged  at  Tyburn,  for  extorting  money 
from  Thomas  Harris  Crosby,  Esq.  by  charging  him  with  an  abominable 
crime. 


294  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

MORGAN  PHILLIPS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER    AND    ARSON 

The  case  of  this  malefactor  so  strongly  resembles  that  of  a  person  named 
Edward  Morgan,  an  account  of  whose  crime  we  have  already  given,  thac 
we  are  induced  to  hope,  for  the  sake  of  humanity,  that  some  mistake  has 
arisen  in  describing  them  as  separate  offences. 

The  crime  for  which  the  person  whose  case  we  are  now  considering, 
most  justly  suffered,  was  attended  with  extraordinary  acts  of  cruelty. 

The  inhabitants  of  Narbeth,  a  small  village  in  the  county  of  Pembroke, 
were,  in  the  middle  of  one  night  in  the  month  of  March,  1779,  alarmed 
with  the  appearance  of  fire  bursting  from  a  farm-house  near  the  turnpike. 
Before  they  could  render  assistance  the  house  was  nearly  razed  to  the 
ground,  and  the  family  were  missing.  On  examining  the  ruins  the 
remains  of  the  owner,  Mr.  Thomas,  an  old  and  respectable  farmer,  were 
found  on  a  bench  in  a  leaning  posture,  but  so  much  burnt  that  it  was 
impossible  to  determine  whether  he  had  been  first  murdered,  or  had 
perished  by  the  flames. 

Proceeding  in  the  search,  the  next  unhappy  victim  found  was  his  niece, 
a  fine  young  woman  of  about  thirty  years  of  age,  whose  body  lay  across 
the  feet  of  a  half  burnt  bedstead,  with  a  thigh  broken,  and  an  arm  missing. 
Among  the  ruins  of  another  room  was  discovered  the  body  of  a  labouring 
man,  much  burnt,  but  with  a  large  wound  on  the  back  of  his  head,  from 
which  much  blood  had  issued ;  and  Mrs.  Thomas'  servant-woman,  who 
was  exceedingly  robust,  was  also  found  dead  at  the  entrance  of  one  of  the 
rooms,  with  several  deep  wounds  in  her  head,  and  her  hair  clotted  with 
l)lood.  Her  body  was  not  so  much  burned  as  the  others ;  and  near  her 
was  discovered  a  large  kitchen  spit,  half  bent,  with  which  it  was  conjec- 
tured she  had  opposed  the  murderers,  for  there  could  now  be  no  doubt 
that  the  horrid  scene  which  presented  itself  was  the  work  of  some  person 
who,  for  the  sake  of  plundering  the  house,  had  massacred  its  inhabitants 
and  had  then  fired  the  premises,  in  order  to  conceal  his  bloody  crimes.  Sf 
horrible  a  deed  excited  universal  attention,  and  every  means  was  taken  to 
secure  its  author. 

A  man  named  -John  Morris,  a  lazy,  worthless  character,  who  had  been 
already  in  custody  upon  other  charges,  was  apprehended  on  suspicion  of 
being  concerned  in  the  affair;  but  he  effectually  put  an  end  to  all  hopes 
of  eliciting  any  information  from  him  by  throwing  himself  into  a  coal-pit, 
in  spite  of  the  efforts  of  the  constables,  in  whose  care  he  was,  to  restrain 
him,  where  his  mangled  remains  were  afterwards  found.  At  length  sus- 
picion fell  on  Morgan  Philips,  and  he,  finding  the  general  belief  to  be  that 
he  was  guilty  of  this  most  horrible  crime,  at  length  confessed  that  he  and 
Morris  had  been  its  perpetrators ;  that  they  had  broken  into  the  house 
of  the  farmer,  and  having  murdered  the  family,  from  whom  they  met  with 
considerable  resistance,  they  had  carried  off  all  the  valuable  property  which 
they  could  find,  and  had  then  set  fire  to  the  farm  to  prevent  discovery. 

The  prisoner  being  put  upon  his  trial  at  Haverfordwest,  his  confession 
was  read  to  him,  and  assented  to  as  being  true ;  and  its  leading  points 
being  corroborated  by  other  witnesses,  he  was  found  guilty,  and  suffered 
death    t  the  same  place  on  5th  April,  1779. 


^^/A^.Jum^curf^^uo^  ■ 


THE   JITiW    NEWaATC,    CALKNDAIi.  295 

JAMES  MATHISON. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

This  offender  was  tried  on  Thursday,  the  20th  of  May,  1779.  There 
perhaps  never  appeared  in  any  court  of  justice  so  ingenious  a  man  in  his 
style  as  this  person.  His  practice  for  some  time  past  had  been  to  go  to 
the  Bank,  and  take  out  a  note ;  this  he  counterfeited,  passed  the  copy, 
and,  after  some  time,  returned  the  original.  His  frequent  applications  at 
length  exciting  suspicions,  which  were  increased  by  his  appearance  in  life, 
and  other  circumstances,  he  was  taken  up.  When  brought  before  Justice 
Fielding,  he  was  there  known  to  be  the  person  charged  with  forgeries  upon 
the  bank  at  Darlington.  The  particular  forgery  now  charged  on  him  was 
for  making  and  uttering  a  note  for  payment  of  twenty  pounds,  with  intent 
to  defraud  Mr.  Mann,  of  Coventry,  and  the  Bank  of  England.  The  note 
was  produced  in  court,  and  the  witnesses  were  brought  to  prove  its  having 
been  negotiated  by  him. 

This  fact  being  established,  the  next  circumstance  in  consideration  was 
to  prove  that  the  note  was  absolutely  a  counterfeit  one.  This  his  prose- 
cutors were  totally  unable  to  do  by  any  testimony  they  could  adduce,  so 
minutely  and  so  dexterously  had  he  feigned  all  the  different  marks.  The 
note  itself  was  not  only  so  made  as  to  render  it  altogether  impossible  for 
any  himian  eyes  to  perceive  a  difference;  but  the  very  hands  of  the  cashier 
and  the  entering  clerk  were  also  so  counterfeited  as  entirely  to  preclude 
a  positive  discrimination  even  by  tliose  persons  themselves.  The  water- 
mark in  the  paper,  too,  namely,  "  Bank  of  England,"  which  the  bankers 
had  considered  as  an  infallible  criterion  of  fair  notes,  a  mark  which  could 
not  be  resembled  by  any  possible  means,  was  also  hit  off  by  this  man,  so 
as  to  put  it  out  of  the  power  of  the  most  exact  observer  to  perceive  a 
difference.  Several  paper-makers  were  of  opinion  that  this  mark  must 
have  been  put  on  in  the  making  of  the  paper  ;  but  Mathison  declared  that 
he  put  it  on  afterwards  by  a  peculiar  method,  known  only  to  himself. 
The  extreme  similitude  of  the  fair  and  false  notes  had  such  an  effect  upon 
the  judge  and  jury  that  the  prisoner  would  certainly  have  been  discharged, 
for  want  of  evidence  to  prove  the  counterfeit,  if  his  own  information,  taken 
at  Fielding's,  had  not  been  produced  against  him,  which  immediately 
turned  the  scale,  and  he  was  found  guilty. 

He  was  executed  at  Tyburn,  pursuant  to  his  sentence,  on  July  28th 
1779.  At  the  place  of  execution  he  make  a  speech  which  took  up  some 
minutes  5  wherein  he  acknowledged  his  guilt,  and  hoped  for  forgiveness 
from  the  Almighty.  He  also  warned  others  to  avoid  the  crime  for  which 
he  suffered,  and  forgave  his  prosecutors. 


THE  RIOTS  OF  LONDON. 

BEGIUNING    ON    THE    2n1)    JUNE,    1780,    WITH    THE    EXECUTION    OF    THE    RIOTERS. 

The  history  of  London,  from  its  earliest  epoch,  exhibits  the  occurrence 
of  no  event  of  a  more  calamitous  nature,  or  more  pregnant  with  mischief, 
than  the  riots  of  1780.  A  commotion  so  rapid,  and  so  daring  in  its 
progress,  was  perhaps  never  known.  The  sovereignty  of  the  King,  and 
the  safety  of  the  property  of  the  subiect.  rested  on  laws  which  were 


296  THE   NEW    XEWGA.TE    CALENDAR. 

unsupported ;  the  magistrates  were  confessedly  intimidated ;  and  all  good 
and  loyal  citizens  were  seized  with  a  terror  and  j^anic,  which  were  alone 
dispelled  by  the  restoration  of  tranquillity  through  the  instrumentality  of 
the  military  force. 

The  origin  of  the  riot  is  ascribed  to  the  passing  of  an  act  of  Parliament, 
about  two  years  previously,  for  "  relieving  his  majesty's  subjects,  of  the 
Catholic  Religion,  from  certain  penalties  and  disabilities  imposed  upon 
them  during  the  reign  of  William  III."  A  petition  to  Parliament  was 
framed  for  its  repeal,  and  a  general  meeting  of  a  body  of  people,  forming 
the  Protestant  Association,  headed  by  Lord  George  Gordon,  was  held  on 
the  29th  JMay,  at  the  Coachmakers'  Hall,  Noble-street,  Aldersgate-street. 
At  this  meeting  the  noble  lord  moved  the  following  resolutions. 

"  Whereas  no  hall  in  London  can  contain  forty  thousand  persons, 

"  E.esolved,^That  this  association  do  meet  on  Friday  next  in  St. 
George's-fields,  at  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  consider  the  most  prudent 
and  respectful  manner  of  attending  their  petition,  which  will  be  presented 
the  same  day  to  the  House  of  Commons. 

"Resolved, — For  the  sake  of  good  order  and  regularity,  that  this  asso- 
ciation, in  coming  to  the  ground,  do  separate  themselves  into  four  divisions, 
viz. — the  London  division,  the  Westminster  division,  the  Soutliwark 
division,  and  the  Scotcli  division. 

''  Resolved, — That  the  London  division  do  take  place  of  the  ground 
towards  South wark  ;  the  Westminster  division  second ;  the  Southwark 
division  third ;  and  the  Scotch  division  upon  the  left,  all  wearing  blue 
cockades,  to  distinguish  themselves  from  the  papists,  and  those  who 
approve  of  the  late  act  in  favour  of  popery. 

"  Resolved, — That  the  magistrates  of  London,  Westminster,  and  South- 
wark, are  requested  to  attend ;  that  their  presence  may  overawe  and  con- 
trol any  riotous  or  evil-minded  persons  who  may  wish  to  disturb  the  legal 
And  peaceable  deportment  of  his  majesty's  subjects." 

His  lordship  having  intimated  that  he  would  not  present  the  petition 
unless  twenty  thousand  persons  attended  tlie  meeting,  and  the  resolutions 
having  been  published  and  placarded  through  the  streets,  on  the  day 
appointed  a  vast  concourse  of  people  from  all  parts  of  the  City  and  its 
environs  assembled  in  St.  George's-fields.  The  main  body  took  their  route 
over  London-bridge,  marching  in  order,  six  or  eight  in  a  rank,  through 
the  City  towards  Westminster,  accompanied  by  flags  bearing  the  words 
"  No  Popery."  At  Charing-Cross,  the  mob  was  increased  by  additional 
numbers  on  foot,  on  horseback,  and  in  various  vehicles,  so  that  by  the 
time  the  different  parties  met  together,  all  the  avenues  to  both  houses  of 
Parliament  were  entirely  filled  with  the  crowd.  The  rabble  now  took 
possession  of  all  the  passages  leading  to  the  House  of  Commons,  from  the 
outer  doors  to  the  very  entrance  for  the  members  ;  which  latter  they  twice 
attempted  to  force  open ;  and  a  like  attempt  was  made  at  the  House  of 
Lords,  but  without  success  in  either  instance.  In  the  meantime,  Lord 
George  Gordon  came  into  the  House  of  Commons  with  an  unembarrassed 
countenance,  and  a  blue  cockade  in  his  hat,  after  "  riding  in  the  whirlwind 
and  directing  the  storm ;"  but  finding  it  gave  offence  he  took  it  out  and 
put  it  in  his  pocket ;  not  however  before  Captain  Herbert,  of  the  navy, 
one  of  the  members,  threatened  to  pull  it  out ;  while  Colonel  Murray, 
another  member,  declared  that,  if  the  mob  broke  into  the  house,  he 
(looking  at  Lord  George)  should  instantly  be  the  victim. 


I 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  297 

iTie  petition  having  been  presented,  the  populace  separated  into  pai-ties, 
and  proceeded  to  deniohsh  the  Catholic  chapels,  in  Duke -street,  Lincoln's 
Inn  Fields,  and  Warwick -street,  Golden-square;  and  all  the  furniture, 
jrnaments,  and  altars  of  both  chapels  were  committed  to  the  flames. 
After  various  other  outrages,  the  prison  of  Newgate  was  attacked.  They 
demanded  from  the  keeper,  Mr.  Ackerman,  the  release  of  their  confined 
issociates :  he  refused  to  comply  ;  yet,  dreading  the  consequence,  he  went 
40  the  sheriffs  to  know  their  pleasure.  On  his  return  he  found  his  house 
in  flamL'S ;  and  the  jail  itself  was  soon  in  a  similar  situation.  The  doors 
i;nd  entrances  were  broken  open  with  crowbars  and  sledge-hammers ;  and 
it  .8  scarcely  to  be  credited  with  what  rapidity  this  strong  prison  was 
destroyed.  The  public  office  in  Bow-street,  and  Sir  John  Fielding's  house, 
niljoining  were  presently  destroyed,  and  all  their  furniture  and  effects, 
books,  papers,  &c.  committed  to  the  flames.  Justice  Coxe's  house  in 
Great  Queen  -street,  Lincoln's  Inn  Fields,  was  similarly  treated ;  and  the 
two  prisons  at  Clerkenwell  set  open,  and  the  prisoners  liberated.  The 
King's  Bench  Prison,  with  some  houses  adjoining,  a  tavern,  and  the  New 
Bridewell,  were  also  set  on  fire,  and  almost  entirely  consumed. 

The  mob  now  appeared  to  consider  themselves  as  superior  to  all  autho- 
rity ;  they  declared  their  resolution  to  burn  all  the  remaining  public 
prisons  ;  and  demoash  the  Bank,  the  Temple,  Gray's  Inn,  Lincoln's  Inn, 
the  Mansion  House,  the  royal  palaces,  and  the  arsenal  at  Woolwich. . 
The  attempt  upon  the  Bank  of  England  was  actually  made  twice  in  the 
course  of  one  day ;  but  both  attacks  were  but  feebly  conducted,  and  the 
rioters  easily  repulsed,  several  of  them  falling  by  the  fire  of  the  military, 
and  many  others  being  severely  wounded. 

To  form  an  adequate  idea  of  the  distress  of  the  inhabitants  in  every  part 
of  the  city  would  be  impossible.  Six-and-thirty  fires  were  to  be  seen 
blazing  in  the  metropolis  during  the  night. 

At  length  the  continued  arrival  of  fresh  troops,  from  all  parts  of  the 
country,  within  fifty  or  sixty  miles  of  the  metropolis,  intimidated  the 
rabble ;  and  soon  after  the  disturbances  were  quelled. 

The  Royal  Exchange,  the  public  buildings,  the  squares,  and  the  prin- 
cipal streets,  were  all  occupied  by  troops;  the  shops  were  closed;  while 
immense  volumes  of  dense  smoke  were  still  rising  from  the  ruins  of  con- 
sumed edifices. 

During  the  riots,  many  persons,  territied  by  the  alarming  outrages  of 
the  mob,  fled  from  London,  and  took  refuge  at  places  at  a  considerable 
distance  from  town.  The  following  account  was  written  by  Dr.  Johnson 
to  Mrs.  Thrale,  who  had  gone  into  the  country  for  safety;  and  may  not 
prove  uninteresting.  The  doctor  was  an  eye-witness  to  many  of  the 
scenes  which  he  depicts:  — 

"  On  Friday,  the  '2d  of  June,  the  good  Protestants  met  in  St.  George's 
Fields,  at  the  summons  of  Lord  George  Gordon,  and,  marching  to  West- 
minster, insulted  the  Lords  and  Commons,  who  all  bore  it  with  great  tame- 
ness.  At  night  the  outrages  began  by  the  demolishing  the  JMass-house 
near  Lincoln's  Inn. 

"  On  Monday,  Mr.  Strahan,  who  had  been  insulted,  spoke  to  Lord 
Mansfield,  who  had  been  insulted  too,  of  the  licentiousness  of  the  popu- 
lace; and  his  lordship  treated  it  as  a  very  slight  irregularity. 

"  On  Tuesday  night  they  pulled  down  Fielding's  house  (the  public  office 

vot.    1.  2  Q, 


298  TUE  >;ew  newgate  calendar, 

in  Bow-street),  and  burnt  his  goods  in  the  street.  They  had  gutted,  on 
Monday,  Sir  George  Saville's  house;  but  the  building  was  saved.  On  Tues- 
day evening,  leaving  Fielding's  ruins,  they  went  to  Newgate,  to  demand 
their  companions,  who  had  been  seized  for  demolishing  the  chapel.  The 
keeper  could  not  release  them  but  by  the  mayor's  permission,  which  he 
went  to  ask.  At  his  return  he  found  all  the  prisoners  released,  and  New- 
gate in  a  blaze.  They  then  went  to  Bloomsbury,  and  fixed  upon  Lord 
Mansfield's  house,  which  they  partly  pulled  down;  and,  as  for  his  goods, 
they  totally  burnt  them.  They  went  to  Caen  Wood  (his  lordship's  coun- 
try-seat); but  a  guard  was  there  before  them.  They  plundered  several 
Papists,  and  burned  a  Mass-house,  and  some  dwelling-houses  inMoorfields, 
the  same  night. 

"  On  AVcdncsday  I  walked  with  Dr.  Scott,  to  look  at  Newgate,  and 
found  it  in  ruins,  with  the  fire  yet  glowing.  As  I  went  by,  the  Protes- 
tants were  plundering  the  Sessions  House  at  the  Old  Bailey.  There  was 
not,  I  believe,  a  hundred;  but  they  did  their  work  at  leisure,  in  full  secu- 
rity, without  sentinels,  and  without  trepidation,  as  men  lawfully  employed 
in  full  day.     Such  is  the  cowardice  of  a  commercial  place! 

"  On  Wednesday  they  broke  open  the  Fleet  Prison,  the  King's  Bench 
and  Marshalsea  Prisons,  Wood-street  Compter,  and  Clerkenwell  Bride- 
well. At  niffht  they  set  fire  to  the  Fleet  and  the  King's  Bench,  and  I 
know  not  how  many  other  places;  and  one  might  see  the  glare  of  confla- 
gration fill  the  sky  from  many  parts. — The  sight  was  dreadful.  Some 
people  were  threatened :  Mr.  Strah an  advised  me  to  take  care  of  myself. 
Such  a  time  of  terror  you  would  have  been  happy  in  not  seeing. 

"  The  kino-  said  in  council  '  That  the  magistrates  had  not  done  their 
duty,  but  that  he  would  do  his  own;'  and  a  proclamation  was  published, 
directing  us  to  keep  our  servants  within  doors,  as  the  peace  was  now  to  be 
preserved  by  force. 

"  The  soldiers  were  sent  out  to  difierent  parts,  and  the  town  is  now  quiet. 
They  are  stationed  so  as  to  be  everywhere  within  call;  theie  is  no  longer 
any  body  of  rioters,  and  the  individuals  are  hunted  to  their  holes,  and  led 
to  prison:  Lord  George  Gordon  was  last  night  sent  to  the  Tower. 

"  Mr.  -John  Wilkes  was  this  day  in  my  neighbourhood,  to  seize  the  pub- 
lishers of  a  seditious  pamphlet. 

"  Several  chapels  have  been  destroyed,  and  several  inoSensive  Papists 
have  been  plundered:  but  the  high  sport  was  to  burn  the  gaols.  This  was 
a  good  rabble  trick.  The  debtors  and  the  criminals  were  set  at  liberty; 
but  of  the  criminals,  as  has  always  happened,  many  are  already  retaken; 
and  two  pirates  have  surrendered  themselves,  and  it  is  expected  they  will 
be  pardoned. 

"  Government  now  acts  with  its  proper  force;  and  we  are  all  now  again 
under  the  protection  of  the  king  and  the  law.  I  thought  it  would  be  agree- 
able to  you  to  have  my  testimony  to  the  public  security;  and  that  you 
would  sleep  more  quietly  when  I  told  you  that  you  were  safe. 

"  There  has  been,  indeed,  an  universal  panic,  from  which  the  king  was 
the  first  that  recovered.  Without  the  concurrence  or  assistance  of  his  mi- 
nisters, or  even  the  assistance  of  the  civil  magistrates,  he  put  the  soldiers 
in  motion,  and  saved  the  town  from  calamities  such  as  a  rabble's  govern- 
ment must  naturally  produce. 

"  The  public  has  escaped  a  very  heavy  calanalty.   The  rioters  attempted 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  299 

the  Bank  on  Wednesday  niglit,  but  in  no  great  numbers;  Jack  "Wilkes 
headed  the  party  that  drove  them  away.  It  is  agreed,  that  if  they  had 
seized  the  Bank,  on  Tuesday,  at  the  height  of  the  pause,  when  no  resist- 
ance had  been  prepared,  they  might  have  carried  away  whatever  they  had 
found." 

The  number  of  persons  killed  in  this  di-eadful  riot  is  variously  stated. 
j\Iany  persons,  strangers  to  the  attempt,  were  destroyed  by  the  necessarily 
indiscriminate  fire  of  the  soldiers  and  militia;  and  although  it  is  impossible 
to  calculate  the  precise  number  who  lost  their  lives,  from  the  circumstance 
of  many  being  carried  off  by  their  friends,  it  is  believed  to  be  about  500. 

Lord  George  Gordon,  the  leader  and  instigator  of  these  riots,  was  sub- 
sequently tried  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  and  by  some  good  fortune 
escaped  conviction.  Tliere  was  little  doubt  that  he  was  occasionally  sub- 
ject to  aberrations  of  intellect.  His  death  took  place  some  years  after- 
wards in  the  King's  Bench  Prison.  He  had  been  indicted  for  a  libel  on 
Marie  Antoinette,  the  late  unfortimate  French  queen,  and  the  Count 
d'Ademar,  one  of  the  ministers  of  state,  and  having  been  convicted,  fled 
from  punishment ;  and  was  afterwards  apprehended  in  Birmingham,  attired 
in  the  garb  of  a  Jew,  witli  a  long  beard,  &c.,  where  he  had  undergone  cir- 
cumcision, and  had  embraced  the  religion  of  the  unbelievers.  He  died 
professing  the  same  faith. 

Many  of  the  rioters  were  apprehended,  and  having  been  recognised,  were 
convicted,  and  suffered  deatli  in  most  instances  opposite  to  tlie  places  in 
which  the  scenes  were  enacted,  in  which  they  were  proved  to  have  taken 
a  part.  Among  them  were  many  women  and  hnv;  but  there  was  not  one 
individual  of  respectability  or  character.  They  were  all  of  the  lowesu 
class,  whose  only  object  was  plunder. 

Among  the  rioters,  to  sum  up  the  account  of  their  infamy  and  wretch- 
edness, was  -Jack  Ketch  himself.  This  miscreant,  whose  real  name  was 
Edward  Dennis,  was  convicted  of  pulling  down  the  house  of  3Ir.  Boggis, 
of  New  Turnstile.  The  keeper  of  TothiU-fields'  Bridewell  would  not  suffer 
Jack  Ketch  to  go  among  the  other  prisoners,  lest  they  should  tear  him  to 
pieces.  In  order  that  he  might  hang  up  his  brother  rioters,  he  was  granted 
a  pardon ! 

The  following  is  an  extract  from  the  king's  speech  to  both  houses  of  par- 
liament, the  18th  of  June,  soon  after  the  riots  were  ended: — 

"  My  Lords  and  Gentlemen, — The  outrages  committed  by  bands  of  law- 
less and  desperate  men,  in  various  parts  of  this  metropolis,  broke  forth  with 
such  violence  into  acts  of  felony  and  treason,  had  so  far  overborne  all  civil 
authority,  and  threatened  directly  the  immediate  subversion  of  all  legal 
power,  the  destruction  of  all  property,  and  the  confusion  of  every  order  of 
the  state,  that  I  foimd  myself  obliged,  by  every  tie  of  duty  and  affection  to 
my  people,  to  suppress,  in  every  part,  those  rebellious  insurrections,  and  to 
provide  for  the  public  safety  by  the  most  effectual  and  immediate  applica- 
tion of  the  force  entrusted  to  me  by  parliament.  I  have  directed  copies  of 
the  proclamations  issued  upon  that  occasion  to  be  laid  before  you. 

"  Proper  orders  have  been  given  for  bringing  the  authors  and  abettors  of 
these  insurrections,  and  the  perpetrators  of  such  criminal  acts,  to  speedy 
trial,  and  to  such  condign  punishment  as  the  laws  of  their  country  pre- 
scribe, and  the  vindication  of  public  justice  demands. 

*'  Though  I  trust  it  is  not  necessary,  yet  I  think  it  right,  at  this  time,  to 


300  TUE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

renew  to  you  my  solemn  assurances  that  I  have  no  otlier  object  but  to 
make  the  laws  of  the  reahii,  and  the  principles  of  our  excellent  constitu- 
tion in  Church  and  State,  tlie  rule  and  measure  of  my  conduct;  and  that  I 
shall  ever  consider  it  as  the  first  duty  of  my  station,  and  the  chief  glory  of 
ray  reign,  to  maintain  and  preserve  the  established  religion  of  my  king- 
doms, and,  as  far  as  in  me  lies,  to  secure  and  to  perpetuate  the  rights  and 
liberties  of  my  people." 


ABRAHAM  DURNFORD  AND  WILLIAM  NEWTON. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

In  the  case  of  these  men  we  present  a  species  of  robbery  diflFerent  in  the 
plan  of  its  commission  from  every  one  yet  described. 

It  was  proved,  on  their  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey,  that  they  hired  an 
empty  house,  No.  21,  Waier-lane,  Fleet-street;  and,  having  a  bill  of  ex- 
change lying  at  the  bank  of  Smith,  Wright,  and  Gray,  they  directed  it  for 
payment  at  this  house.  They  made  preparation  for  cleaning,  in  order,  as 
they  pretended,  to  furnish  it  with  despatch;  but  the  landlord,  not  liking 
this  extraordinary  haste,  or  his  new  tenants,  desired  Mrs.  Boucher,  the 
mistress  of  a  public-house  opposite,  to  have  an  eye  on  their  proceedings. 

Accordingly,  on  the  day  the  bill  became  due,  being  the  5th  of  August, 
1780,  she  observed  the  new  tenants,  Durnford  and  Newton,  then  prisoners 
at  the  bar,  enter  the  house,  and  open  the  parlour  windows.  Soon  after  sh« 
saw  a  third  man  knock  at  the  door,  which  was  open,  and  he  entered. 
AVatching  the  event,  she  heard  an  uncommon  noise,  and,  stepping  over 
the  way  to  listen,  heai'd  the  cry  of  "  Murder!"  as  from  a  hoarse  faint  voice, 
succeeded  by  a  kind  of  groaning,  which  very  much  alarmed  her;  and,  look- 
ing through  the  key-hole,  she  saw  tvt'O  men  dragging  a  third  down  the 
cellar  stairs;  on  which  she  cried  out  loudly  "  They're  murdering  a  man!  " 
She  knocked  hard  at  the  door,  and  begged  the  people  in  the  street  to 
break  it  open;  but  none  would  interfere.  Being  enraged  at  their  not 
assisting  her,  she  burst  open  the  window,  and  was  entering  the  house,  when 
Newton  jumped  out  of  the  one  pair  of  stairs'  window,  and  was  running 
off;  but,  on  the  cry  of  "  Stop  thief!"  he  was  instantly  taken;  ]\Irs.  Bou- 
cher seized  the  other  by  the  throat  herself,  and  dragged  him  to  her  own 
house. 

The  house  was  then  immediately  searched,  and  in  a  back  cellar  was 
found  a  man,  bound,  and  nearly  choked  to  prevent  his  calling  out.  He 
proved  to  be  a  collecting  clerk  for  Smith,  Wright,  and  Gray,  named  James 
Watts.  They  had  robbed  him  of  his  pocket-book,  and  would  have 
murdered  him  had  not  the  woman  saved  his  life. 

My.  Watts,  a  young  Quaker,  aged  eighteen,  the  party  robbed  and  alluded 
to,  would  not,  according  to  the  doctrines  of  the  particular  sect  to  which  he 
belonged,  be  sworn,  which  is  required  by  the  law  in  all  cases,  so  that 
their  conviction  rested  chiefly  on  the  evidence  of  ^Nlrs.  Boucher ;  but  not 
a  shadow  of  a  doubt  existed  of  theu-  guilt,  and  they  were  convicted  and 
executed  on  the  22nd  of  November,  1760. 

The  story  of  Mr.  Watts  was  that  on  his  knocking  at  the  door,  he  was 
admitted  immediately,  and  having  entered  the  house  he  was  collared  and 
seized  by  two  men,  whom  he  afterwards  knew  to  be  the  prisoners,  who 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  301 

attempted  to  gag  him,  and  forced  him  down  stairs.  Fearing  that  their 
intention  was  to  murder  him,  he  succeeded  in  getting  from  them  by  an 
extraordinary  effort,  and  ran  to  the  street-door ;  but  finding  it  locked  he 
was  unable  to  offer  any  further  opposition  to  their  violence.  His  screams 
providentially  alarmed  Mrs.  Boucher,  but  not  until  his  book,  containing 
upwards  of  4000^.  had  been  taken  from  him.  It  is  rather  singular  that 
Mr.  Watts  was  himself  convicted  of  robbing  his  employers  in  the  year 
1781.  and  subjected  to  two  years'  imprisonment. 


FRANCIS  HENRY  DE  LA  MOTTE. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

The  offence  of  this  man  was  one  of  the  most  despicable  character.  A 
native  of  France,  and  in  the  service  of  the  French  king,  he  lived  long  in 
London,  employing  himself  as  a  spy  upon  the  proceedings  of  the  English 
government.  He  occupied  elegant  lodgings  in  Bond-street,  dressed  like  a 
gentleman,  kept  the  best  company,  and  passed  for  a  foreigner  of  fortune. 
At  length,  however,  suspicions  arose  of  his  real  character,  and  a  watch 
being  set  upon  his  motions,  they  were  found  to  be  fully  justified,  and  he 
was  apprehended  and  committed  to  the  Tower. 

On  his  trial  various  acts  of  treason  were  proved  against  him,  and  he  was 
found  guilty. 

Sentence  was  immediately  pronoimced  upon  him,  "  that  he  should  be 
hanged  by  the  neck,  but  not  until  he  was  dead  ;  that  he  should  then  be  cut 
down,  and  his  bowels  taken  out  and  burnt  before  his  face ;  and  that  his 
head  should  betaken  off,  his  body  cut  into  four  quarters,  and  be  placed  at 
his  majesty's  disposal." 

He  was  remanded  to  the  Tower,  and  at  the  expiration  of  a  fortnight  a 
warrant  was  issued  from  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state  for  his  execu- 
tion. 

The  sheriffs  demanded  his  body,  on  the  27th  of  July,  1781,  of  the  lieute- 
nant of  the  Tower,  and  carried  him  to  Newgate  ,  from  thence  in  about  a 
quarter  of  an  hour  they  set  out  with  him  to  Tyburn. 

La  Motte  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  black.  His  deportment  was  manly 
and  S(  rious  :  he  seemed  to  be  totally  abstracted  from  the  surrounding 
multitude,  as  he  scarcely  ever  took  his  eyes  from  a  devotional  book  which 
he  held  in  his  hand. 

Upon  his  arrival  at  the  fatal  tree  he  was  immediately  removed  from  the 
sledge  in  which  he  had  been  conveyed.  He  then  employed  some  miniJt+:!S 
in  earnest  devotion  ;  after  which  he  twice  bowed  respectfully  to  the  sheriffs, 
and  turned  to  the  executioner,  desiring  him  immediately  to  perform  his 
office. 

After  hanging  fifty-seven  minutes  the  body  was  cut  down  and  laid  on  a 
block,  when  (a  fire  having  been  previously  kindled)  the  executioner  severed 
the  head  from  the  trunk,  and  making  an  incision  from  his  breast,  ripped 
out  the  heart,  which,  after  being  exposed  to  the  surrounding  spectators, 
was  thrown  into  the  flames. 

The  body  was  then  scorched,  together  with  the  head,  and  put  into  a 
very  handsome  coffin,  which  was  delivered  to  an  undertaker  for  interment. 


302  THE    XEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAK. 

Amongst  other  effects  of  the  handiwork  of  La  ]Motte  "ai  favour  of  his 
own  country,  it  is  said  that  the  attack  of  a  French  fleet  under  the  command 
of  Commodore  Suffrein  upon  the  British  fleet  under  Commodore  Johnstone, 
in  the  neutral  harbour  of  Port  Praya  Road,  on  its  way  to  the  East  Indies, 
whither  it  was  convoying  a  number  of  merchantmen,  was  attributable  to 
him.  The  English  fleet  was  taken  in  an  unexpected  manner.  As  many  as 
one  thousand  five  hundred  of  its  men  are  related  to  have  been  on  shore  at 
the  time  of  the  attack  ;  some  of  whom  were  employed  in  collecting  water, 
and  otlicrs  in  obtaining  exercise,  when  the  Frenchmen  hove  in  sight ;  and 
before  the  necessary  arrangements  could  be  made  to  receive  them,  forced 
their  way  in  line  into  the  very  midst  of  the  British  vessels.  Commodore 
Johnstone,  however,  with  the  bravery  of  a  British  sailor,  succeeded  in 
compelling  them  to  sheer  off ;  but  not  until  he  had  sustained  a  loss  of 
upwards  of  two  hundred  men.  The  movements  and  strength  of  the  English 
fleets  were  at  that  time  made  no  secrets  ;  and  La  Motte,  having  obtained 
the  necessary  information  in  the  instance  in  question,  conveyed  it  to  his  own 
country  through  the  medium  of  one  Luttorlok,  a  Dutchman,  who  succeeded 
in  efiecting  his  escape,  while  his  companion  in  iniquity  suffered  an  ignomi- 
nious death. 


JOHN  DOXELLAN,  ESQ.. 

EXKCUTKD    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    SIR    THEODOSIUS    BOCGHTOy,    BART.,     HIS 
BRO'iMER-IN-LAW. 

The  case  of  Mr.  Donellan  is  one  of  a  very  remarkable  nature,  and  from 
the  character  of  the  testimony  produced  has  been  the  subject  of  much 
conversation  and  remark  amongst  persons  connected  with  the  professions  of 
medicine  and  chemistry. 

The  accused,  Mr.  Donellan,  had  been  a  captain  in  the  army,  and  was 
the  son  of  Colonel  Donellan.  At  the  age  of  twelve  years  he  entered  into 
the  Royal  Regiment  of  Artillery,  with  part  of  which  he  went  to  the  East 
Indies  in  1754.  On  his  arrival  there  he  changed  his  service  into  the  39th 
foot ;  but  on  that  regiment  being  ordered  home,  lie,  with  many  other  of 
his  oflicers,  had  his  majesty's  leave  to  remain  in  the  service  of  the  East 
India  Company,  without  prejudice  to  their  rank  in  the  army.  He  then 
obtained  a  company,  and  certainly  distinguished  himself  as  a  good  soldier, 
not  only  having  been  much  wounded  in  the  service,  but,  if  his  own  accouui 
maybe  credited, being  singularly  instrumental  to  the  taking  of  Mazulapatam. 
Being  appointed,  however,  one  of  the  four  agents  for  prize-money,  he  conde- 
scended to  receive  presents  from  some  black  merchants,  to  whom  part  of 
their  eifects  had  been  ordered  to  be  restored,  for  which  he  was  tried  by  a 
court-martial,  and  cashiered.  He  subsequently  purchased  a  share  in  the 
Pantheon,  where  he  figured  for  some  time  as  master  of  the  ceremonies ; 
and  after  a  variety  of  applications  he  at  length  obtained  a  certificate  from 
the  War-oflice,  that  he  had  behaved  in  the  East  Indies  "  Hke  a  gallant 
officer ; "  in  consequence  of  which  he  was  put  upon  half-pay  in  the  39th 
regiment.  But  notwithstanding  the  most  strenuous  memorials  and  peti- 
tions representing  his  great  services,  and  insisting  that  the  ofi'ence  for  which 
he  was  broke  was  of  a  civil  nature  only,  cind  not  cognizable  by  a  couil- 
martial,  he  never  could  obtain  a  restoration  into  the  Company's  service 


THE    NEW  NEWGATE    CALENDAlf.  803 

In  June,  1777,  he  married  Miss  Boughton  ;  and  on  Friday,  IMarch  30th, 
1781,  he  was  tried  at  the  assizes  at  Warwick  for  the  wilful  murder  of  Sir 
Theodosius  Edward  Allesley  Boughton,  Bart.,  his  brother-in-law.  The 
evidence  was  of  such  a  nature  that  the  fairest  mode  of  stating  it  will  be  by 
repeating  It  as  it  appeared  on  the  trial. 

i\Ir.  Powell,  apothecary  of  Rugby,  deposed  that  he  had  attended  Sir 
Theodosius  Boughton  for  two  months  before  his  death,  on  account  of  a 
slight  complaint  of  a  certain  description. 

On  Vf  ednesday  morning,  the  27th  of  February,  he  was  sent  for  to 
Lawton  Hall,  and  on  his  arrival  there  at  a  little  before  nine  o'clock,  Capt. 
Donellan  conducted  him  to  the  apartment  of  Sir  Theodosius.  On  his 
entering,  he  perceived  that  the  baronet  was  dead,  and  on  his  examining  the 
body  he  concluded  that  it  was  about  an  hour  since  life  had  fled.  PIo 
had  some  conversation  with  Captain  Donellan  with  regard  to  the  deceased, 
and  he  was  told  by  him  that  he  had  "  died  in  convulsions.''  He  could  not 
recollect  the  precise  nature  of  the  conversation,  but  the  general  eifect  of 
what  Captain  Donellan  said  was,  that  the  deceased  gentleman  had  taken 
cold. 

Lady  Boughton,  the  mother  of  the  deceased,  deposed  that  Su"  Theodosius 
was  twenty  years  old  on  the  3rd  of  August  last.  On  his  coming  of  age, 
he  would  have  been  entitled  to  above  2000^.  a  year ;  and  in  the  event  of 
his  dying  a  minor,  tlie  greater  part  of  his  fortune  was  to  descend  to  his 
sister,  the  wife  of  Mr.  Donellan.  It  was  known  in  the  family  on  the 
evening  of  Tuesday,  the  26th,  that  Sir  Theodosius  was  to  take  his  physic 
the  next  morning.  He  used  to  put  his  physic  in  the  dressing-room.  He 
happened  once  to  omit  to  take  it ;  upon  which  Mr.  Donellan  said,  '■'■  Why 
don't  you  set  it  in  your  outer  room  ?  then  you  would  not  so  soon  forget 
it."  After  this  he  several  times  put  the  medicines  upon  his  shelf  over  the 
chimney-piece  in  his  outer  room.  On  the  evening  of  Tuesday,  the  26th,  about 
six  o'clock,  Sir  Theodosius  went  out  fishing,  attended  only  by  one  servant, 
Samuel  Frost.  Witness  and  Mrs.  Donellan  took  a  walk  in  the  garden, 
and  were  there  above  an  hour.  To  the  best  of  her  recollection  she  had 
seen  nothing  of  Mr.  Donellan  after  dinner  till  about  seven  o'clock,  when  he 
came  out  of  the  house-door  in  the  garden,  and  told  them  that  "  he  had  been 
to  see  them  fishing,  and  that  he  would  have  persuaded  Sir  Theodosius  to 
come  in,  lest  he  should  take  cold,  but  he  could  not."  Sir  Theodosius  came 
home  a  little  after  nine,  apparently  very  well ;  and  he  went  up  into  his 
own  room  soon  after,  and  went  to  bed.  He  requested  her  to  call  him  the 
next  morning  and  give  him  his  physic. 

She  accordingly  went  into  his  room  about  seven  in  the  morning,  when 
he  appeared  to  be  very  well.  She  asked  him  "  Where  the  bottle  was  ?  " 
and  he  said  "  It  stands  there  upon  the  shelf."  He  desired  her  to  read  the 
label,  which  she  accordingly  did,  and  found  there  was  written  upon  it 
"  Purging  draught  for  Sir  Theodosius  Boughton."  As  he  was  taking  it, 
he  observed,  "  it  smelled  and  tasted  very  nauseous  ;"  upon  which  she  said 
''  I  think  it  smells  very  strongly  like  bitter  almonds."  He  then  remarked 
that  "  he  thought  he  should  not  be  able  to  keep  the  medicine  upon  his 
itomach." 

Here  a  bo+tle  was  delivered  to  Lady  Boughton,  containing  the  genuine 
draught,  which  she  was  desired  to  sjnell  at,  and  inform  the  Court  whether 
It  smelt  like  the  medicine  Sir  Theodosius  took      She  answered  in  the 


304  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

negative.  She  was  then  desired  to  smell  at  another,  containing  the  draught 
with  the  addition  of  laurel-water,  wliich  she  said  had  a  smell  very  mucli 
like  tliat  of  tlio  medicine  she  gave  to  Sir  Theodosins.  Lady  Boiighton  then 
proceeded  witli  her  evidence.  In  two  minutes  after  Sir  Theodosius  had 
taken  the  draught,  he  struggled  very  much.  It  appeared  to  her  as  if  it 
was  to  keep  tlie  drauglit  down.  He  made  a  prodigious  rattling  in  his 
stomach,  and  guggling ;  and  these  symptoms  continued  ahout  ten  minutes. 
He  then  seemed  as  if  he  was  going  to  sleep,  or  inclined  to  dose ;  and 
perceiving  him  a  little  composed,  she  went  out  of  the  room.  She  returned 
in  about  five  minutes  after,  and  to  her  great  surprise  found  him  with  his 
eyes  fixed  upwards,  his  teeth  clenched,  and  foam  running  out  of  liis  mouth. 
She  instantly  desired  a  servant  to  take  the  first  horse  he  could  get  and  go 
for  ]\Ir.  Powell.  She  saw  Mr.  Donellan  in  less  than  five  minutes  after,  lie 
came  into  the  room  where  Sir  Theodosius  lay,  and  said  to  her,  "What  do  you 
want  ?  "  She  answerered  that  she  wanted  to  inform  him  what  a  terrible 
thing  had  happened  ;  that  it  was  an  imaccoi;ntable  thing  in  the  doctor  to 
send  such  a  medicine,  for  if  it  had  been  taken  by  a  dog  it  would  have 
killed  him  ;  and  she  did  not  think  her  son  would  live.  He  inquired  in 
what  way  Sir  Theodosius  then  was  ;  and  on  being  told,  he  asked  her  where 
the  physic  bottle  was  ;  on  which  she  showed  him  the  two  draughts  ;  when 
he  took  lip  one  of  the  bottles,  and  said,  "  Is  this  it  ?  "  She  answered  "  Yes." 
He  then,  after  rinsing  it,  emptied  it  in  some  dirty  water  that  was  in  a  wash- 
hand  basin  ;  and  on  his  doing  so  she  said,  "  What  are  you  at  ?  you  should 
not  meddle  with  the  bottles."  Upon  that  he  snatched  up  the  other  bottle 
and  rinsed  it,  and  then  he  put  his  finger  to  it  and  tasted  it.  She  repeated 
that  he  ought  not  to  meddle  with  the  bottles;  upon  which  he  replied,  that 
"  he  did  it  to  taste  it. '  Two  servants,  named  Sarah  Blundeli  and  Catherine 
Amos,  afterwards  came  into  the  room,  and  he  desired  the  former  to  take 
away  the  basin  and  the  bottles,  and  he  put  the  bottles  into  her  hands. 
The  witness,  however,  took  the  bottles  from  her,  and  set  them  down, 
bidding  her  not  to  touch  them  ;  and  the  prisoner  then  desired  that  the 
room  might  be  cleaned,  and  tlie  dirty  clothes  thi'own  into  the  inner  room. 
This  being  done,  the  witness  turned  her  back  for  a  moment,  on  which  the 
prisoner  again  handed  the  servant  the  bottles,  and  bid  her  take  them  away, 
and  she  accordingly  removed  them.  Witness  soon  afterwards  went  intc 
the  parlour,  where  she  found  ]\Ir.  and  IMrs.  Donellan ;  and  the  former  told 
his  wife  "  that  her  mother  had  been  pleased  to  take  notice  of  his  washing 
the  bottles,  and  that  he  did  not  know  what  he  should  have  done,  if  he  had 
not  thought  of  saying  that  he  put  tlie  water  into  them  to  put  his  finger 
to  it  to  taste."  The  witness  made  an  answer  to  this  observation,  and 
the  prisoner  directed  his  wife  to  ring  the  bell  in  order  to  call  up  the  servant. 
When  the  servant  came,  he  ordered  him  to  send  in  the  coachman  ;  and 
when  he  came,  the  prisoner  said,  "  Will,  don't  you  remember  that  I  set 
out  of  these  iron  gates  at  seven  o'clock  this  morning  ?  "  "  Yes,  sir,"  said 
he.  "  And  that  was  the  first  time  of  my  going  out ;  I  have  never  been  on 
the  other  side  of  the  house  this  morning :  you  remember  that  T  set  out 
there  this  morning  at  seven  o'clock,  and  asked  for  a  horse  to  go  to  the 
wells  ?  "  "  Yes,  sir."  ]Mr.  Donellan  said,  "  then  you  are  my  evidence." 
Tlie  servant  answered,  "  Yes,  sir."  She  did  not  recollect  that  the  prisoner 
made  any  observation.  The  witness  further  said  that  Jlr.  Donellan 
received  a  letter  from  Sir  William  Wheeler,  desiring  the  body  might  he 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  305 

opened,  and  thai  he  showed  her  his  answer  to  this  letter.  She  told  him  he 
had  hetter  let  it  alone,  and  not  to  send  snch  a  letter  as  that ;  but  she 
did  not  tell  him  the  reason  of  her  disliking  it.  He  replied,  that  "  it  was 
necessary  to  send  an  answer,  and  he  would  gend  that."  She  afterwards 
attended  before  the  coroner  and  tlie  jury  in  order  to  be  examined,  when  Mr. 
Donellan  also  was  present ;  and  she  mentioned  to  the  jury  the  circumstance 
of  the  prisoner's  rinsing  the  bottles.  Being  returned  to  Lawford  Hall,  the 
prisoner  said  to  his  wife  before  the  witness,  that  she  had  no  occasion  to 
have  told  the  circumstance  of  his  washing  the  bottles  :  she  was  only  to 
answer  such  questions  as  were  put  to  her ;  and  that  question  had  not  been 
asked  her.  Being  asked  whether  Mr.  Donellan  did  not  endeavour  to 
account  to  her  for  her  son's  death,  she  answered,  that  when  the  things  were 
removed  in  order  to  be  put  in  tlie  inner  room,  he  said  to  the  maid,  "  Here, 
take  his  stockings ;  they  have  been  wet ;  he  has  catched  cold,  to  be  sure : 
and  that  might  occasion  his  death,"  On  that  she  examined  the  stockings, 
and  there  was  no  mai'k  or  appearance  of  their  having  been  wet.  In  answer 
to  some  further  questions,  she  denied  that  she  or  any  of  the  family  had 
ever  declined  eating  of  the  same  dishes  that  Sir  Theodosius  did.  Mr. 
Donellan,  indeed,  had  recommended  to  her  not  to  drink  out  of  the  same 
cup,  because  he  was  affected  with  a  certain  disorder ;  nor  to  touch  the 
bread  he  did,  because  there  might  be  arsenic  about  his  fingers,  as  he  used 
that  poison  wlien  he  was  fishing. 

Catherine  Amos  corroborated  the  testimony  of  her  mistress,  and  said, 
that  she  was  called  up  stairs  to  the  room  where  Sir  Theodosius  lay,  at 
the  time  when  the  surgeons  were  engaged  in  opening  the  body,  and  she 
heard  Mr.  Donellan  say  "  that  tliere  was  nothing  the  matter ;  and  that  it 
was  a  blood-vessel  which  broke,  which  had  occasioned  the  death  of  his 
brother-in-law."  About  a  fortnight  afterwards  Mr.  Donellan  brought  her 
a  still,  which  had  been  recently  washed,  and  he  desired  her  to  put  it  into 
the  oven  to  dry,  in  order  that  it  might  not  rust. 

Mr.  Kerr,  surgeon  of  Northampton,  deposed,  that  he  attended  Sir 
Theodosius  when  he  was  at  Mr.  Jones's.  His  disorder  was  so  slight  that 
he  did  not  think  it  a  subject  of  medicine  at  all.  He  ordered  him  some 
lotion  to  wash  with,  and  dissuaded  him  from  the  use  of  medicine. 

Dr.  Rattray,  of  Coventry,  deposed,  that  in  consequence  of  an  anonymous 
note  which  he  received,  and  which  desired  him  to  bring  Mr.  Wilmer  with 
him,  in  order  to  open  the  body  of  Sir  Theodosius  Boughton,  they  went 
together,  and  met  Mr.  Bucknell,  Mr.  Powell,  and  Mr.  Snow,  in  Newbold 
churchyard.  Mr.  Bucknell  opened  the  body.  The  witness  then  pro- 
ceeded to  describe  the  external  appearances  of  the  body,  and  its  appear- 
ances in  the  dissecting.  He  was  asked  whether,  as  he  had  heard  the 
evidence  of  Mr.  Powell  and  Lady  Boughton,  he  could,  from  that  evidence, 
totally  independent  of  the  appearances  he  had  described,  form  a  judgment 
as  to  the  cause  of  the  death  of  Sir  Theodosius.  He  answered,  that,  exclu- 
sive of  these  appearances,  he  was  of  opinion,  from  the  symptoms  that 
followed  the  taking  of  the  draught,  that  it  was  poison,  and  the  certain 
cause  of  his  death.  Being  desired  to  smell  at  the  bottle,  and  asked  what 
was  the  noxious  medicine  in  it,  he  said  it  was  a  distillation  of  laurel -leaves, 
called  laurel-water.  Here  he  entered  into  a  detail  of  several  experiments 
on  animals,  tending  to  show  the  instantaneous  and  mortal  effects  of  the 
iaui-el-water.     He  knew  nothing  in  medicine  that  corresponded  in  smell 

VOL.  I.  R  K 


306  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAK. 

with  tliat  mixture,  which  was  like  that  of  bitter  ahrionds.  lie  further 
said  that  the  quantity  of  laurel-water  contained  in  tlie  bottle  shown  to 
him  was  sufficient  to  be  the  death  of  any  human  creature ;  and  that  tlie 
appearances  of  the  body  confirmed  him  in  his  opinion  that  the  deceased  was 
poisoned,  so  far  as,  upon  the  viewing  a  body  so  long  after  the  death  of  the 
subject,  one  could  be  allowed  to  form  a  judgment  upon  such  appearances. 

Mr.  Wilmcr  and  Dr.  Parsons,  professor  of  anatomy  at  Oxford,  confirmed 
the  evidence  of  Dr.  Rattray 

Dr.  Ashe,  of  Birmingham,  was  of  opinion,  from  the  symptoms  described, 
tliat  the  deceased  died  by  poison.  If  the  laurel- water  were  distilled  strong 
enougli  to  collect  the  essential  oil,  a  tea-spoonful  of  it  would  destroy  ani- 
mal life  in  a  few  seconds ;  and  he  believed  as  strong  a  poison  might  be 
made  from  bitter  almonds. 

Mary  Lymnes  deposed,  that  she  had  been  servant  to  Lady  Boughton. 
Mr.  Donellan  was  in  the  habit  of  distilling  roses  occasionally,  and  he  kept 
his  still  in  an  apartment  which  was  called  his  room,  and  in  which  he  slept 
when  Mrs.  Donellan  lay  in. 

Francis  Amos,  gardener  to  Lady  Boughton,  deposed,  that  he  was  with 
Sir  Theodosius  the  whole  time  he  was  fishing,  the  night  before  he  died. 
Mr.  Donellan  was  not  there.  Two  or  three  days  after  Sir  Theodosius  died, 
he  brought  him  a  still  to  clean  ;  it  was  full  of  wet  lime.  He  said  he  used 
the  lime  to  kill  fleas.  The  witness  used  to  gather  lavender  for  him  to 
distil.     In  the  garden  there  were  laurels,  bays,  and  laurustinus. 

William  Crofts,  one  of  the  coroner's  jury,  deposed,  that  on  the  exami- 
nation of  Lady  Boughton,  when  she  said  that  "  Captain  Donellan  rinsed 
the  bottle,"  he  saw  the  captain  catch  her  by  the  gown,  and  give  her  a 
twitch, 

John  Darbyshire  deposed,  that  he  had  been  a  prisoner  in  Warwick  jai: 
for  debt ;  that  Mr.  Donellan  and  he  had  a  bed  in  the  same  room  for  a 
month  or  five  weeks.  He  remembered  to  have  had  a  conversation  witli 
him  about  Sir  Theodosius  being  poisoned.  On  his  asking  him  whether 
the  body  was  poisoned  or  not,  he  said,  "  There  was  no  doubt  of  it."  The 
witness  said,  "  For  God's  sake,  captain,  who  could  do  it  ?"  He  answered, 
"  It  was  amongst  themselves  ;  he  had  no  hand  in  it."  The  witness  asked, 
*'  Whom  he  meant  by  themselves  ?"  He  said,  "  Sir  Theodosius  himself, 
Lady  Boughton,  the  footman,  and  the  apothecary."  The  witness  replied, 
*'  Sure,  Sir  Theodosius  could  not  do  it  himself !  "  He  said  he  did  not 
think  he  did — he  could  not  believe  he  would.  The  witness  answered, 
"  ^he  apothecary  could  hardly  do  it — he  would  lose  a  good  patient ;  the 
tbotman  could  have  no  interest  in  it ;  and  it  was  unnatural  to  suppose 
that  Lady  Boughton  would  do  it."  He  then  said,  "  how  covetous  Lady 
Boughton  was !  she  had  received  an  anonymous  letter  the  day  after  Sir 
Theodosius's  death,  charging  her  plump  with  poisoning  him  ;  Uiat  she 
called  him  and  read  it  to  him,  and  she  trembled ;  she  desired  he  would 
not  let  his  wife  know  of  that  letter,  and  asked  him  if  he  would  give  up  his 
riffht  to  the  personal  estate,  and  to  some  estates  of  about  two  hundred 
pounds  a  year,  belonging  to  the  family."  The  conversation  was  about  a 
month  after  the  captain  came  into  the  jail.  At  other  times  he  said, 
"  that  it  was  impossible  he  could  do  a  thing  that  never  was  in  his  power." 

This  being  the  chief  evidence,  the  prisoner  in  his  defence  pleaded  a  total 
ignorance  of  the  fact,  and  several  respectable  cnaracters  bore  testimony  to 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  307 

his  inteorrity.  The  jury,  however,  found  hun  guilty,  and  he  received  sen- 
tence of  death. 

At  seven  o'clock  on  the  next  day,  the  2nd  of  April,  1781,  he  was  carried 
to  the  place  of  execution  at  AVarwick,  in  a  mourning-coach,  followed  by  a 
hearse  and  the  sheriff's  officers  in  deep  mourning.  As  he  went  on  he 
frequently  put  his  head  out  of  the  coach,  desiring  tlie  prayers  of  the  people 
around  him. 

On  his  arrival  at  the  fiital  spot  he  alighted  from  the  coach,  and,  ascend- 
ing a  few  steps  of  the  ladder,  prayed  for  a  considerable  time,  and  then 
joined  in  the  usual  service  with  the  greatest  appearance  of  devotion :  he 
next  in  an  audible  tone  of  voice  addressed  the  spectators  to  this  effect : — 
That,  as  he  was  then  going  to  appear  before  God,  to  whom  all  deceit  was 
known,  he  solemnly  declared  that  he  was  innocent  of  tlie  crime  for  wliich 
he  was  to  suffer  ;  that  he  had  drawn  up  a  vindication  of  himself,  wiiich 
he  hoped  the  world  would  believe,  for  it  was  of  more  consequence  to  him 
to  speak  truth  than  falsehood,  and  he  had  no  doubt  but  that  time  would 
reveal  the  many  mysteries  that  had  arisen  in  his  trial. 

After  praying  fervently  some  time  he  let  his  handkerchief  fall — a  signal 
agreed  upon  between  him  and  the  executioner— and  was  launched  into 
eternity.  When  the  body  had  hung  the  usual  time  it  was  put  into  a  black 
coffin,  and  conveyed  to  the  Town  Hall  to  be  dissected. 

It  is  almost  needless  to  inform  our  readers,  that  the  poison  with  which 
the  unfortunate  Sir  Theodosius  was  murdered  was  prussic  acid,  at  that 
time  only  recently  introduced  and  little  known. 


DAVID  TYRIE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    HIGH    TREASON. 

The  charge  against  this  malefactor  was  that  of  sending  intelligence  of 
our  naval  affairs  to  France  during  the  time  of  war.  The  prisoner  was  by 
birth  a  Scotchman,  and  having  lived  as  a  clerk  in  the  service  of  a  Mr. 
Powell  for  five  years,  he  entered  into  business  for  himself,  but  was  so  far 
unsuccessful  as  to  be  made  a  bankrupt.  He  siibsequently  obtained  a 
situation  in  the  Navy  Office,  Portsmouth,  where  he  was  most  traitorously 
guilty  of  the  offence  imputed  to  him. 

He  was  tried  at  Winchester,  by  virtue  of  a  special  commission,  on 
the  1 0th  of  August,  1 78*-J,  when  the  charge  alleged  against  him  was  sup- 
ported by  the  following  testimony. 

Maria  Harvey  proved  that  a  bundle  of  papers,  the  property  of  Tyrie, 
had  been  delivered  to  her  by  a  Mrs.  Askew,  about  the  l;3th  of  February ; 
that  the  particular  charge  given  with  them  had  raised  her  curiosity  to 
inquire  into  the  contents  of  tlie  bundle.  Slie  had  been  induced  in  conse- 
quence to  open  them,  and  thinking  that  the  contents  were  of  a  dangerous 
nature,  she  carried  them  to  a  Mr  Page,  in  Westminster,  who  being  of  the 
same  opinion,  they  were  conveyed  to  the  office  of  the  secretary  of  state. 
Tlie  papers  on  being  examined  proved  to  be  copies  of  papers  called  the 
^  Navy  Progresses ;"  being  a  list  of  all  the  ships  of  the  navy,  the  situation 
and  state  of  repair  of  each,  &c.  To  these  were  added  remarks  on  their 
destination,  a  description  of  the  dock-yards  at  Portsmouth,  Plymouth,  and 
ul  the  public,  and  even  of  several  private,  docks.     They  also  contained  a 


308  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

jilan,  by  which  it  was  proposed  to  furnish  a  person  in  France  with  intelli- 
jjcnce  on  very  moderate  terms,  when  the  importance  of  the  object  was 
considered  ;  the  particuhars  were,  an  express  to  be  employed  which  would 
travel  four  hundred  and  fifty  miles,  to  be  paid  at  thirteen  pence  per  mile ; 
a.  monthly  salary  of  five  or  six  guineas  to  a  person  at  each  of  the  dock- 
yards ;  also  a  salary  of  two  or  three  guineas  to  a  man  in  the  lesser  yards. 
Tljere  were  a  number  of  other  papers  produced,  all  going  to  the  purpose 
of  giving  information  to  the  enemies. 

Captain  William  James  also  proved  that  Tyrie  had  bargained  with  him 
to  go  to  Boulogne  to  purchase  wines.  He  had  agreed  to  pay  him  fifteen 
guineas  in  money  for  the  voyage,  and  to  provide  him  with  a  letter  of  cre- 
dit for  fifty  pounds  to  trade  with.  Upon  his  being  about  to  sail,  the  pri- 
soner delivered  to  him  a  Dacket  of  letters  for  the  commandant  of  the  port, 
and  a  passport  for  Boulogne  or  Cherbourg ;  but  feeling  that  it  was  not  pro- 
per to  carry  letters  to  the  French  coast  in  time  of  war,  he  consulted  a  Cap- 
tain Harrison  upon  the  propriety  of  doing  so.  The  latter  advised  him 
against  it,  and  they  opened  the  packet:  it  contained  five  letters,  which  gave 
an  account  of  the  sailing  of  some  frigates  to  intercept  afleet  of  French  trans- 
ports ;  a  particular  account  of  the  departure  of  the  East  and  West  India 
fleets,  together  with  the  names  and  strength  of  their  respective  convoys, 
besides  other  important  information  of  the  same  character.  One  of  these 
letters,  it  appeared,  was  signed  by  the  prisoner,  in  his  own  name,  and  the 
others  in  the  name  of  Croix;  and  it  was  proved  that  the  whole  of  them,  as 
well  as  the  papers  produced  by  Mrs.  Harvey,  were  in  his  handwriting. 

The  case  having  been  left  to  the  jury  for  their  consideration,  they  imme- 
diately returned  a  verdict  of  guilty. 

Mr.  Justice  Heath  then  passed  upon  the  unhappy  prisoner  the  sentence 
of  the  law,  which  was  the  same  as  that  in  the  case  of  La  Motte,  which  has 
very  recently  been  alluded  to,  and  which  was  subsequently  carried  out  in 
its  fullest  terms. 

The  prisoner  behaved  during  his  trial  with  remarkable  composure,  and 
met  his  fate  without  any  apparent  emotion. 


WILLIAM  WYNNE  RYLAND. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

In  the  execution  of  this  imhappy  man,  the  world  may  be  said  to  have  sus- 
tained a  severe  loss;  for  Mr.  Ryland  was  an  engraver  of  first-rate  abilities, 
and  of  very  considerable  celebrity.  He  was  a  native  of  Wales,  and  his 
father  having  been  patronised  by  the  Welch  baronet,  Sir  Watkin  Williams 
Wynne,  he  was  named  after  that  individual.  While  yet  young,  he  dis- 
played considerable  talent,  and  in  the  early  part  of  his  apprenticeship  he 
engraved  a  head  of  his  godfather  in  a  style  which  betokened  unusual  taste 
and  power.  Having  completed  his  term,  he  visited  the  French  and  Italian 
schools;  and  in  the  former  obtained  the  honorary  medal,  which  was  pre- 
sented to  him  in  Paris.  On  his  return  to  England,  he  introduced  the  ad- 
mired art  of  engraving  in  imitation  of  chalk  drawings  ;  and  soon  after 
George  HI.  had  ascended  the  throne,  he  was  appointed  by  him  to  the  situa- 
tion of  his  engraver,  with  a  salary  of  two  hundred  pounds  a  year;  and  the 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  309 

queen  added  one  hundred  pounds  a  year  more  out  of  her  privy  purse,  as  a 
testimony  of  her  approbation  of  his  extraordinary  talents. 

A  few  years  previous  to  the  fatal  act  for  which  lie  suffered,  Mr.  Ryland 
entered  into  partnership  with  a  Mr.  Bryer,  and  they  jointly  opened  a  shop 
in  Cornhill,  where  they  carried  on  a  very  extensive  trade  in  prints  ;  the 
former  still  continuing  to  exercise  his  abilities  in  the  art  of  engraving.  But 
although  their  business  was  productive  of  great  profit,  several  heavy  losses, 
occuiTing  almost  at  the  same  time,  so  deranged  their  pecuniary  affairs, 
that  a  bankruptcy  ensued. 

Some  years  after  this  failure,  Mr.  Ryland,  on  his  own  separate  account, 
opened  a  print-shop  in  the  Strand,  where  he  had  every  prospect  of  success; 
but  being  fond  of  a  private  life,  he  quitted  his  business,  and  retired  to 
Pimlico,  and  thence  to  Knightsbridge,  where,  by  one  fatal  act,  he  entirely 
rained  his  reputation  as  a  man;  but  his  name,  as  an  artist,  will  ever  stand 
in  the  highest  estimation.  At  this  time  Mr.  Ryland  had  recovered  his 
losses  in  trade,  and  was  bequeathed  shares  in  the  Liverj)ool  Water  Works, 
which  were  then  deemed  to  be  worth  ten  thousand  pounds :  his  business 
was  worth  two  thousand  pounds  a  year,  and  his  stock  was  valued  at  ten 
thousand  pounds  more.  Such  was  his  own  statement  of  his  property,  in 
his  defence  on  his  trial;  and  it  was  supposed  that,  in  order  to  engross  the 
remaining  shares  in  his  Liverpool  concern,  he  committed  the  forgery  for 
which  he  suffered. 

The  forged  instruments  so  exactly  resembled  the  real  bills  that  it  was 
scarcely  possible  to  know  one  from  the  other ;  but  it  being  discovered  that 
two  bills  of  the  same  tenor  and  date  were  out.  and  consequently  that  one 
of  them  must  prove  a  forgery,  suspicion  fell  so  strong  on  Ryland  that  he 
was  induced  to  secrete  himself,  and  a  reward  was  offered  for  liis  apprehen- 
sion. He  went  in  disguise  to  Stepney,  and  took  an  obscure  lodging  at  the 
hovel  of  one  Richard  Freeman,  a  cobbler,  accompanied  by  Mrs.  Ryland,  the 
wretched  partner  of  his  misfortune,  passing  as  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Jackson ;  and 
there  he  continued  for  some  time  to  evade  the  search  after  him,  till  one 
fatal  step  of  the  unfortunate  woman  who  was  watching  over  his  safety 
caused  his  apprehension.  She  took,  unconscious  of  danger,  one  of  her  hus- 
band's shoes  to  the  cobbler  to  be  mended,  with  the  name  of  "  Ryland"  on 
the  inside  of  it.  Tliis  was  fatal:  the  cobbler,  in  order  to  obtain  the  reward, 
delivered  up  his  lodger 

When  the  officers  of  justice  went  to  apprehend  Ryland,  they  found  him 
in  a  corner  of  the  room  on  his  knees,  and  heard  a  noise  like  a  guggling  in 
his  tViroat,  and  upon  approaching  him  they  found  that  he  had  attempted 
suicide.  He  had  a  razor  in  his  hand,  and  a  basin  stood  before  him;  but 
the  wound  which  he  had  inflicted  did  not  prove  mortal. 

On  the  20th  July,  1 783,  he  was  arraigned  at  the  bar  of  the  Old  Bailey, 
on  an  indictment  charging  him  with  feloniously  forging  and  uttering  a 
certain  bill  of  exchange  for  2101.  sterling,  purporting  to  be  a  bill  drawn 
by  the  gentlemen  of  the  factory  at  Fort  George,  ]\Iadras,  on  the  Hon.  East 
India  Company,  with  intent  to  defraud  the  said  Company,  &c. 

The  solicitor  to  the  East  India  Company,  who  prosecuted  the  prisoner, 
endeavoured,  by  several  proofs,  to  bring  home  the  charge  to  the  accused; 
but,  though  forgery  was  manifest,  yet  it  was  so  nice  a  point  to  distinguish 
the  true  bill  from  the  false  one,  that  it  was,  during  the  trial,  supposed  that 


310  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

they  could  not  convict  him,  until  Mr.  Whatman,  paper-manufacturer  at 
Maidstone,  appeared  as  a  witness. 

Mr.  Whatman  deposed  that  the  paper  of  the  forged  bill  was  of  his  ma- 
nufacture. He  then  explained  to  the  Court  his  reasons  for  thinking  so:  the 
moulds,  he  said,  in  which  the  paper  of  the  bill  was  made,  were  received  by 
him  in  February,  1780,  but  were  not  used  before  the  December  following: 
they  were  then  worked  with;  and  the  first  paper  sent  to  London  made  by 
them  was  on  the  27th  of  April,  1781:  but  he  was  convinced  that  the 
paper  on  which  the  bill  was  written  was  not  sent  before  the  'Sd  of  May, 
1782;  and  the  way  by  which  he  knew  it  was,  that  there  were  defects  in  it, 
which  exactly  agreed  with  those  in  the  sheets  of  paper  which  he  produced, 
and  which  had  been  made  by  him  at  that  period.  It  was  further  proved 
that  the  instruments  bore  date  antecedent  to  the  time  of  the  paper  being 
made  ;  and  this  evidence  being  conclusive,  in  spite  of  the  j>risoner's  argu- 
ments that  his  fortune  being  ample  he  had  no  reason  to  commit  the  offence 
imputed  to  him,  he  was  found  guilty. 

He  was  executed  at  Tyburn  on  the  29th  August,  1783,  being  the  last 
person  who  suffered  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner  at  that  place. 


CHRISTOPHER  TRUSTY,  AND  OTHERS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    RETURNING    FROM    TRANSPORTATION. 

The  year  1783  crowded  the  prisons  of  England  to  a  degree  never  before 
known,  though  the  offences  of  the  prisoners  were  not  distinguished  by  any 
particular  enormity,  and  were  generally  devoid  of  that  interest  which  enti- 
tles them  to  a  place  in  our  Calendar. 

Of  these  numerous  offenders,  one  hundred  and  fifty  were  proceeding  to 
North  America,  on  board  the  Swift  transport,  pursuant  to  their  sentence, 
when  they  rose  on  the  captain  and  crew,  in  the  Downs,  on  the  30th  of 
August,  and,  after  confining  them,  got  on  shore  at  Deal,  and  all  made  their 
escape. 

On  this  intelligence  reaching  London,  Mr.  Justice  Blackborow  ordered 
the  constables  attending  at  his  ofiice  to  search  for  the  fugitives  in  the  dif- 
ferent places  of  iniquitous  resort.  Having  armed  themselves  each  with 
cutlasses,  Redgrave,  Season,  and  Isaacs,  accordingly  went  to  a  house  in 
Onslow-street,  Saffron-hill,  where,  in  one  room,  they  found  five  returned 
transports,  two  of  whom  ran  up  stairs,  and  escaped  by  lowering  themselves 
from  a  back  window,  by  means  of  the  bed-clothes :  but  the  others,  arming 
themselves,  one  with  a  poker,  another  with  a  shovel,  and  a  third  with  a 
clasp-knife,  having  a  blade  about  six  inches  long,  as  with  one  voice,  cried 
out  "  Cut  away!  we  shall  be  hanged,  if  taken;  and  we  will  die  on  the  spot, 
rather  than  submit!''  All  expostulation  proving  fruitless,  the  officers  at- 
tempted to  seize  them,  upon  which  a  dreadful  conflict  ensued,  and  many 
wounds  were  given  and  received,  but  at  lengih  the  villains  sun-endered,  and 
were  conveyed  before  Mr.  Blackborow  for  examination.  Being  asked  by 
the  magistrate  by  what  means  they  had  procured  tlieir  liberty,  they  ac- 
knowledged that  they  had  run  the  ship  on  shore;  adding,  that  to  recover 
their  liberty  was  not  difficult,  as,  in  compassion  of  their  sufterings,  the 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  Sli 

caotain  permitted  eighteen  or  twenty  convicts  to  be  upon  deck  at  one  time, 
unfettered:  that,  on  the  third  day  of  being  thus  indulged,  they  (the  pri- 
soners), and  others  who  were  upon  deck,  liberated  the  rest;  and,  having 
confined  the  captain  and  crew,  ran  the  vessel  on  the  sands,  and  got  nn 
shore  in  the  two  long-boats:  that  no  cruelty  was  exercised  upon  any  part 
of  the  crew,  nor  any  property  stolen  from  the  vessel,  except  that  some  of 
the  convicts  obliged  the  sailors  to  change  clothes  with  them:  that  they 
concealed  themselves  in  hedges  and  ditches  till  night,  and  then  took  different 
routes:  that  they  collected  half-a-crown  among  themselves,  wliich  they 
gave  to  a  countryman  for  conducting  them  to  Rye,  whence  they  walked 
up  to  London,  where  they  had  arrived  but  a  very  short  time  before  tliey 
were  apprehended. 

In  the  September  sessions,  at  the  Old  Bailey,  Christopher  Trusty,  and 
twenty-three  others,  were  capitally  convicted  of  the  offence  of  being  found 
at  large  in  this  kingdom  before  the  term  for  which  they  were  ordered  to  be 
transported  had  expired,  and  received  judgment  of  death. 

Six  of  the  ringleaders,  viz.  Charles  Thomas,  William  Matthews,  Thomas 
Millington,  Christopher  Trusty,  David  Hart,  and  Abraham  Hyams,  were 
selected  for  immediate  execution,  and  were  hanged  on  the  22d  of  Septembei', 
sentence  having  been  passed  upon  them  on  the  20th. 

No  fewer  than  fifty-four  prisoners  received  sentence  of  death  on  the 
same  day,  in  many  of  whose  cases  the  extreme  penalty  of  the  law  was 
subsequently  inflicted. 


SAMUEL  HARRIS  AND  JOHN  NORTH. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

At  the  Admiralty  sessions,  held  on  the  1 1th  of  November,  1784,  these 
men  were  tried  for  the  wilful  murder  of  John  M'Nier,  one  of  the  mariners 
belonging  to  his  majesty's  cutter  the  Nimble,  in  the  service  of  the  Cus- 
toms. 

On  the  trial  it  appeared  that  on  the  night  of  the  30th  of  April  last,  it 
being  clear  moonlight,  a  vessel  was  observed  at  about  two  miles  distance 
from  Deal,  hovering  or  standing  in  towards  the  shore,  which  was  supposed 
to  be  a  smuggler.  Lieutenant  Bray,  commander  of  the  Nimble,  being 
acquainted  with  the  fact,  manned  three  boats,  and  proceeded  to  speak  to 
her,  and,  coming  within  hail,  told  tliem  his  name  and  business,  which  was 
to  board  and  search  her.  He  was  answered  by  many  voices  with  impre- 
cations, bidding  him  keep  off;  and  a  volley  was  instantly  fired  into  his 
boat,  whereby  M'Nier,  one  of  the  crew,  received  a  shot  in  his  right  breast, 
near  the  pap,  of  which  he  instantly  died.  Lieutenant  Bray  then  proceeded 
to  board  the  vessel,  which  proved  to  be  the  Juliet  lugger,  of  Deal,  (laden 
with  about  four  hundred  tubs  or  half-ankers  of  spirits,)  but  he  received 
another  volley:  he  however  persisted,  and  boarded  the  lugger,  when  an 
engagement  began,  in  which  some  men  fell.  North  leaped  overboard,  but 
was  taken,  and  Harris  was  found  concealed  in  the  hold.  He  said  that  he 
was  only  a  passenger,  and  had  been  waiter  at  the  assembly-house  at  Mar- 
gate, where  he  was  then  going;  but  unluckily  for  him  he  had  on  a  pair  ol 
trousers  and  a  seaman  s  jacket,  in  the  pockets  of  which  were  found  several 
musket  and  pistol  balls. 


312  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

On  this  evidence  tlie  prisoners  were  found  guilty;  and  on  the  morning  of 
the  lyth,  two  days  after  conviction,  tliey  were  taken  from  the  cells  of  New- 
gate, put  into  a  cart,  and  conveyed  to  the  gallows,  which  was  erected  ou  a 
platform  at  Execution  Dock,  and  there  executed.  • 


CHARLES  PEICE. 

CHAKGED    WITH    FORGERY. 

The  subject  of  this  narrative  was  bom  about  the  year  1730,  in  LonduM 
— his  father  lived  in  3Ionmouth-street,  and  carried  on  the  trade  of  a  sales- 
man in  old  clothes,  and  there  he  died,  in  tlie  year  1752,  of  a  broken  heart, 
occasioned,  it  is  said,  by  the  bad  conduct  of  his  children. 

In  early  life  Price  exhibited  those  traits  of  duplicity,  which  were  mani- 
fested in  his  subsequent  career,  frequently  defrauding  his  father,  and  dis- 
posing of  the  property,  which  he  carried  ofi'  to  the  Jews,  disguised  in  his 
brother's  clothes.  By  this  means  his  brother  was  occasionally  chastised  in 
his  place,  while  he  escaped  unpunished. 

The  following  anecdote  of  his  ingenuity  is  highly  characteristic  of  his 
disposition.  His  father,  tired  of  his  tricks  and  knaveries,  put  iiim  appren 
tice  to  a  hosier  in  St.  James' s-street,  but  even  here  he  was  unable  to  restrain 
his  appetite  for  fraud.  Having  managed,  on  the  occasion  of  one  of  his 
visits  to  his  home,  to  carry  off  a  suit  of  clothes  of  elegant  workmanship, 
he  dressed  himself  with  becoming  taste,  and,  thus  disguised,  proceeded  to 
his  master's  shop.  Calling  himself  the  Hon.  Mr.  Bolingbroke,  he  selected 
a  variety  of  silk  stockings  of  beautiful  texture,  undiscovered  by  his  em- 
ployer, and  on  quitting  the  house,  he  desired  that  the  goods  should  be  sent 
to  him  at  Hanover  House  in  an  hour's  time,  when  he  promised  that  he 
would  pay  for  them.  Being  perfectly  aware  that  it  would  be  his  duty  to 
carry  home  the  goods.  Price  immediately  stripped  himself  of  his  disguise, 
and,  returning  to  his  master's  residence,  was  directed  to  convey  the  parcel 
to  Hanover  House.  He  soon  came  back  declaring  that  3Ir.  Bolingbroke 
was  out,  and  that  he  had  left  the  stockings  with  the  bill:  but  it  being 
speedily  ascertained  that  they  had  been  lodged  with  a  pawnbroker  instead 
of  the  supposed  customer,  and  his  ingenious  scheme  being  discovered,  he 
was  dismissed  from  his  employment. 

He  had  not  been  long  at  liberty,  before  he  sailed  for  Holland,  and  there 
assuming  the  name  of  Johnson,  he  obtained  a  situation  as  clerk  in  the 
counting-house  of  a  merchant,  by  means  of  a  forged  letter  of  introduction. 
Having  debauched  his  master's  daughter,  and  carried  oft'  a  considerable 
sum  of  money,  he  thought  it  prudent  to  return  to  England ;  but  having 
there  soon  expended  the  proceeds  of  his  fraud  in  dissipation,  he  was  again 
thrown  upon  the  world. 

His  wits,  however,  were  not  exhausted,  nor  did  they  ever  slumber  long. 
He  determined  upon  a  trial  to  establish  a  brewery,  by  obtaining  a  partner 
with  money;  and  as  a  first  step  towards  it,  in  the  year  1775,  he  issued  the 
following  curious  advertisement: — 

"  Wanted, — A  partner  of  character,  probity,  and  extensive  acquaintance, 
upon  a  plan  permanent  and  productive.  Fifty  per  cent,  without  risk,  may 
be  obtained.  It  is  not  necessary  he  should  have  any  knowledge  of  the 
business,  which  the  advertiser  possesses  to  its  fullest  extent;  but  he  must 


THE    NEW   NEWCATE   CAT-JiyT>AH  SIJ 

possess  a  capital  of  between  five  hundred  and  one  t'itn^sand  pcuna'«  t««  pur- 
chase materials,  with  which,  to  the  knowledge  ol  the  advertisei,  a  large 
fortune  must  be  made  in  a  very  short  time. 

"  Address  to  P.  C,  Cardigan  Head,  Charing  Cross. 

"  P.  S.  None  but  principals,  and  those  of  liberal  ideas,  will  be  treated 
with.' 

To  this  advertisement  the  famous  comedian,  Samuel  Foote,  paid  atten- 
tion. Eager  to  seize  what  he  thouglit  a  gulden  opportunity,  he  advanced 
the  sum  of  five  hundred  pounds  for  a  brewery ;  we  need  not  add,  that  the 
sum  soon  disappeared,  and  Foote  retired  from  the  concern,  having  gained 
nothing  but  experience  and  disappointment.  Price,  however,  had  the  im- 
pudence to  apply  to  him  again,  wishing  him  to  unite  in  the  baking  trade; 
but  the  comedian  archly  replied,  "  As  you  have  brewed,  so  you  may  bake ; 
but  I'll  be  cursed  if  ever  you  bake  as  you  have  brewed !" 

After  this  unfortunate  business,  Mr.  Price  turned  methodist  preacher, 
and  in  this  character  defrauded  several  persons  of  large  sums  of  money. 
Advertising  in  order  to  get  gentlemen  u'lves,  he  swindled  a  person  of  the 
name  of  AVigmore  of  fifty  guineas,  for  which  he  was  indicted;  but  having 
refunded  a  part,  he  eti'ected  his  escape. 

With  astonishing  impudence  he  afterwards  again  set  up  a  brewery  in 
Gray's  Inn  Lane;  and  after  various  frauds,  he  became  a  bankrupt  in  1776. 
Ever  fruitful  in  resources,  he  set  out  for  Germany,  where  he  engaged  in 
some  smuggling  scheme,  for  wliich  he  was  imprisoned ;  but  he  returned  to 
England,  having  managed  to  pocket  three  hundred  pounds  in  the  'jourse  '■f 
his  trip.  A  brewery  in  Lambeth  was  then  again  tried,  but  ineftectually  ; 
and  he  was  afterwards  successively  a  begging- letter  impostor  and  a  lottery 
oflice  keeper  ;  and  then  he  assumed  the  trade  by  which  he  qualified  himself 
to  become  the  subject  of  remark  in  the  Newgate  Calendar.  Having 
leagued  himself  witli  a  number  of  adventurers  whose  business  consisted  in 
making  and  selling  forged  notes,  he  entered  into  their  schemes;  but,  fearful 
of  being  himself  employed  in  the  dangerous  act  of  putting  off  the  notes, 
in  the  year  1780,  memorable  for  the  riots  in  London,  he  assumed  the 
name  of  Brant,  and  engaged  a  plain,  simple,  honest  fellow,  as  a  servant, 
whom  he  converted  into  the  instrument  of  passing  his  forged  notes  without 
detection.  He  advertised  fur  this  servant,  and  conducted  himself  in  a  man- 
ner truly  curious  towards  hiin.  The  young  man,  having  answered  th'^ 
advertisement,  heard  nothing  relative  to  it  for  about  a  week.  One  evening, 
however,  just  about  dusk,  a  coachman  was  heard  inquiring  for  him,  say- 
ing there  was  a  gentleman  over  the  way  in  a  coach  who  wanted  to  speak 
to  him.  On  this  the  young  fellow  was  called,  and  went  to  the  coach, 
when  he  was  desired  to  step  in;  and  there  he  found  an  apparently  old  man, 
ati'ecting  the  foreigner,  seemingly  very  much  afflicted  with  the  gout,  as  he 
was  completely  wrapped  up  in  flannel  about  the  legs,  and  wearing  a  camlet 
surtout,  buttoned  over  his  chin,  close  up  to  his  mouth;  a  large  black  patch 
over  his  left  eye ;  and  almost  every  part  of  his  face  so  hid,  tiiat  the  young 
fellow  could  scarcely  discover  a  feature  except  his  nose,  his  right  eye,  and 
a  part  of  that  cheek.  The  young  man's  character  was  found  to  suit,  and 
ho  was  engaged;  but  his  surprise  may  easily  be  imagined,  when  on  liis  next 
Bfteiug  his  employer,  he  found  him  a  thin,  genteel-looking  young  man. 

The  simplicity  of  the  young  man  whom  he  had  thus  duped  into  his  ser- 
vice was  ouch,   that  Price  found  no  difficulty  whatever  in   iiegotiating 

vol,.  I.  s  s 


314  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

tlirouo^h  his  means  notes  to  the  amount  of  about  fifteen  hundred 
pounds,  which  were  principally  expended  in  the  purchase  of  lottery-tickets 
and  shares;  but  the  unfortunate  wretch  was  eventually  taken  into  custody, 
and  was  left  by  his  employer  to  suffer  all  the  fears  likely  to  arise  in  his 
mind  upon  the  contemplation  of  the  supposed  consequences  of  his  crime. 
His  innocence  was,  however,  at  length  proved,  and  he  was  set  at  liberty, 
but  not  until  he  had  suffered  nearly  twelve  months'  imprisonment.  His 
late  master  in  the  mean  time  had  retired  from  public  life,  and  nothing 
more  was  heard  of  him  until  the  year  1782,  when,  having  exhausted  the 
proceeds  of  his  former  villanies,  he  was  compelled  to  come  fortli  again  to 
renew  his  depredations  on  the  public.  He  began  by  employing  a  lad 
named  Power  as  the  instrument  of  his  minor  proceedings,  but  emboldened 
by  success,  through  the  medium  of  his  disguises,  he  succeeded  occasionally 
in  obtaininor  very  large  sums.  The  following  anecdote  is  related  of  the 
success  with  which  he  carried  on  his  trade.  He  had  frequently  been  at  the 
shop  of  a  Mr.  Roberts,  grocer,  in  Oxford  Street,  where  he  now  and  then 
Ijou" ht  a  few  articles,  and  took  many  opportunities  of  showing  his  import- 
ance. Upon  one  occasion  he  called  in  a  hackney-coach,  disguised  as  an 
old  man,  and  bought  some  few  articles:  a  day  or  two  afterwards  he  re- 
peated his  visit;  and  on  a  third  day,  wl|on  he  knew  Mr,  Roberts  was  not 
in  the  way,  went  again,  with  his  face  so  painted  that  he  appeared  to  be 
diseased  with  the  yellow-jaundice.  The  shopman,  to  whom  he  enume- 
rated his  complaints,  kindly  informed  him  of  a  prescription  for  that  dis- 
order, by  which  his  father  had  been  cured  of  it.  Price  gladly  accepted  of 
the  receipt,  promising  that  if  it  succeeded,  he  would  call  again,  and  hand- 
somely reward  him  for  his  civility:  in  conformity  with  which  he  entered 
the  shop  a  few  days  afterwards,  apparently  perfectly  free  from  the  com- 
plaint, and  acknowledged  his  great  obligations  to  the  shopman ;  after  which 
he  expatiated  freely  on  his  affluent  circumstances,  the  short  time  he  had  to 
live,  and  the  few  relations  he  had  to  leave  his  property  to,  and  made  him 
a  present  of  a  ten-pound  bank-note.  It  will  naturally  be  conceived  this 
was  a  foroery,  but  it  had  the  desired  effect  with  Price;  for  at  the  same 
time  he  said  he  wanted  cash  for  another,  which  was  a  fifty-pound  note. 
This  the  oblicring  and  unsuspecting  shopman  got  change  for  at  an  opposite 
neighbour's.  The  next  day,  during  Mr.  Roberts's  absence,  he  called  again, 
and  entreated  the  lad  to  get  small  notes  for  five  other  notes  of  fifty  pounds 
each  :  the  lad,  however,  telling  him  his  master  was  not  at  home.  Price 
beo-o-ed  he  would  take  them  to  his  master's  bankers',  and  there  get  chem 
changed.  This  request  was  immediately  complied  with.  The  bankers, 
Messrs.  Burchall  and  Co.,  complied  with  ]\[r.  Roberts'  supposed  request, 
immediately  changed  them,  and  small  notes  were  that  day  given  to  Price 
for  them. 

He  practised  his  frauds  with  equal  effect  upon  Mr.  Spilsbury,  the 
vender  of  a  celebrated  quack-medicine,  with  whom  he  traded  in  the  name 
of  Wilmot,  and  upon  many  others  ;  and  so  great  was  his  success,  that  in 
one  day  he  negotiated  sixty  10/.  notes,  and  besides,  exchanged  fourteen 
50Z.  for  seven  100/.  notes  of  the  Bank  of  England. 

In  his  last  attt-mpt  on  the  Bank,  which  ended  in  his  detection,  he 
assumed  the  name  of  Palton,  pretending  he  was  an  Irish  linen  factor,  and 
employed  two  young  men  to  circulate  his  notes,  whilst  he,  still  greatly 
disguised,  kept  back  in  obscurity. 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  315 

By  means  of  a  pawnbroker,  he  was  found  out  with  great  difficulty  ; 
and  on  hi-s  seizure  he  solemnly  declared  his  innocence,  and  before  the 
magistrate  behaved  with  considerable  insolence.  His  detection  took  place 
on  the  14th  of  January,  1786  ;  and  notwithstanding  his  disguises,  he  was 
soon  sworn  to  by  more  persons  than  one  ;  and  seeing  no  way  to  escape, 
he  pretended,  to  his  wife  in  particular,  great  penitence.  The  Bank  was 
fully  intent  on  his  prosecution,  and  there  appeared  no  doubt  of  his  dying 
by  the  hands  of  the  executioner ;  but  even  this  he  managed  to  avoid,  for 
one  evening  he  was  found  hanging  against  the  post  of  his  door,  in  the 
apartment  allotted  liim  in  TothiUfields'  Bridewell.  In  this  situation  he  was 
discovered  by  the  keeper  of  the  prison,  who  cut  him  down  quite  dead,  and 
found  in  his  bosom  three  letters ;  in  one  of  which,  addressed  to  the  directors 
of  the  Bank,  he  confessed  everything  relative  to  the  forgery,  and  the 
manner  of  circulating  the  notes ;  another,  addressed  to  his  wife,  was  written 
in  a  most  affecting  style ;  and  in  the  third,  directed  to  the  keeper,  he 
thanked  him  for  the  very  humane  treatment  he  had  experienced  during 
his  confinement. 

A  coroner's  jury  was  summoned,  as  usual  in  such  cases,  and  returned 
a  verdict  of  "  self-murder ;"  in  consequence  of  which  his  body  was  thrown 
into  the  ground  in  TothiUfields,  and  a  stake  driven  through  it. 

In  a  box  belonging  to  Price  were  found,  after  his  death,  two  artificial 
noses,  very  curiously  executed,  in  imitation  of  nature.  These,  it  is 
obvious,  he  occasionally  wore  as  a  p;u't  of  the  vai'ious  disguises  by  which 
he  had  been  enabled  so  long  to  elude  the  hand  of  justice.  The  counterfeit 
plates  were  found  buried  in  a  field  near  Tottenham-court  Road,  the  turf 
being  replaced  on  the  spot,  and,  with  the  rolling-press,  and  other  materials 
found  at  his  lodgings,  were  ordered  by  Sir  Sampson  Wright,  :he  presiding 
magistrate,  to  be  destroyed. 

His  wife,  who  had  been  confined  with  him  as  an  accomplice,  and  by 
whom  he  had  a  family  of  eight  u'liildren,  was  ordered  to  be  discharged 
immediately  after  his  burial. 


HENRY  STERNE,  alias  GENTLEMAN  HARRY. 

CONVICTED    OF    STEALING    THE    DUKE    OF    BEAUFORt's    "GEORGE." 

This  ofi^ender  was  one  of  the  class  called  "  gentlemen  pickpockets." 
Beinor  a  fellow  of  grood  address,  and  of  tolerable  education,  he  manao-ed 
by  «orae  means  to  intrude  himself  into  decent  society,  where  he  found  it 
:sisy  to  carry  on  his  schemes  of  depredation. 

He  was  indicted  on  the  12th  of  September,  1787,  for  robbing  his  Grace 
the  Duke  of  Beaufort  of  his  "  George,"  meaning  the  star  of  the  order  of 
the  garter,  on  the  4th  of  June  previous,  which  was  the  King's  birthday. 

From  the  evidence  of  his  grace,  it  appeared  that  he  was  quitting  his 
majesty's  levee  on  the  day  in  question,  followed  by  his  servants,  his  "George" 
beinw  pendent  from  his  neck  by  the  ribbon ;  when,  on  his  reaching  the 
corner  of  St.  James's-street,  he  found  himself  suddenly  surrounded  by  a 
great  crowd  of  people,  who  pushed  him  about.  He  did  not  at  first 
understand  the  meaning  of  it,  when  presently  a  thought  struck  him  that 
the  object  was  to  rob  him,  and  he  found  that  his  "George"  was  gone.  He 
called  for  his  servants,  who  directly  came  up,  and  his  grace  pointed  out 


316  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

a  man  in  black  as  the  thief.  He  was  searched,  however,  but  nothing 
found ;  and  then  the  prisoner  being  seized,  the  ornament  was  discovered 
in  his  pocket. 

The  prisoner  denied  the  charge  imputed  to  him,  and  hoped  that  the  jury 
would  not  sulFer  any  reports  which  they  had  heard  of  his  character  to 
operate  to  his  prejudice ;  but  he  was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced  to  be 
transported  for  seven  years  to  Botany  Bay. 


SAMUEL  BURT. 

CONVICTED    OF    FORGERY. 


Mr.  Burt,  previously  to  the  occurrence  for  which  he  was  tried  and 
executed,  bore  a  most  exemplary  character.  The  particulars  of  the  forgery 
of  which  he  was  guilty  do  not  appear  to  have  come  out  on  the  trial,  when 
the  prisoner  pleaded  guilty;  but  his  object  in  its  commission,  as  well  as  in 
refusing  to  deny  his  guilt,  may  be  collected  from  the  manner  in  which  he 
addressed  the  Court  on  liis  being  called  up  for  judgment. 

He  said,  •'  My  lord, — I  am  too  sensible  of  the  crime  I  have  committed, 
and  for  which  I  justly  deserve  to  suffer,  not  to  know  that  I  have  forfeited 
my  life,  and  I  wish  to  resign  it  into  the  hands  of  Him  who  gave  it.  To 
give  my  reasons  for  this  would  only  satisfy  an  idle  curiosity :  no  one  can 
feel  a  more  sensible,  heartfelt  satisfaction  in  the  hopes  of  shortly  passing 
into  eternity,  wherein,  I  trust,  I  shall  meet  with  great  felicity.  I  have 
no  desire  to  live;  and  as  the  jury  and  court  in  my  trial  thought  proper  to 
recommend  me  to  mercy,  if  his  majesty  should  in  consequence  thereof 
grant  me  a  reprieve,  I  here  vow  in  the  face  of  Heaven,  that  I  will  put  an 
end  to  my  own  existence  as  soon  as  I  can.  It  is  death  that  I  wish  for, 
because  nothing  but  death  can  extricate  me  from  the  troubles  in  which 
my  follies  have  involved  me." 

Sentence  was  then  passed  in  due  form,  but  we  do  not  find  any  entry 
of  its  having  been  carried  out ;  and  it  is  therefore  very  likely  that  the 
recommendation  of  the  jury,  alhided  to  by  the  prisoner,  was  attended 
to.  The  last  notice  which  is  taken  of  the  case  in  the  books  is  in  the 
following  terms  : — "  Samuel  Burt,  the  unhappy  youth  who,  under  a 
depression  of  mind,  abhorring  the  guilt  of  suicide,  committed  a  forgery  in 
order  to  suffer  death  by  the  law,  was  respited;"  dated  December,  1787. 

From  the  observations  made  by  the  prisoner,  it  is  pretty  evident  that 
he  was  labouring  under  a  species  of  insanity,  by  which  he  was  persuaded 
that  he  must  suffer  death.  The  following  instances  of  a  similar  description 
are  of  a  character  far  more  melancholy,  inasmuch  as  that  in  each  the 
murder  of  a  fellow-creature  was  the  means  adopted  by  the  unhappy 
maniac,  for  the  offenders  can  be  considered  in  no  other  light,  to  secure 
his  own  death. 

On  the  4th  of  September,  1760,  when  North  America  was  a  British 
province,  Mr.  Robert  Scull  and  several  gentlemen  were  playing  at  billiards 
in  Philadelphia,  when  Captain  Bruluman,  late  of  the  Royal  American 
regiment,  came  into  the  room,  and,  without  the  smallest  provocation, 
levelled  a  loaded  gun,  which  he  had  brought  with  him,  and  shot  Mr.  Scull 
through  the  body  just  after  he  had  struck  liis  ball. 

It  afterwards  appeared  that  this  desperate  man  had  been  brought  up 


THR    NEW    NKWfiATE    CALENDAR.  317 

a  silversmith  ;  and  tliat  luivinw  entered  the  army,  he  became  an  officer  in 
the  Royal  American  regiment,  but  was  broke  on  his  being  detected  in 
counterfeiting  or  uttering  base  money.  He  then  returned  to  Philadelphia, 
and  growing  insui)p()rtal>le  to  himself,  and  yet  unwilling  to  jnit  an  end  to 
his  own  life,  he  determined  upon  the  commission  of  some  crime,  for  which 
he  would  certainly  be  hanged  by  the  law. 

Having  formed  this  design,  he  loaded  his  gun  with  a  brace  of  balls,  and 
asked  his  landlord  to  go  shooting  with  him,  intending  to  murder  him 
before  his  return ;  but  the  landlord,  fortunately  for  himself,  being  particu- 
larly engaged  at  home,  escaped  the  danger.  He  then  went  out  alone,  and 
on  the  way  met  a  man  whom  he  was  about  to  kill ;  but  recollecting  that 
there  were  no  witnesses  to  prove  him  guilty,  he  suffered  the  man  to  pass. 

He  next  proceeded  to  the  tavern,  where  he  drank  some  liquor ;  and 
hearing  people  playing  at  billiards  in  a  room  above  that  in  which  he  sat, 
he  went  up  stairs,  and  entered  into  conversation  with  the  players  in 
apparent  good  humour.  In  a  little  time  he  called  the  landlord,  and  desired 
him  to  hang  up  the  gun.  Mr.  Scull  having  struck  his  antagonist's  ball  in 
one  of  the  pockets,  Bruluman  said  to  him,  "  Sir,  you  are  a  good  marksman  ; 
now  I'll  show  you  a  fine  stroke."  He  immediately  took  down  his  gun, 
levelled  it,  deliberately  took  aim  at  Mr.  Scull  (who  imagined  him  in  jest), 
and  shot  both  the  balls  through  his  body.  He  tlien  went  up  to  the  dying 
man,  who  was  still  sensible,  and  said  to  him,  "  Sir,  I  have  no  malice  or  ill 
will  against  you ;  I  never  saw  you  before ;  but  I  was  determined  to  kill 
soraubody  that  I  might  be  hanged,  and  you  happen  to  be  the  man  ;  and  I 
am  very  sorry  for  your  misfortune."  Mr.  Scull  had  just  time  left  in  this 
world  to  send  for  his  friends,  and  make  his  will.  He  forgave  his  murderer, 
and  if  it  could  be  done,  desired  he  might  be  pardoned  ;  but  Bruluman  died 
on  tlie  gallows,  exulting  in  his  fate. 

The  same  volume  from  which  we  make  the  above  extract  contains 
another  case  of  the  like  nature,  and,  if  possible,  more  extraordinary.  It 
appears,  however,  that  in  this  instance  the  judges  of  the  unfortunate 
offender  treated  him  as  was  most  proper — as  a  maniac.  The  scene  of  this 
second  murder  is  not  mentioned. 

It  is  stated  that  a  youth  of  the  name  of  David  Williams,  Avhen  about 
fifteen  years  of  age,  was  one  day  against  his  wish  detained  from  schooi  by 
his  stepfather,  who  greatly  wanted  his  assistance  on  tlie  farm.  While 
tlms  employed,  a  log  rolled  on  one  of  his  legs,  which  injured  it  to  such  a 
degree  that  it  became  nearly  useless  ;  and  by  another  accident  he  soon  after 
hurt  the  other  limb,  so  that  he  was  rendered  a  cripple  before  he  had  attained 
the  years  of  manhood. 

At  these  misfortunes  he  continually  repined  ;  blamed  his  stepfather  for 
keeping  him  that  day  from  school,  whereby  he  received  his  first  injury  ; 
and,  mortified  at  his  appearance  among  his  comrades,  some  of  whom,  he 
said,  ridiculed  him,  he  became  weary  of  the  world,  and  determined  to 
terminate  his  misfoi'tunes  with  his  life. 

For  this  end  suicide  and  mvirder  presented  themselves.  The  first  he 
thought  the  most  eligible ;  but  then  it  brought  to  his  mind  the  horrors  of 
appearing  by  his  own  violence  before  God,  for  which  he  feared  he  should 
not  be  pardoned ;  and  therefore  he  was  induced  to  abandon  that  for  the 
latter,  which  he  conceived  would  afford  him  a  better  excuse  to  the 
Almighty.     He  familiarised  himself  with  this  act  of  desperation  by  conti 


318  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

nually  thinking  of  it ;  so  that  in  time  it  became  a  pleasmg  subject  of  con- 
templation. 

The  idea  of  the  grief  which  it  must  occasion  his  mother  at  times  almost 
unbent  his  resolution  ;  but  then  the  idea  of  its  proving  a  sweet  revenge  on 
his  stepfather  bore  down  every  other  consideration.  Thus  determined, 
the  next  step  of  this  unliappy  youth  was  to  select  a  proper  subject  on 
whom  the  deed  should  be  coumiitted,  A  grown  person  or  a  child  was  the 
question.  The  former,  he  concluded,  must  be  under  sin  and  guilt ;  there- 
fore by  sudden  death  and  thus  unprepared,  his  danmation  might  be  charge- 
able to  him,  and  he  be  doubly  guilty  :  the  latter  being  innocent,  he  might 
avoid  that  charge,  and  he  therefore  resolved  upon  murdering  some  child. 

Now  the  particular  object  for  this  horrid  purpose  was  the  next  consider- 
ation ;  but  he  confessed  that,  though  he  thought  of  it  more  than  six  months, 
yet  none  occurred  until  within  five  minutes  of  his  committing  his  long- 
determined  and  bloody  deed. 

All  the  mornino-  of  the  fatal  day  he  said  that  he  felt  an  imaccountable  and 
far  stroncrer  desire  to  commit  murder  than  before ; — to  use  his  own  words, 
•■'  somethmg  like  hankering  after  fruit." 

At  this  unfortunate  moment  he  chanced  to  spy  a  little  boy,  named  Ira, 
the  son  of  Mr.  Lane,  a  neighbour,  gathering  plums ;  and  finding  the 
parents  absent,  he  determined  on  seizing  the  opportunity  and  subject.  He 
instantly  took  a  gun,  fired  at,  and  sliglitly  wounded  the  cliild  in  the  side 
of  the  abdomen.  Finding  his  victim  yet  alive,  he  limped  to  him.  led  him  to 
the  house,  placed  him  upon  a  bed,  and  took  a  station  at  the  door.  The 
poor  devoted  little  Ira  had  yet  strength  left  to  get  from  the  bed,  in 
order  to  see  "  whether  his  father  was  coming  to  cure  hira  ;"  and  Williams 
answered  that  his  father  would  come  by-and-by,  and  bade  him  go  to  bed 
again  and  lie  still.  Again  the  murderer  listened  for  the  dying  groan  of  the 
boy  ;  but  finding  his  work  incomplete,  (horrid  to  relate  !)  he  took  an  axe, 
went  to  the  bed,  looked  upon  the  innocent  child,  and  while  it  held  up  its 
little  hands  for  help,  the  monster  struck  it  on  the  head,  and,  by  repeated 
blows,  chopped  it  in  pieces. 

The  wretched  murderer  was  a  youth  of  extraordinary  mental  talents  for 
his  years  until  the  fatal  gloom  overspread  him.  After  the  horrid  deed  was 
done,  he  spoke  of  it  with  calmness,  observing  that,  though  he  had  often 
considered  the  grief  he  should  bring  on  his  own  mother,  it  never  occurred 
to  him  the  distraction  it  must  cause  her  who  bore  the  murdered  child. 

His  whole  intent  was  to  get  himself  hanged  ;  and  he  supposed  that  the 
palliating  circumstances  under  which  the  luurder  was  committed  would 
induce  the  Almighty  to  forgive  him. 

Upon  his  trial  he  was  deemed  to  be  insane,  and  was  treated  as  such. 


THOMAS  GORDON,  THE  YOUNGER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

Mr.  Gordon,  the  father  of  this  wretched  youth,  was  a  surgeon  and 
apothecary  in  London,  from  whence  he  removed  his  family  into  North- 
amptonshire not  long  before  the  fatal  circumstance,  which  is  about  to  be 
described,  happened. 

Mr.  Gordon  continued  to  practise  in  the   country,  and  soon  became 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  319 

envied  and  disliked  from  his  being  a  stranger ;  and  the  consequence  was, 
that  frequent  quarrels  took  place.  At  length  a  justice's  warrant  waa 
obtained  against  the  father  on  a  pretended  charge  of  assault,  and  the  consta- 
ble went  to  j\Ir.  Gordon's  house  in  order  to  apprehend  him  ;  but  the  wife 
and  son  told  the  officer  he  was  not  at  home.  Tlie  constable,  however, 
knew  that  he  was  in  the  house  and  went  away,  but  soon  returned  with 
some  neighbours,  and  with  them  was  about  to  make  a  forcible  entry,  when 
the  motiier  and  son  opposed  them,  the  latter  being  armed  witli  a  gun.  The 
populace  threw  stones  at  tlie  windows,  when  the  motlier,  in  an  unlucky 
moment,  bade  her  son  fire  :  he  did  so,  and  killed  the  constable  on  the  spot. 
Both  mother  and  son  were  tried,  and  found  guilty  of  the  murder ;  but 
Baron  Thompson,  who  presided  on  th  ebench,  observing  that  the  mother  was 
indicted  as  an  accessory  before  the  fact,  and  that  the  evidence  proved  that 
she  was  a  principal,  he  had  doubts  whether  she  was  properly  convicted, 
and  therefore  reserved  the  case  for  the  opinion  of  the  twelve  judges,  who, 
upon  solemn  argument,  confirmed  the  sentence  against  the  son,  but  at  the 
same  time  adjudged  the  indictment  against  the  mother  to  be  bad  ;  and  the 
poor  youth  received  sentence  of  death.  He  was  three  times  reprieved; 
from  which  he  hoped,  and  the  world  flattered  him  with  an  opinion,  that 
his  pardon  would  ultimately  follow  ;  but  an  order  at  length  came  for  his 
execution,  and  although  he  was  in  a  state  of  insanity  at  the  time,  brought 
on  by  the  cruel  suspense  in  which  he  had  been  kept  as  to  his  fate,  he  was 
executed  at  Nortliampton  on  the  17th  of  August,  1789,  aged  only  nineteen 
years. 


THOMAS  PHIPPS,  ESQ.  THE  ELDER,  AND  THOMAS 
PHIPPS,  THE  YOUNGER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

These  malefactors  were  father  and  son ;  and  their  final  exit  from  this 
life  was  attended  by  circumstances  of  the  most  heart-rending  and  melan- 
choly description.  The  father  was  a  man  of  good  property,  and  lived  on 
his  own  estate  at  Llwyney  Mapsis,  in  Shropshire ;  and  he  and  his  son  were 
indicted  for  uttering  a  note  of  hand  for  twenty  pounds,  purporting  to  be 
that  of  Mr.  Richard  Coleman  of  Oswestry,  knowing  the  same  to  have  been 
forged. 

It  was  proved  on  their  trial  that  Mr.  Coleman  never  had  had  any  trans- 
actions with  Mr.  Pliipps  tliat  required  the  signing  of  any  note  whatever; 
that  about  the  Chris>tnias  before,  Mr.  Coleman  was  served  with  a  copy  of  a 
writ  at  the  suit  of  Mr.  Phipps  the  elder,  which  action  ]\Ir.  Coleman 
defended,  and  for  want  of  further  proceedings  on  the  part  of  the  plaintiff, 
arion pros,  was  signed,  with  two  pounds  three  shillings  costs  of  suit  against 
Phipps.  Upon  this  an  aftidavit  was  drawn  up  and  sworn  by  Phipps  the 
elder,  Phipps  the  younger,  and  William  Thomas,  their  clerk,  for  the 
purpose  of  moving  the  Court  of  Exchequer  to  set  aside  the  judgment  of  non 
pros,  and  therein  they  svtore  that  the  cause  of  action  was  a  note  of  the  said 
Coleman's  for  twenty  pounds,  which  was  given  as  satisfaction  for  a  trespass 
bv  him  committed  in  carrying  some  hay  ofi"the  land  of  one  of  JNIr.  Phippe 
;{ie  elder  s  tenants. 

The  Court  thereupon  granted  a  rule  to  show  cause  why  the  judgment 


320  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

should  not  be  set  aside  ;  but  Mr.  Coleman  insisting  that  tlie  note  was  a 
forgery,  the  present  prosecution  was  instituted  against  the  father,  son,  and 
Thomas. 

After  a  full  hearing  at  the  assizes  at  Shrewsbury,  the  father  and  son 
were  pronoimced  "  Guilty  of  uttering  and  publishing  the  note,  knowing  it 
to  be  forged  ;"  and  William  Thomas  was  found  "  Not  Guilty." 

Though  convicted  on  the  fullest  evidence,  the  unhappy  men,  until  the 
morning  ()f  their  execution,  persisted  in  their  innocence  ;  but  when  about  to 
leave  the  jail,  young  Phipps  made  the  following  confession  :  "  It  was  I 
alone  who  committed  the  forgery  :  my  father  is  entirely  innocent,  and  was 
ignorant  of  the  note  being  forged  when  he  published  it." 

They  were  taken  in  a  mourning-coach  to  the  place  of  execution,  accom- 
panied by  a  clergyman  and  a  friend  who  attended  them  daily  after  their 
condemnation. 

On  their  way  to  the  fatal  tree  the  father  said  to  the  son,  "  Tommy, 
thou  hast  brought  me  to  this  shameful  end,  but  I  freely  forgive  thee  ;" 
to  which  the  sou  made  no  reply.  It  being  remarkably  wet  weather,  theii* 
devotions  were  chiefly  performed  in  the  coach.  Whea  the  awful  moment 
arrived,  Mr.  Phipps  said  to  his  son,  "  You  have  brought  me  hither  ;  do 
you  h-ad  the  way ! "  which  the  youth  immediately  did,  and  in  the  most 
composed  manner  ascended  the  ladder  to  a  temporary  scaffold  erected  for 
the  purpose  of  their  execution,  followed  by  his  father. 

When  th'.'"r  devotions  were  finished,  and  the  halters  tied  to  the  gaUows, 
this  most  wretched  father  and  son  embraced  each  other,  and  in  a  few 
moments  the  scaffold  fell,  and  they  were  hand-in-hand  launched  into  eter- 
nity, September  the  5th  1789,  amid  avast  concourse  of  pitying  spectators 

The  father  was  forty-eight,  and  the  son  just  twenty  years  of  age. 


RENWICK  WILLIAMS,  COIMMONLY  CALLED  "  THE 
MONSTER." 

IMPRISONED    FOR    A    BRUTAL    AND    WANTON    ASSAULT    OX    A    FEMALE. 

The  mind  is  utterly  at  a  loss  to  conceive  any  reason  which  could  urge 
this  unnatural  brute  to  the  commission  of  the  crimes  which  upon  his  trial 
were  distinctly  proved  against  him.  The  offence  of  which  he  was  found 
guilty  was  that  of  making  a  most  wanton  and  unmanly  attack  upon  an 
unprotected  female,  upon  whom  he  inflicted  a  very  severe  wound,  no 
provocation  whatever  having  been  offered  to  him.  For  a  considerable 
time  before  the  apprehension  of  this  offender,  a  report  was  very  generally 
prevalent  that  many  young  and  respectable  females  had  been  privately  and 
suddenly  wounded  in  various  parts  of  their  person  while  walking  through 
the  streets,  in  some  cases  in  open  day,  by  a  villain,  who  invariably 
succeeded  in  making  his  escape.  Sometimes  it  was  reported  that  the 
wound  was  given  at  a  time  when  the  man  approached  the  lady  for  the 
purpose  of  presentmg  a  nosegay  to  her  ;  and  it  was  said  that,  holding  the 
flowers  to  her  nose,  he  would  stab  her  in  the  face  with  a  sharp  instrument 
which  was  concealed  among  their  stems ;  while  at  others  it  was  said  that 
the  wound  was  given  in  the  thigh,  behind,  or  in  private  parts  of  the  person, 
so  that  occasionally  the  most  serious  injury  was  inflicted ;  and  an  alnio&t 
universal  terror  prevailed. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  321 

At  length  a  man  named  Renwick  "Williams  was  apprehended,  who  waa 
distinctly  sworn  to  by  a  Miss  Porter,  npon  whom  he  had  inflicted  a  wound  ; 
and  at  the  sessions  held  on  the  18th  of  July  1790,  he  was  put  on  his  trial 
at  the  Old  Bailey  for  the  offence  alleged  against  him. 

The  indictment  charged  that  the  prisoner,  on  the  18th  of  January,  with 
force  and  arms,  in  the  parish  of  St.  James,  on  the  King's  higliway  upon 
Anne  Porter  did  make  an  assault ;  and  that  he  did  unlawfully,  wilfully, 
and  maliciously  inflict  upon  her  a  certain  wound,  &c.  against  the  peace.  A 
second  count  charged  the  said  Renwick  Williams,  that  on  tlie  same  day 
and  year  he  did  unlawfully,  wilfully,  and  maliciously  tear,  spoil,  cut,  and 
deface  the  garments  and  clothes — to  wit,  the  cloak,  gown,  petticoat,  and 
shift  of  the  said  Anne  Porter,  contrary  to  the  statute,  and  against  the 
peace,  &c, 

]\Iiss  Anne  Porter  deposed  that  she  had  been  at  St.  James's  to  see  the 
ball  on  the  night  of  the  18th  of  January  1790,  accompanied  by  her  sister, 
Miss  Sarah  Porter,  and  another  lady  ;  that  her  father  had  appointed  tu 
meet  them  at  twelve  o'clock,  the  hour  the  ball  generally  breaks  up  ;  but 
that  it  ended  at  eleven,  and  she  was  therefore  under  the  necessity  either  of 
staying  where  she  was,  until  her  father  came,  or  of  returning  home  at  that 
time.  Her  father,  she  said,  lived  in  St.  James's-street,  and  kept  a  tavern 
and  a  cold  bath  there ;  and  as  it  was  not  far,  she  agreed  to  go  home 
with  her  party.  A.S  they  proceeded  up  St.  James's-street  her  sister 
appeared  much  agitated,  and  called  to  her  to  hasten  home,  which  she  and 
her  company  accordingly  did.  Her  sister  was  the  first  to  reach  the  hall- 
door,  and  as  the  witness  turned  the  corner  of  the  rails  she  received  a 
blow  on  the  right  hip.  She  turned  round  and  saw  the  prisoner  stoon 
down  :  she  had  seen  him  before  several  times,  on  each  of  which  he  had 
followed  close  behind  her,  and  used  language  so  gross  that  the  Court  did 
not  press  on  her  to  relate  the  particulars. 

He  did  not  immediately  run  away  when  he  struck  her,  but  looked  on 
her  face,  and  she  thus  had  a  perfect  opportunity  of  observino-  him.  She 
had  no  doubt,  she  said,  of  the  prisoner  being  the  man  that  wounded  her. 
She  supposed  that  the  wound  was  inflicted  v>'ith  a  sharp  instrument, 
because  her  clothes  were  cut  and  she  was  wounded  through  them.  The 
prisoner  at  that  time  escaped  ;  but  on  the  13th  of  June,  as  she  was  walk- 
ing in  St.  James's  Park  with  her  mother  and  two  sisters,  and  a  Mr. 
Coleman,  she  saw  him  again,  and  being  agitated,  her  alarm  was  remarked, 
and  the  prisoner  was  eventually  secured  upon  her  pointing  him  out. 

The  evidence  of  Miss  Sarah  Porter,  the  sister  of  the  last  witness,  was  to  the 
same  effect.  She  stated  that  she  was  well  acquainted  with  the  prisoner's 
person,  and  that  he  had  followed  her,  and  talked  to  her  in  language  the  most 
shocking  and  obscene.  She  had  seen  him  four  or  five  different  times.  On  that 
night  when  her  sister  was  cut,  she  saw  him  standing  near  the  bottom  of 
St.  James's-street,  and  spying  her,  he  exclaimed,  "  0  ho  !  are  you  there  !  " 
and  immediately  struck  her  a  violent  blow  on  the  side  of  the  head.  She 
then,  as  well  as  she  was  able,  being  almost  stunned,  called  to  her  sister  to 
make  haste,  adding,  "  Don't  you  see  thcAvretch  behind  us?"  Upon  coming 
to  their  own  door,  the  prisoner  rushed  between  them,  and  about  the  time 
he  struck  her  sister,  he  also  rent  the  witness's  gown. 

It  was  proved  further,  that  the  prisoner,  on  his  being  pointed  out  by 
Miss  Porter,  was  followed  by  Mr.  Coleman  as  far  as  South  Molton-streei, 

VOL.  I.  T  T 


322  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

where  he  entered  a  house,  but  being  followed,  his  address  was  demaniled 
lie  for  some  time  declined  complying  with  the  request  which  was  made, 
but  eventually  said  that  he  lived  at  No.  52,  Jcrmyn-street.  Mr.  Coleman, 
however,  felt  that  he  ought  not  to  permit  him  to  escape,  and  he  tlierefore 
compelled  him  to  accompany  him  to  Miss  Porter's  house.  He  at  first 
objected  to  doing  so,  on  the  ground  of  its  being  late,  but  force  being  used, 
he  was  obliged  to  obey.  On  his  arrival,  Miss  Anne  and  Miss  Sarah  Porter 
fainted  away,  exclaiming,  '••  Oh,  my  God!  that  is  the  wretch!"  Upon  which 
the  prisoner  said,  "  The  young  ladies'  conduct  is  very  strange.  They  don't 
take  me  for  the  monster  who  is  advertised  ?"  He  was  assured,  however, 
that  he  was  known  to  be  that  person ;  and  he  was  then  conveyed  in  cus- 
tody before  the  magistrates,  by  whom  he  was  committed  for  trial.  It  was 
also  proved  that  the  wound  which  had  been  inflicted  on  Miss  Porter  was 
of  a  very  serious  description.  It  was  at  the  beginning,  and  for  two  or 
three  inches,  only  skin  deep,  but  then  it  suddenly  sunk  to  the  depth  of 
four  inches,  gradually  becommg  more  shallow  towards  the  end.  Its  length 
from  the  hip  downwards  was  nine  or  ten  inches. 

The  prisoner,  being  called  upon  for  his  defence,  begged  the  indulgence 
of  the  Court,  in  supplying  the  deficiency  of  his  memory  upon  what  he 
wished  to  state  from  a  written  paper.     He  accordingly  read  as  follows  : — 

"  He  stood,"  he  said,  "  an  object  equally  demanding  the  attention  and 
compassion  of  the  Court.  That,  conscious  of  his  innocence,  he  was  ready 
to  admit  the  justice  of  whatever  sufferings  he  had  hitherto  undergone, 
arisino-  from  suspicion.  He  had  the  greatest  confidence  in  the  justice  and 
liberality  of  an  English  jury  ;  and  hoped  they  would  not  suffer  his  fate  to 
be  decided  by  the  popular  prejudice  raised  against  him.  The  hope  of 
proving  his  innocence  had  hitherto  sustained  him. 

"  He  professed  himself  the  warm  friend  and  admirer  of  that  sex  whose 
cause  was  now  asserted  ;  and  concluded  with  solemnly  declaring  that  the 
whole  prosecution  was  founded  on  a  dreadful  mistake,  which  he  had  no 
doubt  the  evidence  he  was  about  to  call  would  clear  up  to  the  satisfaction 
of  the  Court." 

He  then  called  two  witnesses,  who  gave  him  a  good  character ;  and 
who  stated  that  he  was  at  work  for  his  master,  Mr.  Mitchell,  an  artificial 
flower  maker,  in  Dover-street,  Piccadilly,  up  to  the  hour  of  one  o'clock 
on  the  night  in  question. 

Mr.  Justice  Buller  summed  up  the  case  to  the  jury.  Having  com- 
mented upon  the  evidence  which  had  been  produced,  he  said  that  he 
should  reserve  the  case  for  the  opinion  of  the  twelve  judges,  for  several 
reasons :  first,  because  this  was  completely  and  perfectly  a  new  case  in 
itself;  and  secondly,  because  this  was  tlie  first  indictment  of  the  kind  that 
was  ever  tried.  Therefore,  although  he  himself  entertained  but  little  doubt 
upon  the  first  point,  yet,  as  the  case  was  new,  it  would  be  right  to  have  a 
solemn  decision  upon  it.  Upon  the  second  point  he  owned  that  he  enter- 
tained some  doubts.  This  indictment  was  certainly  the  first  of  the  kind 
that  was  ever  drawn  in  this  kingdom.  It  was  founded  upon  the  statute 
of  the  6th  George  I.  Upon  this  statute  it  must  be  proved  that  it  was  the 
intent  of  the  party  accused,  not  only  to  wound  the  body,  but  also  cut,  tear, 
and  spoil  the  garment : — one  part  of  this  charge  was  quite  clear,  namely, 
that  Miss  Porter  was  wounded,  and  her  clothes  torn  The  first  question, 
therefore,  for  the  consideration  of  the  jury  would  be,  whether  this  was 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR,  323 

done  wilfully,  and  with  intent  to  spoil  the  garment,  as  well  as  to  wound 
the  body.  That  was  a  fiict  for  the  jury  to  decide ;  and  if  they  agreed 
upon  tliis,  then,  whether  the  prisoner  was  the  man  who  did  it.  It  should 
be  observed,  that  here  tliere  was  a  wound  given,  with  an  instrument  that 
was  not  calculated  solely  for  tlie  purpose  of  affecting  the  body,  such,  for 
instance,  as  piercing  or  stabbing,  by  making  a  hole;  but  here  was  an 
actual  cutting,  and  the  wound  was  of  a  very  considerable  length,  and  so 
was  the  rent  in  tlie  clothes.  It  was  for  the  jury  to  decide  whether,  as 
both  body  and  clothes  were  cut,  he  w^ho  intended  the  end  did  not  also 
intend  the  means.  He  left  it  to  the  jury  to  say,  upon  the  whole  case, 
whether  the  prisoner  was  guilty  or  innocent. 

The  jury  immediately,  without  hesitation,  found  the  prisoner  guilty. 

Mr.  Justice  BuUer  then  ordered  the  judgment  in  this  case  to  be  arrested, 
and  the  recognizances  of  the  persons  bound  to  prosecute  to  be  respited  until 
the  December  sessions. 

At  the  commencement  of  the  sessions  at  the  Old  Bailey,  on  the  10th 
of  December  1790,  Judge  Ashurst  addressed  the  prisoner  nearly  in  the 
following  terms  • — "  You  have  been  capitally  convicted,  under  the  statute 
6  George  I.,  of  maliciously  tearing,  cutting,  spoiling,  and  defacing  the  gar- 
ments of  Anne  Porter,  on  the  .  8th  of  January  last.  Judgment  has  been 
arrested  on  two  points, — one  that  the  indictment  is  informal,  the  other 
that  the  statute  does  not  reach  the  crime.  Upon  solemn  consideration, 
the  judges  are  of  opinion  that  botli  the  objections  are  well  founded  :  but, 
although  you  are  discharged  from  this  indictment,  yet  you  are  within  the 
purview  of  the  common  law.  You  are  therefore  to  be  remanded  to  be 
tried  for  a  misdemeanor." 

He  was  accordingly,  on  the  IDth  of  the  same  month,  tried  at  Hicks's 
Hall  for  the  misdemeanor,  in  making  an  assault  on  Miss  Anne  Porter, 

The  trial  lasted  sixteen  hours  :  there  were  three  counts  in  the  indict- 
ment ;  viz.  for  assaulting  with  intent  to  kill,  for  assaulting  and  wounding, 
and  for  a  common  assault. 

Tlie  same  witnesses  were  then  called  in  support  of  the  charge  as  appeared 
on  the  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey ;  and  they  gave  very  clear,  correct,  and 
circumstantial  evidence,  positively  swearing  to  the  person  of  the  prisoner. 

The  prisoner  produced  two  witnesses.  Miss  Amet  and  Mr.  Mitchell, 
who  attempted  to  prove  an  alibi,  and  the  credit  of  their  testimony  was 
not  impeached  by  any  contradiction.  The  question  therefore  was,  to 
which  the  jury  would  give  credit ;  fur  the  evidence  on  both  sides  was 
equally  fair  and  unexceptionable,  and  the  prisoner  was  acquitted. 

The  prisoner  was  again  put  to  the  bar  at  ten  o'clock  the  next  morning, 
and  tried  on  the  remaining  indictments,  on  three  of  which  he  was  found 
guilty  ;  when  tlie  Court  sentenced  him  to  two  years'  imprisonment  in  New- 
gate for  each,  and  at  the  expiration  of  the  time  to  find  security  for  his 
good  behaviour,  himself  in  two  hundred  pounds,  and  two  sureties  in  one 
hundred  pounds  each. 


324  THE    iNEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

EDWARD  LOWE  AND  WILLIAM  JOBBIN& 

EXECUTED    FOR    ARSON. 

These  prisoners  were  indicted  at  the  Old  Bailey  sessions  for  feloniousiy 
setting  fire  to  the  house  of  Francis  Gilding,  in  Aldersgate-street,  on  the 
16th  of  May  1790. 

From  the  evidence  of  the  apprentice  of  Mr.  Gilding,  wlio  was  an  accom- 
plice in  the  wicked  deed,  it  appeared  that  he  was  acquainted  with  the 
two  prisoners,  who  were  persons  of  l)ad  character ;  and  that  it  was  deter- 
mined among  tliem  that  Mr.  Gilding's  house,  whicli  was  the  Red  Lion 
Inn,  should  be  set  on  fire,  in  order  that  they  might  plunder  it.  Accord- 
ingly at  about  twelve  o'clock  on  the  night  of  Saturday,  16th  May,  they 
met  in  the  inn-yard,  and  Lowe  got  up  into  the  hay- loft,  and  placing  some 
combustibles  there,  set  them  alight  with  a  pipe,  which  he  was  smoking. 
The  fire  soon  blazed  out,  and  the  prisoners  were  very  active  in  carrying 
off  the  goods,  which  they  took  away  in  a  cart.  The  witness  was  in  the 
act  of  carrying  away  a  chest  of  drawers  when  he  was  stopped  by  Lucie, 
a  constable,  upon  whose  evidence  he  was  convicted.  He  subsequently, 
however,  on  condition  of  his  being  pardoned,  consented  to  give  evidence 
against  the  prisoners.  This  testimony  being  confirmed  by  that  of  other 
witnesses,  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  against  the  prisoners,  and 
on  the  2nd  November  they  were  brought  up  to  receive  judgment.  The 
learned  Recorder  then  addressed  them  in  the  following  terms  :  "  I  hardly 
know  how  to  find  words  to  express  the  abhorrence  that  I  feel,  or  that  the 
public  entertains,  of  the  crime  of  which  you  stand  convicted. — The  setting- 
fire  to  houses  in  the  dead  of  night,  for  the  purpose  of  plunder,  at  the  risk 
of  the  lives  of  the  inhabitants  of  a  great  city,  is  a  crime  not  yet  to  be  met 
with  upon  the  records  of  villany  that  have  been  brought  forward  in  this 
court.  As  the  crime  is  singular,  so  the  punishment  must  be  marked;  I 
take  it  it  will  be  so  marked,  and  hope  the  example  will  be  such,  that,  if 
there  should  be  left  any  persons  of  the  same  wicked  intentions,  they  will 
take  example  from  your  fate.  As  your  crime  is  singular  and  novel,  I 
hope  it  will  be  the  only  one  brought  into  this  court  of  the  same  descrip- 
tion. You  therefore  must  prepare  to  die,  and  consider  yourselves  as  men 
without  hope  in  this  world. — And,  give  me  leave  to  assure  you,  that  it  is 
my  decided  opinion  that,  for  an  offence  so  very  atrocious  as  yours,  you 
can  never  expect  salvation  in  the  world  to  come,  unless  you  will  make 
some  reparation  to  your  injured  country,  and  to  God,  whom  you  have 
offended,  by  a  sincere  confession  of  all  the  offences  of  which  you  have  been 
guilty,  and  by  a  disclosure  of  tlie  names  of  all  persons  who  either  have 
engaged,  or  are  about  to  engage  in  crimes  so  detestable  as  that  of  which 
you  stand  convicted  ; — -nothing  therefore  remains,  but  that  I  should  pray 
to  Almighty  God,  and  it  is  now  my  earnest  prayer  to  Him,  that  you  may 
all  obtain  forgiveness  and  remission  of  your  sins." 

On  tlie  morning  of  the  20th  of  November  these  incendiaries  were  brought 
out  of  Newgate,  and  placed  on  a  high  seat,  which  had  been  fixed  in  the 
cart  to  render  them  more  conspicuous  to  the  spectators.  They  were  then 
conveyed,  attended  by  the  Sheriffs  and  other  City  ofiicers,  to  Aldersgate- 
street,  where  a  temporary  gallows  was  erected  opposite  the  spot  where 
stood  the  house  of  Mr  Gilding,  to  which  tliey  had  set  fire.     They  arrired 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALEXDAK.  325 

at  fhe  fatal  tree  about  a  quarter  before  nine  o'clock,  when  Mr.  Villette,  the 
Ordinary,  went  into  the  cart,  and  prayed  with  them  for  about  twenty 
minutes,  after  wliich  tliey  were  turned  off.  They  both  confessed  to  ]\Ir. 
Villette  the  facts  for  which  they  had  so  justly  suffered. 

Jobbing  had  been  educated  at  St.  Paul's  school,  was  bred  a  suro-eon,  and 
was  only  nineteen  years  of  age  when  he  suffered.  Lowe  was  about  twenty- 
three  years  of  age. 

A  boy  named  I\Iead  was  on  the  31st  August  in  the  ensuing  year  exe- 
cuted for  a  similar  offence  in  firing  the  house  of  his  master,  Mr.  '\T alter 
Cavardine,  a  publican,  in  Red  Lion-street. 


JOSEPH  WOOD  AND  THOMAS  UNDERWOOD, 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

The  whole  parties  in  this  case  maybe  literally  called  children  the  male- 
factors being  but  fourteen  years  of  age  each;  and  the  prosecutor  no  more 
than  twelve ! 

Though  of  this  tender  age,  yet  were  they  convicted  as  old  and  darinw 
depredators.  So  often  had  they  already  been  arraigned  at  that  bar  where 
they  were  condemned,  that  the  judge  declared,  notwithstanding  their  ap- 
pearance, (they  were  short,  dirty,  ill-visaged  boys,)  it  was  necessary,  for 
the  public  safety,  to  cut  tliem  off,  in  order  that  other  boys  might  learn 
that,  inured  to  wickedness,  their  tender  age  would  not  save  them  from  an 
ignominious  fate. 

The  crime  for  which  they  suffered  was  committed  with  every  circum- 
stance of  barbarity.  They  forcibly  took  away  a  bundle,  containing  a 
jacket,  shirt,  and  waistcoat,  from  a  little  boy,  and  then  fell  upon  him,  and 
would  probably  have  murdered  him,  had  they  not  been  secured.  They 
had  long  belonged  to  a  most  desperate  gang  of  pickpockets  and  footpads; 
but  so  hardened  and  obstinate  were  they,  that  they  would  not  impeach 
their  companions,  though  the  hopes  of  mercy  were  held  out  to  them  on 
making  a  confession,  so  that  the  villains  might  have  been  apprehended. 

They  were  executed  at  Newgate,  July  6th,  1791,  apparently  insensible 
of  their  dreadful  situation. 


WILLIAM  GADESBY, 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

In  recording  the  case  of  this  culprit,  a  Scotch  newspaper  says,  "  He  was 
one  of  the  most  notorious  villains  that  has  figured  in  the  line  ofroo-uery  in 
this  country  for  many  years;  and  though  only  twenty-eight  years  of  affe, 
his  criminal  exploits  appear,  both  in  variety  and  number,  to  equal,  if  not  to 
exceed,  the  achievements  of  the  most  dextrous  and  ^ey-headed  offender  '" 

As  this  fellow  lived,  so  he  determined  to  die — with  notoriety. 

He  was  brought  to  the  gallows  at  Edinburgh,  February  the  20th,  1791^ 
dressed  in  a  suit  of  white  cloth,  trimmed  with  black.  The  awful  ceremouy, 
tlie  dreadful  apparatus  of  death,  the  surrounding  multitude  of  spectators. 
ajipcared  not  to  shake  his  frame,  nor  to  agitate  his  mind.     He  mounted 


V26  THE    NICW    NEV.OATE    CALKMJAB. 

the  platform  of  death  witli  a  firm  step,  and  stood  with  great  composura 
till  the  apparatus  was  adjust^i'd;  and  then,  in  a  collected  manner,  and  in  an 
audible  voice,  gave  a  brief  account  of  his  life. 

lie  said  that  the  first  robbery  he  committed  was  in  a  stationer's  shop, 
where  he  purloined  a  pocket-book.  The  success  of  this  cliildish  theft  en- 
couraged him  to  commit  others:  and  in  a  short  time  he  gave  himself  wholly 
lip  to  thieving,  never  letting  an  opportunity  slip  of  possessing  himself  of 
money  or  goods,  by  fraud  or  force,  until  the  day  he  was  committed  to  jail. 
He  said  that  he  often  escaped  in  hackney- chairs,  and  advised  the  officer  on 
guard  at  the  Castle  to  search  all  such  vehicles. 

He  declared  most  solemnly  tliat  three  miserable  men,  who  had  been 
executed  two  years  before  at  the  place  where  he  then  stood,  of  the  names 
of  Falconer,  Bruce,  and  Dick,  were  innocent,  for  that  he  himself  had  com- 
mitted the  robberies  for  \\hich  they  were  condemned ! 

With  exultation  he  continued  to  say — that  tlie  sums  he  had  acquired  by 
thieving  and  cheating  did  not  amount  to  less  than  two  thousand  pounds, 
besides  the  fortune  of  an  unhappy  woman  whom  he  seduced  and  ruined. 
It  was  high  time  to  stop  the  monster's  speech,  and  the  platform  was  there- 
fore dropped,  while  yet  he  was  exulting  in  his  sins! 

"  Scotland,"  says  the  paper  from  which  we  extract  this  unparalleled  case, 
"  seems  to  be  in  an  improving  state:  the  following  ingenious  contrivance 
was  lately  practised  at  Glasgow: — While  a  merchant  in  King-street  was 
counting  some  money  and  bank-notes  on  a  counter,  a  staff  or  small  rod, 
overlaid  with  birdlime,  was  suddenly  thrust  in  at  the  door,  which  having 
touched  the  notes,  two  of  them  were  thereby  carried  off;  and,  before  the 
merchant  could  pursue,  the  ingenious  actor  had  made  his  escape.  " 


THE  BIRMINGHAM  RIOTS. 

These  riots  were  of  a  nature  very  similar  to  those  which  broke  out  in 
London  in  the  year  1780.  The  outbreak  appears  to  have  been  occasioned 
bv  no  immediate  cause,  but  rather  by  a  general  feeling  of  discontent  wl)ich 
pervaded  the  minds  of  the  people  in  this  great  manufacturing  town,  aided 
by  the  celebration  of  the  anniversary  of  the  French  Revolution,  and  a 
seditious  hand-bill,  which,  had  been  previously  circulated. 

The  riot  was  commenced  by  an  attack  being  made  upon  a  tavern,  in  Temple- 
lane,  in  which  eighty  or  ninety  persons  had  sat  down  to  a  dinner  provided 
on  Thursday,  the  14th  July  1791,  in  order  to  celebrate  the  event  referred 
to,  when,  notwithstanding  the  personal  interference  of  the  magistrates,  the 
windows  in  front  of  the  house  were  demolished,  and  many  of  the  company 
were  assaulted.  The  popular  anger  being  thus  excited,  tlie  mob  proceeded 
to  destroy  Dr.  Priestley's  meeting-house,  and  the  old  meeting-house,  the 
first  of  which  they  set  on  fire,  while  they  contented  themselves  with  burn- 
ing the  furniture  of  the  latter  in  the  burial-ground.  Dr.  Priestley's  house 
at  Fair  Hill,  together  with  his  valuable  collection  of  apparatus  for  philoso- 
phical experiments,  was  also  destroyed,  and  the  mob  then  dispersed  for  the 
night.  On  the  next  morning,  however,  they  again  assembled,  and  being 
unopposed  by  any  civil  or  military  force,  they  proceeded  to  the  commission 
of  new  outrages.  INIany  were  armed  with  bludgeons  and  weapons  of 
oftcuce,  and  shouting  "  Church  and  King,"  they  attacked  tlie  houses  of  all 


THK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  33^ 

who  were  obnoxious  to  thom,  or  opposed  to  the  principles  whicli  tliey  pro- 
fessed. Tlie  mansion  of  Mr.  John  llyland,  at  Easy  Hill,  was  the  first  ob- 
iect  to  which  they  directed  their  fury,  but  many  of  them  having  got  into 
the  cellars,  got  so  drunk  with  the  wine  which  they  found  thei-e,  as  to  be 
unable  to  effect  their  escape,  while  their  associates  without,  unmindful  of 
their  safety,  set  fire  to  the  house,  and  they  were  buried  beneath  its  ruins. 

Bordesley  Hall,  the  residence  of  John  Taylor,  Esq.,  shared  a  similar  fate, 
tl)e  mob  refusing  to  listen  to  any  proposition  to  induce  them  to  retire ;  and 
on  the  same  night  the  house  of  Mr.  Hutton  in  the  town  was  completely 
stripped.  A  number  of  special  constables  were  in  the  mean  time  sworn  in, 
and  attacked  the  mob  with  some  determination  ;  but  beino-  far  inferior  in 
numbers,  and  quite  undisciplined,  they  were  compelled  to  f^t're.  Satur- 
day only  dawned  to  exhibit  fresh  ravages;  Mr.  Hutton's  house  at  Wash- 
wood  Heath,  three  miles  from  the  town,  Mr.  Humphery's  mansion  at 
Spark  Brook,  Mr.  W.  Russell's  house  at  Shewell  Green,  Mr.  T.  Hawkes's 
house  at  Moseley  Wake  Green,  and  Moseley  Hall,  the  seat  of  tlie  Dowager 
Countess  of  Carhampton,  were  in  turn  attacked,  and  were  all  in  flames  at 
.he  same  time.  Business  was  brought  to  a  stand,  and  no  militaiy  force 
arriving,  the  mob  continued  their  acts  of  lawless  atrocity  undisturbed.  At 
night  many  of  them  levied  contributions  from  the  inhabitants  of  the  town 
of  meat  and  money,  and  on  the  following  day  they  pursued  the  same  course 
in  the  outskirts  in  reference  to  all  persons  they  met.  The  Sabbath  even 
did  not  restrain  them  in  tlieir  diabolical  proceedings,  for  on  that  day  they 
burned  two  dissenting  meeting-houses,  and  the  ministers'  dwellings,  situ- 
ated at  about  six  miles  from  Birmingham. 

At  night,  soon  after  ten  o'clock,  three  troops  of  the  15th  Light  Dragoons 
arrived  amid  the  acclamations  of  the  inhabitants,  whose  hopes  and  fears 
had  been  depicted  through  the  day  in  every  countenance,  as  reports  of  the 
near  approach  of  the  soldiery  were  spread  and  contradicted.  The  town  was 
immediately  illuminated,  and  before  morning  every  thing  was  tolerably 
quiet;  but  the  rioters  were  still  continuing  theii-  depredations  in  the  coun- 
try. They  exhausted  the  cellars  at  each  place,  and  received  various  sums 
of  money  to  prevent  their  j^roceeding  to  further  violence. 

They  were  in  great  force  at  the  time  the  troops  arrived,  of  which  they 
no  sooner  had  intimation  than  they  began  to  slink  off  in  small  parties; 
and  the  peasantry,  taking  courage,  put  the  rest  to  flight  in  various 
directions. 

On  Monday  the  town  appeared  in  perfect  security,  but  as  much 
crowded  as  during  the  three  preceding  days,  in  viewing  the  military;  the 
mob  keeping  at  such  a  distance  as  to  render  all  accounts  of  them  dubious; 
at  one  time  being  said  to  be  at  Alcester,  the  next  hour  at  Bromsgrove,  &c. 

On  Tuesday  there  were  flying  rumours  of  depredations  near  Hagley, 
Hales  Owen,  &c.;  and  in  the  evening  certain  information  was  received  that 
a  party  of  rioters  were  then  attacking  Mr.  JMale's,  of  Belle  Vue.  A  few 
of  the  Light  Dragoons  immediately  went  to  his  assistance ;  but  the  rioters 
had  been  previously  overpowered  by  a  body  of  people  in  that  neighbour 
hood,  and  ten  of  them  were  confined  at  Hales  (>wen. 

On  Wednesday  morning  the  country  round,  for  ten  miles,  was   scoured 
by  the  light  horse,  but  not  one  rioter  was  to  be  met  with,  and  all  the  ma 
nufactories  were  at  work,  as  if  no  interruption   had  taken  place.     Three 
trcops  of  the  11th  Light  Dragoons  marched  in  this  morning,  and  more  sol- 


328  THE    NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR. 

diers  soon  after  making  their  appearance,  the  whole  neighbourhood  wag 
soon  restored  to  tranquiUity. 

At  the  ensuing  assizes  lield  at  Warwick  on  the  22d  August,  a  great 
number  of  tlie  persons  concerned  in  these  outrages  were  put  upon  their 
trial,  before  ^Ir.  Baron  Perryn.  They  were  indicted  under  the  Black  Act, 
and  although  in  several  casts  the  jury  appear  to  liave  acted  in  a  manner 
somewhat  extraordinary,  in  declaring  the  prisoners  not  guilty,  many  were 
convicted  and  received  sentence  of  death.  T>vo  of  them,  however,  were 
pardoned,  but  the  remainder  expiated  their  offences  on  the  scaffold. 


THE  MUTINY  OF  THE  BOUNTY. 

The  case  of  the  mutineers  of  the  Bounty  has  always  attracted  consider- 
nble  attention.  The  Bounty  was  an  armed  vessel,  commanded  by  Capt. 
Bligh,  which  quitted  England  in  the  autumn  of  1789,  for  the  purpose  of 
makinof  discoveries,  and  of  trading  among  the  Southern  Islands  ;  and 
having  visited  the  Friendly  and  the  Otaheitan  Islands  in  the  Smth  Pacific 
Ocean,  in  the  month  of  ]\Iay  1790,  she  set  sail  on  her  way  back  to  England. 
On  the  27th  of  tliat  month  they  lost  sight  of  land  ;  and  up  to  that  time 
there  had  been  nothing  in  the  conduct  of  the  crew  or  petty  officers  which 
could  induce  a  supposition  that  any  disorder  was  likely  to  take  place.  The 
mid  watch  was  duly  relieved  ;  but  at  daybreak  on  the  following  morning 
the  cabin  of  the  captain  was  forcibly  entered  by  the  officer  of  the  watch, 
Fletcher  Christian,  who  held  the  rank  of  master's  mate,  and  who  had 
previously  been  considered  a  good  and  faithful  seaman,  aided  by  three 
others,  who  drac^ged  their  commander  on  deck,  threatening  instant  death  if 
he  dared  to  speak.  Tlie  captain  exerted  all  his  eloquence  to  bring  back 
the  mutineers  to  their  duty,  but  his  exertions  were  of  no  avail,  and  he  soon 
afterwards  found  the  peaceful  part  of  the  crew  and  the  officer*  brought 
upon  deck  and  pinioned.  The  mutineers  told  them  that  they  need  hope 
for  no  escape  by  employing  violence,  for  that  all  the  muskets  were  charged  ; 
and  they  corroborated  their  assertions  by  exhibiting  an  armed  body  of 
their  own  Dumber  with  muskets  and  fixed  bayonets.  The  captain  at  once 
perceived  that  he  was  in  the  power  of  his  men ;  and  his  doubts  as  to 
his  fate  were  speedily  put  an  end  to  by  his  seeing  the  long-boat  lowered 
over  the  side,  which  he  and  his  fellows,  to  the  number  of  eighteen,  were 
commanded  to  enter,no  other  nourishment  being  afforded  them  but  about  one 
hundred  and  forty  pounds  of  bread,  thirtypoundsof  meat,a  gallon  and  a  half 
of  rum,  an  equal  quantity  of  wine,  and  a  few  gallons  of  water.  A  compass 
and  quadrant  were  seized  by  the  captain  as  his  imfortunate  companions 
were  entering  the  boat ;  and  as  soon  as  he  had  taken  his  place,  the  muti- 
neers gave  three  cheers,  and  stood  away,  as  they  said,  for  Otaheite. 

Captain  Bligh  on  taking  muster  of  the  remains  of  his  crew  left  to  him, 
found  that  he  had  in  his  boat  the  boatswain,  the  carpenter,  the  gunner,  the 
surgeon's-mate,  two  midshipmen,  and  one  master's -mate,  with  ]\Ir.  Nelson 
the  botanist,  and  a  few  inferior  officers.  After  a  short  consultation,  it  was 
deemed  expedient  to  put  back  to  the  Friendly  Islands  ;  and  having  reached 
the  coast  of  one  of  them,  they  landed,  in  hopes  of  improving  their  stock  of 
provisions.  For  several  days  they  continued  unmolested  ;  but  at  length, 
on  the  30th  of  April,  they  were  attacked  by  the  natives  with  such  violeni-* 


.'^^^53r~^ 


^A-ey.yflu/i/ny^  c/ ym^y^Sou/^t^i 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  323 

that  one  man  was  killed,  and  several  wounded.  They  were,  therefore,, 
compelled  immediately  to  sheer  off;  and  it  became  now  the  subject  of 
inquiry  and  deliberation  as  to  what  should  be  their  next  place  of  destination. 
Otaheite  was  proposed,  as  it  was  supposed  that  the  natives  would  be 
friendly  to  them  ;  but  the  apprehension  of  falling  in  Avith  the  Bounty 
determined  them  against  this  course  ;  and  with  one  assent  they  made  up 
their  minds  to  shape  their  course  for  Timor,  a  settlement  belonging  to  the 
Dutch. 

To  effect  this  enterprise  they  were  compelled  to  calculate  the  distance 
with  a  view  to  the  apportionment  of  their  provisions  ;  and  having  disco- 
vered that  it  was  near  four  thousand  miles,  they  agreed  that  their  rations 
should  hot  exceed  an  ounce  of  bread  and  a  gill  of  water  a  day  for  each 
man.  Upon  this  scanty  allowance  they  subsisted  without  any  other  nourish- 
ment until  the  6th  of  June,  when  they  made  the  coast  of  New  Holland, 
and  collected  a  few  shell-fish  ;  and  with  this  small  relief  they  held  on 
their  way  to  Timor,  which  they  reached  on  the  12th,  after  being  forty-six 
days  in  a  crazy  open  boat,  so  confined  in  its  dimensions  as  to  prevent  any 
of  them  lying  down  for  repose,  and  without  the  least  awning  to  protect 
them  from  the  rain,  which  fell  almost  incessantly  for  forty  days  ;  a  heavy 
sea  and  squally  weather  augmenting  their  misery  during  a  considerable 
j)art  of  the  time. 

On  their  reaching  Timor,  they  received  every  assistance  from  the  gover- 
nor; and  having  remained  until  the  20th  of  August  to  recruit  their 
strength,  they  procured  a  vessel,  in  which  they  took  their  passage  to 
Batavia.  They  reached  that  port  on  the  2nd  of  October,  and  from  thence 
they  immediately  embarked  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  Captain  Bligh 
quitted  the  Cape  in  tlie  month  of  December,  and  having  reached  England, 
he  communicated  the  particulars  of  tlie  mutiny  to  the  Admiralty,  and 
H.  M.  S.  the  Pandora  was  immediately  despatched  in  search  of  the 
mutineers. 

It  was  not  until  the  25th  of  April  1792,  that  despatches  were  received 
from  Captain  Edwards,  stating  that  on  the  Pandora  appearing  off  Otaheite, 
two  men  swam  from  the  shore,  and  solicited  to  be  taken  on  board.  They 
proved  to  be  two  of  the  Bounty's  mutineeirs,  and  gave  intelligence  where 
fourteen  of  their  companions  were  concealed  on  the  island.  A  part  of  the 
Pandora's  crew  were  sent  in  search  of  them  ;  and  after  some  resistance 
they  were  taken  and  brought  prisoners  on  board. 

It  then  turned  out  that  Christian  had  taken  upon  himself  the  command 
of  the  Bounty  immediately  on  the  captain's  having  quitted  her,  and  that 
his  crew  consisted  of  twenty-five  men.  When  the  Pandora  arrived, 
Christian,  with  the  other  nine  mutineers,  had  previously  sailed  in  the 
Bounty  to  some  remote  island,  and  every  exertion  to  discover  their  retreat 
proved  ineffectual.  On  her  return  home,  the  Pandora  struck  upon  a  reef 
of  rocks  in  Endeavour  Straits,  Her  crew  escaped  from  their  perilous  situa- 
tion to  an  island  in  the  Straits,  except  thirty-three  men,  and  three  of  the 
Bounty's  people,  who  perished  by  the  boat  oversetting.  Captain  Edwards 
was  reduced  to  the  necessity  of  sending  one  of  his  officers  and  some  seamen 
in  a  small  boat  to  Timor,  which  they  were  fourteen  days  in  reaching,  and 
where  a  vessel  was  procured,  which  proceeded  to  the  assistance  of  the 
reninindcr  of  the  crew. 

So  much  had  the  mutineers  of  the  Bounty  conformed  to  the  custom  and 

VOL.     I.  .       TJ  u 


, 


380  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

manners  of  Otaheite,  that  wlien  two  men  of  Christian's  crew  swam  off  to 
the  Pandora,  tliey  were  so  tattooed,  and  exhibited  so  many  other  character- 
istic stains,  that  on  beiufj  first  received  on  board,  the  Pandora's  people  took 
them  for  natives  of  the  isUmd.  The  names  of  the  above  metamorphosed 
mutineers  were,  Peter  Heywood,  a  midshipman,  and  Joseph  Coleman,  the 
armourer  ;  the  latter  of  whom,  Captain  Bligh  observes,  "  was  detained  bv 
Christian  contrary  to  his  inclination." 

On  the  1:2th  of  September  a  court-martial  commenced  on  board  the 
Duke,  in  Portsmoutli  harbour,  on  Joseph  Coleman,  Charles  Norman, 
Thomas  3Iackintosh,  Peter  Heywood,  Isaac  ]\Iorris,  John  IMillward, 
William  ]Muspratt,  Thomas  Birkett,  Thomas  Ellison,  and  Michael  Burn. 
The  evidence  for  the  prosecution  closed  on  Friday  night,  the  1 4th,* and  the 
Court  indulged  the  prisoners  till  ^Monday  to  give  in  their  defence  ;  and  on 
Tuesday  took  the  whole  into  their  consideration,  when  they  were  pleased 
to  pass  sentence  of  death  on  Heywood,  Morris,  jNIillward,  Muspratt, 
Birkett,  and  Ellison,  the  two  first  of  whom  the  Court  recommended  to 
mercy.  Coleman,  Norman,  Mackintosli,  and  Buin  were  acquitted,  and 
discharged. 

On  the  29th  of  October,  Millward,  Birkett,  and  Ellison,  were  executed 
on  board  the  Brunswick  :  Heywood  and  Morris  were  pardoned,  in  compli- 
ance with  the  recommendation  of  the  Court. 


NATHANIEL  LILLEY,  JAMES  MARTIN,  MARY  BRIANT, 
WILLIAM  ALLEN,  AND  JOHN  BUTCHER. 

CONVICTED    OF    RETURNING    FROM    TRANSPORTATION. 

The  oftence  with  which  these  prisoners  stood  charged  was  that  of 
returning  from  transportation  at  a  period  earlier  than  that  to  which  by 
their  sentences  they  were  required  to  remain  in  the  penal  settlement  to 
which  they  had  been  sent. 

Their  trial  took  place  on  the  8th  of  July  1792,  and  the  following  facta 
were  proved.  It  appeared  that  the  prisoners  had  all  been  tried  in  Eng- 
land, and  scTitenced  to  undergo  various  terms  of  transportation,  and  in 
pursuance  of  their  sentence  were  sent  to  Botany  Bay.  The  small  settle- 
ment which  then  existed  would  be  hardly  recognised  in  the  flourishing 
colony  which,  through  the  employment  of  English  wealth  and  enterprise, 
now  rears  its  head  upon  the  shores  of  New  Holland  ;  and  it  is  not  sur- 
prising that  these  unhappy  persons  should  have  been  anxious  to  escape 
from  a  place  where  slavery  and  misery  alone  awaited  them.  For  this 
purpose  they  formed  a  species  of  society  or  club  among  themselves,  and 
having  collected  together  what  money  they  possessed,  they  entrusted  one 
of  their  number,  named  Briant,  the  husband  of  the  prisoner  3Iary  Briant, 
to  apply  to  Captain  Schmidt,  the  commander  of  a  Dutch  vessel,  who  had 
recentlv  before  brouoht  a  cargo  of  provisions  to  the  colony,  to  induce  him 
to  sell  them  one  of  his  boats,  a  sail,  a  quadrant,  and  the  necessary  quantity 
of  provisions  for  the  voyage  which  they  intended  to  make.  The  enter- 
prise was  dangerous  to  both  parties,  for  it  was  a  felony  to  aid  the  escape 
of  convicts  ;  but  the  Dutchman  tempted  by  the  bribe,  which  was  con- 
aiderable,  let  them  have  an  old  six-oared  boat,  with  a  lug-saii,  and  abou» 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  .'j31 

lOOlbs.  of  rice,  and  14 lbs,  of  pork,  with  whicli,  together  witli  abour 
200lbs.  of  flour,  which  tliey  purchased  of  a  baker  in  the  colony,  they 
determined  to  set  sail  on  their  expedition.  Having  got  all  tlieir  provisions 
on  board,  they  started  on  the  night  of  the  28th  March  1791  ;  the  party 
consisting  of  Briant  and  his  wife  and  two  children,  of  the  ages  of  one  and 
three  years,  the  three  male  prisoners,  and  also  Samuel  Bird,  James  Cox, 
and  William  Martin;  the  point  of  their  destination  being  Timor,  which  by 
the  nearest  run  is  distant  about  1300  miles  from  the  place  of  their 
embarkation. 

They  were  forced  to  keep  along  the  coast,  as  much  as  they  could,  for 
the  convenience  of  procuring  supplies  of  fresh  water ;  and  on  these  occa- 
sions, and  when  the  weather  was  extremely  tempestuous,  they  would 
sometimes  sleep  on  shore,  hauling  their  boat  on  the  land.  The  savage 
natives,  wherever  they  put  on  sliore,  came  down  in  numbers  to  murder 
tliem ;  and  they  now  found  two  old  muskets,  and  a  small  quantity  of 
powder  which  Captain  Schmidt  had  given  them,  particularly  serviceable 
in  firing  over  the  heads  of  these  multitudes,  on  which  they  ran  ofi"  with 
great  precipitation;  but  they  were  always  forced  to  keep  a  strict  watch. 
lu  lat.  26.  27.  they  discovered  a  small  uninhabited  island,  where  were 
plenty  of  turtles,  which  proved  a  great  relief  to  them  ;  but  they  were 
very  near  being  lost  in  landing.  On  this  island  they  dried  as  much  turtle 
as  they  could  carry,  which  lasted  them  ten  days. 

At  length,  after  suffering  almost  innumerable  hardships  and  dangers, 
they  landed  at  Cupang,  on  the  island  of  Timor,  a  Dutch  settlement,  on 
Gth  June  1791,  having  sailed  considerably  more  than  five  thousand  miles, 
and  been  ten  weeks  all  but  one  day  in  performing  this  voyage.  At 
Cupang  they  informed  the  governor  that  they  had  belonged  to  an  English 
ship,  which  was  wrecked  on  her  passage  to  New  South  Wales,  and  he 
treated  them  with  great  humanity ;  but  at  length  overhearing  a  conversa- 
tion among  them,  he  discovered  that  they  were  convicts,  who  had  escaped 
from  the  colony  in  New  South  Wales. 

On  the  29th  of  August  1791,  the  Pandora,  of  twenty  guns,  Captain 
Edwards,  was  wrecked  on  a  reef  of  rocks  near  New  South  AVales.  The 
captain,  and  those  of  the  crew  who  were  saved,  got  to  Cupang  in  their 
boats ;  when  the  governor  gave  the  captain  an  account  of  the  eleven 
persons  he  had  there,  and  of  the  conversation  he  had  overheard. 

The  captain  took  them  with  him  to  Batavia,  where  William  Briant  and 
his  eldest  child  died.  The  rest  were  put  on  board  a  Dutch  ship,  in  which 
Captain  Edwards  sailed  with  them,  for  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope.  On 
their  passage  to  the  Cape,  James  Cox  fell  overboard  and  was  drowned, 
and  Samuel  Bird  and  William  Martin  died.  At  the  Cape,  Captain 
Edwai-ds  delivered  the  survivors  to  Captain  Parker,  of  the  Gorgon,  and 
they  sailed  with  him  for  England ;  and  in  their  passage  home,  the  younger 
child  of  Mary  Briant  died. 

On  their  trials  the  prisoners  described  the  hardships  which  they  had 
undergone  in  the  most  piteous  manner ;  and  the  Court,  in  consideration  of 
their  sufferings,  ordered  them  to  remain  on  their  former  sentence,  uutd 
they  should  be  discharged  by  the  course  of  law. 


332  THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


THE  REY.  RICHARD  BURGH,  JOHN  CU3IMIXGS,  THOMAS 
TOWXLEY  M'CAN,  ESQRS.,  JAMES  DAVIS,  AND  JOHN 
BOURNE. 

CONVICTED    OF    A    COXSPIRACY    TO    BtTRX    THE  KING'S    BENCH    PRISON. 

The  prisoner  Burgh,  who  is  first  named  in  this  case,  was  the  private 
chaplain,  and  a  relation  to  the  speaker  of  the  Irish  House  of  Commons; 
the  other  prisoners  wei-e  persons  who  were  entitled  to  be  ranked  as  gentle- 
men, and  it  appears  that  they  were  all  confined  in  the  King's  Bench 
Prison  for  debt. 

On  the  ti'al  of  the  conspirators,  the  Attorney- general  said  he  flattered 
himself  it  would  be  found  that  he  had  done  no  more  than  his  duty  in 
brino-ino'  the  several  defendants  before  the  Court.  The  offence  with  wliicli 
they  were  charged  was  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  peace  and  safety 
of  the  capital ;  for  it  not  only  had  for  its  object  the  demolition  of  the 
Kinor's  Bench  Prison,  but  involved  the  burning  of  other  houses,  bloodshed, 
and  murder.  He  lamented  that  five  persons,  all  of  education  and  respect- 
able families,  should,  by  their  folly  and  imprudence,  to  call  it  by  the 
softest  name,  bring  themselves  into  such  an  unfortunate  situation ;  one 
was  a  reverend  divine,  another  an  oflicer  in  the  army,  another  had  been  in 
the  profession  of  the  law,  and  the  others  were  of  respectable  parents,  and, 
as  he  understood,  set  out  in  the  world  with  fair  prospects  of  being 
honourable  and  useful  members  of  the  community.  The  Attorney-general 
further  said,  that  this  case  was  pregnant  with  the  most  alarming  circum- 
stances, which  would  be  better  detailed  by  the  witnesses  than  described 
by  him. 

Edward  Webb  was  then  examined,  and  he  said  he  knew  all  the  pri- 
soners ;  he  was  introduced  into  a  society,  called  "  The  Convivials,"  held 
in  a  room  in  the  King's  Bench  Prison,  of  which  the  prisoners  were  mem- 
bers. M'Can  expressed  himself  very  freely  upon  the  subject  of  Lord 
Rawdon's  bill,  then  pending,  respecting  insolvent  debtors,  and  said  if  that 
bill  did  not  pass  into  a  law,  he  and  others  were  determined  to  do  some- 
thing to  liberate  themselves,  and  that  there  was  a  scheme  in  agitation  for 
that  puq:)ose,  but  that  the  parties  were  sworn  to  secrecy,  and  therefore  he 
could  not  divulge  it ;  the  witness  said  he  might  safely  communicate  the 
business  to  him";  and  the  prisoners,  Cummings  and  Davis,  being  present, 
M'Can  said,  the  plan  in  wliich  he  and  the  other  prisoners  were  con- 
cerned, was  to  effect  their  own  enlargement  by  demolishing  the  walls  of 
the  prison,  as  they  were  determined  not  to  be  confined  within  those  walls 
for  debt ;  the  execution  of  this  plan  would,  however,  depend  upon  the 
rejection  of  Lord  Rawdon's  bill :  after  they  had  effected  their  escajie  by 
settinof  fire  to  the  prison,  they  would  then  go  to  the  Fleet  Prison,  and 
liberate  the  prisoners ;  after  which  they  should  proceed  to  the  houses  of 
Lords  Thurlow  and  Kenyon,  which  they  would  destroy.  Davis  said  he 
should  not  hesitate,  himself,  to  blow  out  the  brains  of  those  noble  lords ; 
tlie  same  witness  saw  the  other  defendants,  who  conversed  upon  the  sub- 
ject ;  and  it  was  proposed  to  procure  some  sailors  to  assist  them.  Tliia 
scheme  was,  however,  defeated  by  the  vigilance  of  the  marshal,  who  sent 
for  the  guards  and  had  the  prison  searched.     The  witness  soon  afterwards 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  333 

saw  the  prisoners  IM'Can,  Cummings  and  Davis,  who  said  that  they  were 
defeated  in  their  former  sclieme,  and  that  they  were  determined  to  put 
some  other  plot  into  execution ;  and,  on  the  next  day,  Cummings,  who 
was  nick-named  "the  Captain,"  said  that  the  best  phm  would  be  "to 
blow  the  d — d  walls  up."  He  then  conducted  the  witness  to  the  bake- 
house, and  pointed  to  a  place  where  the  drain  was  opened,  saying,  that 
he  meant  to  introduce  a  box  into  it,  containing  501bs.  weight  of  gun- 
powder ;  and  that  he  had  planned  how  the  tubes,  by  which  the  fire 
should  be  conveyed  to  it,  should  run.  lie  then  asked  tlie  witness  to  get 
the  box  made  ;  and  the  plan  having  been  communicated  to  M'Can  and 
Davis,  they  declared  that  it  would  be  "  glorious,"  and  that  they  would 
lose  their  lives  in  the  attempt.  Bourne  was  then  acquainted  with  the  plot, 
as  he  had  some  gunpowder,  and  he  acquiesced  in  it ;  and  it  was  deter- 
mined that,  as  he  had  not  got  enough  powder,  a  motion  should  be  made 
at  the  next  meeting  of  the  Convivials  for  a  subscription  of  five  shillings 
each  to  buy  more,  under  the  pretence  that  it  was  to  fee  counsel,  to  know 
whether  the  marshal  had  any  right  to  enter  their  rooms  when  he  pleased. 
It  was  then  further  agreed  that  the  powder  should  be  deposited  in  a  hole 
in  the  floor  of  Burgh's  room,  which  was  looked  upon  as  the  best  place  of 
concealment ;  and  that  on  the  day  of  the  "  explosion,"  M'Can  and  Bourne 
were  to  get  np  a  sham  fencing-match,  in  order  to  give  all  the  prisoners  an 
opportunity  of  being  collected  together  and  making  their  esca])e  in  a  body. 
The  day  fixed  upon  for  the  completion  of  the  sclieme  was  Sunday,  and  it 
was  detei'mined  that  seven  o'clock  should  be  the  hour  of  the  train  being 
tired,  because  there  were  generally  a  great  number  of  strangers  in  the 
prison  then ;  but  the  whole  affiiir  being  in  the  mean  time  communicated 
to  the  marshal,  the  plot  was  put  an  end  to,  by  the  apprehension  of  the 
prisoners,  and  the  seizure  oftheir  powder. 

Other  witnesses  confirmed  this  testimony,  and  the  prisoners  were  found 
guilty. 

On  Tuesday,  12th  February  1793,  they  were    placed  at  the  bar  to 
receive  judgment,  and  were  severally  sentenced  to  three  years'  imprison 
ment  in  difierent  jails. 


LAURENCE  JONES, 

INDICTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

This  unfortunate  man  was  a  native  of  London,  where  he  received  a  good 
education,  and  moved  in  genteel  society,  but  having  been  guilty  of  some 
fraudulent  practices,  he  was  discharged  from  the  situation  which  he  held. 
Being  now  driven  to  "  seek  his  fortune,"  he  determined  to  commence 
swindler,  and  having  a  considerable  sum  of  money  left  him  by  a  relation, 
he  took  a  very  handsome  house  in  St.  James's,  had  it  elegantly  furnished, 
and  kept  his  carriage  and  servants. 

During  his  abode  here  he  defrauded  Mr.  Hudson,  a  silversmith,  of  plate, 
tt)  the  value  of  near  three  thousand  pounds;  JMr.  Kempton,  a  mercer,  of 
silks,  and  other  goods,  to  a  large  amount;  and  Mr.  Bailey,  a  watchmaker 
and  jeweller,  of  a  gold  repeater,  and  other  goods,  to  the  value  of  three  hun- 
dred pounds. 


334  THE   NEW    NEWGATE   GALEXDAR. 

The  time  of  payment  coming  on,  and  suspicion  being  entertained  of  ftis 
honesty,  he  thought  it  time  to  decamp,  and  he  effected  his  purpose  just  in 
time  to  avoid  a  warrant  out  against  him. 

After  this  he  lived  privately  for  some  time,  that  suspicion  might  die 
away  before  he  again  began  his  fraudulent  practices,  which  he  carried  on 
with  his  usual  success,  till  the  occurrence  of  the  affair  for  which  he  was 
condemned;  the  particulars  of  which  are  as  follow: — 

Mr.  Campbell,  the  collecting  clerk  to  Vere,  Lucadou,  and  Co.,  bankers, 
in  Lombard-street,  in  the  course  of  his  business  called  at  a  house  in  Hatton- 
garden  for  the  pui'pose  of  demanding  payment  of  a  bill.  No  sooner  had  he 
knocked  at  the  door  than  it  was  opened  by  a  person,  in  appearance  a  gen- 
tleman, who  desired  him  to  walk  into  tlie  counting-house,  and,  having  en- 
tered, a  man  came  behind  liim,  and  covered  his  head  and  face  over  with  a 
thick  cap,  so  that  he  could  see  nothing.  He  was  then  thrown  on  the  floor, 
and  wrapped  in  a  green  baize,  in  which  condition  he  was  bound  hand  and 
foot,  and  carried  down  stairs.  His  assailants  now  proceeded  to  rob  him  of 
his  pocket-book,  with  bank-notes  and  bills  to  the  amount  of  nine  hundred 
pounds,  and  having  secured  the  money,  they  took  measures  to  prevent  a 
discovery  before  they  could  receive  the  money  for  the  bills,  &c.  which  they 
had  stolen. 

They  first  laid  their  victim  flat  on  his  back  on  a  board,  and  chained  him 
hand  and  foot,  and  then  carried  him  down  stairs  into  a  back  kitchen,  where 
they  chained  him  to  the  bars  of  a  grate,  threatening  that  if  he  made  a  noise 
they  would  blow  his  brains  out.  Then,  after  placing  before  him  some 
bread,  some  ham,  and  some  water,  they  left  him. 

In  this  condition  he  remained  for  about  eight  hours,  not  daring  to  make 
the  least  noise,  expecting  every  moment  to  be  murdered  if  he  spoke  :  but 
Providence  preserved  him  from  this  dreadful  fate;  for,  hearing  no  more  of 
them  for  so  many  hours,  he  at  last  had  the  courage  to  call  out,  and  he  at 
lencrth  succeeded  in  alarming  a  man  who  was  at  work  in  a  house  behind 
that  in  which  he  was  confined.  The  fellow  had  the  resolution  to  break 
open  the  door  of  the  house  from  whence  the  noise  proceeded,  when,  directed 
by  the  cry,  he  went  down  stairs,  and  there  discovered  the  unfortunate  j\Ir. 
Campbell  almost  expiring,  and  exhausted  with  struggling  and  crying  out. 

Jones  was  afterwards  apprehended  by  Jealous  and  Kennedy,  ofiicers  of 
Bow-street,  at  the  King's  Arms,  in  I3ridge-street,  "Westminster,  and  on 
being  seen  by  Mr.  Campbell,  he  was  immediately  recognised  by  him  as  one 
of  the  men  by  whom  he  had  been  robbed. 

Being  committed  to  Newgate,  he  was  afterwards  tried,  and  found  guilty, 
when  he  received  sentence,  and  was  ordered  for  execution  on  AVednesday, 
December  8,  1793,  in  Hatton-garden,  near  the  house  where  he  committed 
the  robbery;  but  on  the  Saturday  previous,  about  six  o'clock  in  the  morn- 
ing, when  the  turnkey  entered  the  cell  to  prepare  him  to  hear  the  con- 
demned sermon  and  to  receive  the  sacrament,  he  found  him  dead.  It  ap- 
peared that  he  had  made  several  attempts  on  his  life  before,  but  was  pre- 
vented: and  the  manner  in  which  he  at  last  accomplished  his  purpose  was 
very  extraordinary:  he  had  taken  the  knee-strings  with  which  his  fetters 
were  supported,  and  tied  them  round  his  neck;  then,  tying  the  other  end 
to  the  ring  to  which  his  chain  was  fastened,  he  placed  his  feet  against  the 
wall,  and  strangled  himself.  The  coroner's  jury  pronounced  a  verdict  of 
Felo  de  se. 


THE   NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR.  335 

In  consequence  of  this  verdict,  the  body  was,  on  Wednesday  morning, 
carried  out  of  Newgate,  extended  upon  a  plank  on  the  top  of  a  cart,  his  face 
being  covered  with  a  cloth,  and  his  clothes  being  upon  his  person,  and  in 
that  condition,  with  a  stake  driven  through  his  body,  he  was  thrown  into 
a  pit,  which  was  dug  at  the  end  of  Hatton-garden,  at  the  brow  of  Holborn 
hill,  and  buried. 


ROBERT  WATT  AND  DAVID  DOWNIE. 

CONVICTED  OF  HIGH  TREASON. 

We  are  now  arrived  at  an  alarming  period  in  the  modern  history  of 
our  coimtry.  Just  engaged  in  the  war  with  France,  we  were  perplexed 
with  disaffection  at  home,  and  threatened  with  invasion  by  our  enemv. 
Confederate  bodies  of  dissatisfied  men  were  formed,  fi'om  London  U) 
Edinburgh,  and  a  systematic  course  of  treason  and  correspondence  was 
maintained  until  government  stretched  out  its  powerful  arm  to  defeat  their 
plans. 

Watt  and  Downie  were  principals  in  the  Scottish  conspiracy,  and  their 
trial  came  on  before  the  High  Court  of  Justiciary,  at  Edinburgh,  on  the 
3d  of  September  1794.  Watt  was  first  tried,  when  Mr.  Anstruther  stated 
the  case  on  the  part  of  the  Crown.  He  began  by  observing,  tliat  such  was 
the  peculiar  happiness  of  that  country  (Scotland),  that  they  had  been 
unacquainted  with  the  law  of  treason  for  nearly  half  a  century. 

The  laws  of  treason  were  now  the  same  in  England  and  Scotland,  and 
the  duty  of  the  subjects  of  both  kingdoms  should  be  the  same.  Scotland, 
in  this  instance,  had  reaped  much  benefit  by  the  Union,  as  her  laws  of 
treason,  previous  to  that  period,  were  much  mox-e  severe.  The  act  of  Ed- 
ward III.  stated  three  distinct  species  of  treason:  1.  Compassing  and  ima- 
gining the  death  of  the  king;  2.  Levying  war  against  him;  3.  Assisting 
his  enemies.  He  would  not  trouble  the  Court  or  Jury  with  the  two  last: 
for  the  single  species  of  treason  charged  in  the  present  case  was  the  com- 
passing and  imagining  the  death  of  the  king;  which  was  defined  by  the 
conceiving  such  a  design;  not  the  actual  act,  but  the  attempt  to  effl'ct  it. 
But  the  law  which  thus  anxiously  guarded  the  sovereign  was  equally  fa- 
vourable to  the  subject;  for  it  did  not  affecthim until  that  imagination  was 
fully  proved  before  '•''  men  of  his  condition."  An  overt  act  of  treason  was 
the  means  used  for  efi"ectuating  the  purpose  of  the  mind:  it  was  not  neces- 
sary to  prove  a  direct  attempt  to  assassinate  the  king;  for  the  crime  was 
the  intention,  and  the  overt  act  the  means  used  to  effect  it. 

After  explaining  more  fully  the  distinct  species  of  treason  which  applied 
to  the  present  case,  Mr.  Anstruther  said  that  he  trusted  that  if  he  could 
prove  any  design  whereby  the  king's  life  was  put  in  jeopardy,  that  would 
be  considered  an  overt  act.  He  should  now  state  the  facts,  upon  which 
these  principles  of  law  were  to  be  founded.  The  present  conspiracy  was 
not  that  of  a  few  inconsiderable  individuals;  it  had  risen  indeed  from  small 
beginnings,  from  meetings  for  pretended  reforms.  It  had  been  fostered  by 
seditious  correspondence,  the  distribution  of  libellous  writings,  and  had  at 
last  risen  to  a  height,  which,  but  for  the  vigilance  of  the  administration, 
might  have  deluged  the  country,  from  one  end  to  the  other,  with  blonl. 


336  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

The  proceedings  of  these  societies,  calling,  or  rather  miscalling,  themselves 
Friends  of  the  People,  were  well  known:  their  first  intention  was  appa- 
rently to  obtain  reform;  but  this  not  answering  their  purpose,  they  pro- 
ceeded to  greater  lengths.  He  meant  to  detail  the  general  plans  and  de- 
signs formed  among  the  seditious,  and  then  to  state  how  far  the  prisoners 
were  implicated  in  them. 

The  first  dawnirig  of  this  daring  plan  was  in  a  letter  from  Hardy,  secre- 
tary to  the  London  Corresponding  Society  ;  to  Skirving,  the  secretary  to 
the  Friends  of  the  People  in  Scotland.  He  wrote  that,  as  their  petitions 
had  been  unsuccessful,  they  must  use  separate  and  more  efi"ectual  measures  ; 
and  Skirving  answered,  and  admitted  the  necessity  of  more  effectual  mea- 
sures, and  said  that  he  foresaw  the  downfall  of  this  government.  Here 
also  was  the  first  notice  of  a  Convention;  a  measure  which  it  was  no  won- 
der tliey  were  fond  of,  when  they  saw  its  effects  in  a  neighbouring  kingdom 
(France).  They  meant  not  to  petition  Parliament,  but  to  proceed  in  their 
own  plan,  and  to  supersede  the  existing  government  of  the  country:  and, 
in  that  case,  the  king's  life  was  put  in  danger. 

Soon  after,  a  Convention,  a  body  unknown  to  the  laws  of  this  country, 
met;  and  in  this  there  would  have  been  little  harm,  had  their  views  been 
peaceable;  but  their  objects  were  avowedly  unconstitutional,  for  their  in- 
tention was  to  carry  on  their  plans  by  force,  and  thus  virtually  to  lay 
aside  the  prerogative  of  the  king.  This  convention  met,  using  all  the  terms 
and  regulations  adopted  by  the  convention  of  another  country.  They 
meant  not  to  apply  to  Parliament;  for  whenever  that  was  mentioned,  they 
proceeded  to  the  order  of  the  day.  They  resolved  to  oppose  every  act  of 
Parliament  which  they  deemed  contrary  to  the  spirit  of  the  Constitution, 
and  were  determined  to  sit,  until  compelled  to  rise  by  a  force  superior  to 
their  own. 

The  Convention,  indeed,  was  dispersed  by  the  spirited  conduct  of  a  ma- 
gistrate, (Provost  Elder,)  but  another  Convention  was  attempted  to  be 
called,  who  were  to  frame  their  own  laws,  and  to  be  independent  of  the 
Legislature;  or,  as  they  said,  independent  of  their  plunderers,  enemies,  and 
oppressors,  meaning  the  King,  Lords,  and  Commons:  their  resolutions 
would  prove  that  they  meant  to  create  a  government  of  their  own,  to  do 
away  the  authority  of  what  they  called  hereditary  senators,  and  packed 
majorities;  all  which  proved  the  intention  of  putting  the  king's  life  in 
danger. 

But  what,  it  might  be  said,  was  all  this  to  the  prisoner  at  the  bar?  who, 
surprising  as  it  might  appear,  about  two  yeai's  before  wrote  letters  to  Mr. 
Secretary  Dundas,  offering  to  give  information  as  to  certain  designs  of  the 
Friends  of  the  People.  Those  letters  were  answered  by  that  honourable 
gentleman  with  that  propriety  which  had  ever  marked  his  public  conduct. 
The  prisoner  then  corresponded  with  the  Lord  Advocate,  but  since  Sep- 
tember 179-3,  this  correspondence  had  ceased.  Previous  to  that  period,  the 
prisoner  was  not  a  member  of  the  Society  of  Friends  of  the  People,  nor  of 
the  British  Convention ;  but  his  accession  since  to  its  measures,  and  the 
calling  of  another  Convention,  could  be  substantiated.  A  Committee  of 
Correspondence,  of  which  the  prisoner  was  a  member,  was  instituted  by  a 
new  Convention,  whose  object  it  was  to  carry  into  effect  tlie  views  of  the 
last  British  Convention,  and  to  elect  delegates  to  a  new  one.  Mr.  Watt 
attended  this  committee,  and  coincided  in   its  measures,  which  were  ex- 


THE    NEW    NEWOATE    CALENDAR.  337 

pressly  to  supersede  the  Legislature.  The  prisoner  had  moved  f(jr  a  Com- 
mittee of  Union ;  and  another  was  appointed,  called  the  Committee  of  Ways 
and  Cleans;  of  hoth  which  he  was  a  member.  This  last  was  a  Secret 
Committee,  kept  no  minutes,  was  permanent,  and  empowered  to  collect 
money  to  support  "  the  great  cause."  Mr.  Downie  was  appointed  trea- 
surer, and  it  was  to  be  the  medium  through  which  all  instructions  and  di- 
rections were  to  be  given  to  all  friends  of  the  people  throughout  the  king- 
dom, and  was  to  procure  information  of  the  number  of  those  that  would 
spare  no  exertions  to  support  the  great  cause.  They  corresponded  with 
Hardy  respecting  the  calling  of  a  new  Convention,  which  was  to  follow 
up  the  purposes  of  the  old  one;  and,  as  the  prisoner  was  present,  he  was 
in  this  way  coupled  with  the  British  Convention. 

Their  next  attempt  was  to  debauch  the  minds  of  the  soldiers,  and  to  ex- 
cite them  to  mutiny;  for  which  purpose  a  paper  was  printed,  and  circu- 
lated among  a  regiment  of  Fencibles  then  at  Dalkeith.  This  paper,  which 
was  evidently  seditious,  was  brought  home  to  the  prisoner,  for  the  types 
from  which  it  was  printed  were  found  in  his  house,  and  a  copy  traced  from 
him  into  the  hands  of  a  soldier. 

The  next  charge  to  be  brought  against  the  prisoner,  and  the  committe 
of  which  he  was  a  member,  was  a  distinct  and  delil)erate  plan  to  overturn 
the  existing  government  of  the  country.  The  plan  proposed  was  this: — A 
lire  was  to  be  raised  near  the  Excise-office  (Edinburgh),  which  would  re- 
quire the  attendance  of  the  soldiers  in  the  Castle,  who  were  to  be  met 
there  by  a  body  of  the  friends  of  the  people  ;  another  party  of  whom  were 
to  issue  from  the  West  Bow,  to  confine  the  soldiers  between  two  fires,  and 
cut  off  their  retreat;  the  Castle  was  next  to  be  attempted;  the  judges  (par- 
ticularly the  Lord  Justice  Clerk)  were  to  be  seized;  and  all  the  public 
banks  were  to  be  secured.  A  proclamation  was  then  to  be  issued,  ordering 
all  the  farmers  to  bring  in  their  grain  to  market  as  usual;  and  enjoining  all 
country  gentlemen  to  keep  within  their  houses,  or  three  miles  from  them, 
under  penalty  of  death.  Tlien  an  address  was  to  be  sent  to  his  majesty, 
commanding  him  to  put  an  end  to  tlie  war,  change  the  ministers,  or  take 
the  consequences.  Such  was  the  plan  of  the  Committee  of  Ways  and  Means, 
as  proposed  by  the  prisoner. 

Previous  to  this,  it  should  have  been  mentioned  that  all  the  friends  oi 
the  people  were  to  be  armed;  for  which  purpose, one  Fairley  was  despatched 
round  the  country  to  levy  contributions,  and  disperse  seditious  pamphlets; 
for  which  he  received  particular  instructions  from  the  prisoner.  Reports 
were  spread  tlirough  tlie  same  channel  that  the  Goldsmiths'  Hall  Associ- 
ation were  arming,  and  that  it  was  necessary  for  the  friends  of  the  people 
to  arm  also,  for  they  would  be  butchered  either  by  them  or  the  French.  It 
was  proved  that  the  prisoner  gave  orders  to  Robert  Orrock  to  make  four 
thousand  pikes;  and  also  to  one  Brown  for  the  same  purpose.  These  were 
to  be  used  for  completing  the  great  plan;  and  Fairley 's  mission  was  to  in- 
form the  country  of  these  intended  proceedings.  Another  representative 
body  was  also  formed,  called  "  collectors  of  sense  and  money,"  who  were  to 
have  the  distribution  of  the  pikes,  and  to  command  the  different  parties- 
Mr.  Anstruther  then  recapitulated  shortly  the  different  heads,  and  con- 
cluded an  elaborate  and  most  clear  and  distinct  pleading  of  more  than  two 
hours  and  a  half,  l>y  requesting  the  jury  to  lay  no  farther  stress  on  what 
he  had  said  than  it  should  be  proved,  as  it  was  meant  merr'.y  as  a  clue  to 

VOL.    I.  XX 


338  THE    NEW   NEWGATE  CALENDAR. 

the  evidence  which  should  be  brought  before  them.  Witnesses  were  then 
called  who  spoke  to  the  facts  alluded  to  by  the  learned  counsel,  and  who 
proved  to  the  fullest  extent  the  charge  made  against  the  prisoner. 

Tiio  evidence  for  the  Crown  being  closed, 

Mr.  W.  Erskine,  junior  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  proceeded  to  open  the 
defence.  He  said  that  he  would  rest  his  defence  upon  the  correspondence 
carried  on  between  the  Right  Hon.  Henry  Dundas,  the  lord -advocate,  and 
the  prisoner,  by  which  it  would  appear  that  he  had  attended  the  meetings  of 
the  Friends  of  the  People  with  no  other  view  than  a  design  to  give  infor- 
mation of  their  proceedings.  A  letter  from  the  prisoner  to  Mr.  Secretary 
Dundas  was  read,  which  stated  in  substance  that,  as  he  did  not  approve  of 
the  dangerous  principles  which  then  prevailed  in  Scotland,  and  was 
friend  to  the  constitution  of  his  country,  he  thought  it  his  duty  to  com- 
municate to  him,  as  a  good  subject,  what  information  he  could  procure  of 
the  proceedings  of  those  who  styled  themselves  "  Friends  of  the  People," 
From  an  acquaintance  with  several  of  the  leading  men  among  them,  he 
flattered  himself  he  had  this  in  his  power  ;  and  he  then  went  on  to  men- 
tion some  of  the  names  of  those  leading  men  in  Perth,  Dundee,  and  Edin- 
burgh. In  the  first  of  these  places,  he  said,  he  had  been  educated,  and  had 
resided  in  the  two  last  for  a  considerable  number  of  years.  It  concluded 
with  enjoining  secrecy. 

To  this  letter  an  answer  was  returned  which  was  also  read.  It  acknow- 
ledged the  receipt  of  Mr.  Watt's  ;  and  after  expressing  a  hope  that  things 
w^ere  not  so  bad  as  he  represented,  desired  him  to  go  on,  and  he  might 
depend  upon  his  communications  being  kept  perfectly  secret.  Another 
letter  from  Mr.  Dundas  to  Mr.  M'Ritchie,  the  prisoner's  agent,  was  next 
read  in  answer  to  one  from  Mr.  M'Ritchie,  requesting  of  J\lr.  Dundas  what 
letters  he  had  of  the  prisoner's.  The  answer  was  that  all  tlie  letters  he  had 
received  from  Mr.  AVatt  had  been  delivered  to  the  lord-advocate. 

The  Lord- Advocate  being  sworn,  in  exculpation,  he  gave  a  distinct  account 
of  the  transactions  which  he  had  had  with  the  prisoner.  Fie  had  conversed 
with  him  several  times  at  his  own  lodgings  ;  and  he  had  at  one  time  given 
him  some  information  which  he  thought  of  importance.  Tliis  was  respecting 
the  disaffection  of  some  dragoons  at  Perth,  which  upon  inquiry  turned  out 
to  be  ill-founded.  In  March  1793,  his  lordship  said  an  offer  had  been 
made  to  him  to  disclose  some  important  secrets,  provided  he  would  give 
the  prisoner  1000^.  This  he  absolutely  refused.  However,  some  time 
after  the  prisoner  having  informed  him  that  he  was  much  pressed  for  money 
to  retrieve  a  bill  of  30/.,  his  lordship,  who  was  then  in  London,  not  wishing 
he  should  be  distressed  for  such  a  small  sum,  sent  him  an  order  for  the 
payment  of  it.  All  this  happened  previous  to  the  meeting  of  the  conven- 
tion, since  which  time  he  did  not  recollect  to  have  seen  or  corresponded 
with  the  prisoner. 

Upon  this  evidence  it  was  contended  by  Mr.  Hamilton,  that  the  prisoner 
was  engaged  as  a  spy  for  government ;  and  it  was  well  known  that  a  spy 
w^as  obliged  to  assume  not  only  the  appearance  of  tliose  whose  secrets  he 
meant  to  reveal,  but  even  to  take  part  in  their  proceedings  in  order  to 
prevent  a  discovery.  A  spy  in  an  army,  he  said,  was  obliged  not  only  to 
assume  tlie  uniform  of  the  enemy,  but  even  to  appear  in  arms  ;  and  it  would 
be  exceedingly  hard  indeed,  if  taken  in  a  conflict,  that  he  should  be 
punished  for  diseharging  his  duty.  He  concluded  with  lioping  the  jury 
would  bring  in  a  verdict  finding  the  charges  not  proved. 


HE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  339 

The  Lord-President,  af.er  clearly  defining  the  laws  of  treason,  summed 
up  the  evidence,  narratinj- and  explaining  the  vaiious  parts  with  much 
candour,  and  leaving  it  entirely  to  the  jury  to  return  such  a  verdict  as  their 
judgment  should  direct. 

The  jury  withdrew  about  half-past  five  o'clock  in  the  morning,  and  in 
about  five  minutes  returned  with  a  verdict — Guilty, 

The  trial  lasted  nearly  twenty -two  hours. 

The  case  of  Downie  afterwards  came  on  ;  and  the  jury  after  some  time 
found  him  guilty,  reconciling  themselves  to  this  verdict,  by  unanimously 
consenting  to  recommending  him  to  mercy,  which  they  did  in  a  very 
strong  manner. 

Shortly  after,  the  following  awful  sentence  of  the  Court  was  passed  upon 
these  unfortunate  men  : — 

"  Robert  Watt  and  David  Downie,  you  have  been  found  guilty  of  high 
treason  by  your  peers.  The  sentence  of  the  Court  is,  therefore,  that  you 
be  taken  from  the  place  whence  you  came,  from  thence  you  shall  be  drawn 
on  a  sledge  to  the  place  of  execution,  on  Wednesday  the  15th  of  October, 
there  to  hang  by  your  necks  till  you  are  both  dead  ;  your  bowels  to  be  taken 
out  and  cast  in  your  faces ;  and  each  of  your  bodies  to  be  cut  in  four 
quarters,  to  be  at  the  disposal  of  his  Majesty :  and  the  Lord  have  mercy 
on  your  souls !" 

The  unfortunate  prisoners  received  the  dreadful  sentence  with  much  firm- 
ness and  composure,  and  were  immediately  conducted  to  the  Castle. 

The  prisoner  Downie  subsequently  received  a  respite,  and  his  punish- 
ment was  changed  for  that  of  transportation  for  life ;  but  Watt  was 
ordered  to  be  executed  on  the  15th  of  October. 

,  On  the  appointed  day,  therefore,  at  half-past  one  o'clock,  the  two  junior 
magistrates,  with  white  rods  in  their  hands,  the  Rev.  Principal  Baird,  and 
a  number  of  constables,  attended  by  the  town-officers,  and  the  citv-wuard 
lining  the  streets,  walked  in  procession  from  the  Council-chamber  to  the 
east  end  of  Castle-hill,  when  a  message  was  sent  to  the  shexifts  in  the 
Castle,  that  they  were  there  waiting  to  receive  the  prisoner. 

The  prisoner  was  immediately  placed  on  a  hurdle,  with  his  back  to  the 
horse ;  and  the  executioner,  with  a  large  axe  in  his  hand,  took  his  seat 
opposite  him  at  the  further  end  of  the  hurdle. 

The  procession  then  set  out  from  the  Castle,  the  sherifTs  walkinor  in 
front,  a  number  of  county  constables  surrounding  the  hurdle,  and  the 
military  keeping  off  the  crowd.  In  this  manner  they  proceeded  until  thev 
joined  the  magistrates,  when  the  military  returned  to  the  Castle,  and  then 
the  procession  was  conducted  to  the  place  of  execution. 

When  they  had  reached  the  Tolbooth  door,  the  prisoner  was  taken  from 
the  hurdle,  and  carried  into  the  prison,  where  a  considerable  time  was 
spent  in  devotional  exercise.  He  then  came  out  upon  the  platform, 
attended  by  the  magistrates,  sheriffs.  Principal  Baird,  &c.;  and  after  a 
short  time  further  being  spent  in  prayer,  he  mounted  the  drop-board,  and 
■was  immediately  launched  into  eternity. 

When  the  body  was  taken  down  it  was  stretched  upon  a  table ;  and  the 
executioner,  with  two  blows  of  the  axe,  severed  off  the  head,  which  was 
received  into  a  basket,  and  then  held  up  to  the  multitude,  while  the 
executioner  called  aloud,  "  There  is  the  head  of  a  traitor,  and  so  perish  all 
trait  ;>r8 ! " 


340  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Tlie  body  and  head  were  then  placed  in  a  coffin  and  removed. 

The  execution  was  conducted  throughout  with  the  greatest  solemuity ,' 
and  the  prisoner  appeared  to  be  deeply  sensible  of  the  awful  situation  iu 
which  he  was  placed.  He  was  so  emaciated  that  his  appearance  was 
entirely  changed  since  his  trial. 

.  Robert  Watt  was  born  in  the  shire  of  Kincardine,  and  was  at  the  time 
of  his  execution  about  thirty-six  years  old.  He  was  the  natural  son  of  a  Mr. 
Barclay,  a  gentleman  of  fortune  and  respectability  ;  but  like  most  other 
children  of  illegitimate  parentage,  he  was  brought  up  and  educated  under 
the  name  of  his  mother.  He  was,  at  about  ten  years  of  age,  sent  to  Perth, 
where  he  received  a  very  good  education  ;  and  at  the  age  of  sixteen  he 
engaged  himself  with  a  lawyer  in  that  place ;  but  being  of  a  religious 
disposition,  he  was  disgusted  at  his  profession,  and  soon  withdrew  from 
the  desk  of  his  master.  Soon  after,  he  went  to  Edinburgh,  and  engaged 
as  a  clerk  in  a  paper  warehouse,  where  he  lived  happily  and  respectably 
for  some  years ;  but  having  a  desire  to  share  in  the  profits  as  well  as  the  toils 
of  the  business,  he  wrote  to  his  father,  and  prevailed  upon  him  to  assist  him 
with  some  money,  to  enable  him  to  procure  a  partnership  with  his  master. 

He  then  made  proposals  to  the  above  purpose,  which  were,  however, 
rejected  by  his  employer  ;  but  being  provided  with  money,  he  entered  into 
the  wine  and  spirit  trade.  His  success  in  business  continued  very  promis- 
ing, until  he  was  almost  ruined  by  the  commencement  of  the  war.  At 
this  period  his  acquaintance  with  the  Friends  of  the  People  commenced. 
Its  unfortunate  termination  is  already  made  known  to  our  readers. 


ARCHIBALD  HAMILTON  ROWAN,  ESQ. 

CONVICTED    OF    PUBLISHING    A    SEDITIOUS    LIBEL. 

Although  we  do  not  consider  the  numerous  instances  of  conviction  for 
the  publication  of  seditious  libels,  which  took  place  in  Dublin  about  this 
time,  as  being  strictly  within  the  plan  of  our  work,  yet  the  extraordinary 
and  romantic  circumstances  attending  the  escape  of  Mr.  Rowan  induce  us 
to  give  his  case  insertion.  The  agitation  produced  both  in  England  and 
Ireland,  immediately  after  the  French  revolution,  in  which  many  persons 
sought  to  excite  the  people  to  follow  the  example  of  their  Gallic  neighbours, 
produced  a  number  of  prosecutions,  the  recital  of  which  alone  would  be 
sufficient  to  fill  our  volume. 

Among  other  convictions  which  took  place  was  that  »f  Mr.  Archibald 
Hamilton  Rowan,  who  was  found  guilty  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
Dublin,  on  the  29th  of  January  1794,  of  publishing  in  the  year  1792  a 
false,  scandalous,  and  malicious  libel  against  the  Government,  purporting 
to  be  an  address  from  a  society  called  the  United  Irishmen  of  Dublin  to 
the  Volunteers  of  Ireland,  and  signed  by  jNIr.  Rowan  as  their  secretary, — 
an  offi^nce  for  which  he  was  sentenced  to  be  imprisoned  for  two  years,  to 
pay  a  fine  of  500^.,  and  to  find  security  in  the  amount  of  4000^.  for  his 
good  behaviour  for  seven  years. 

It  appears  that  after  about  two  or  three  months  of  the  term  of  imprison- 
ment had  expired,  William  Jackson,  a  divine  of  some  notoriety  in  England, 
and  several  others  were  arrested  on  a  charge  of  high  treason,  in  which  it 
appeared  probable  that  Rowan  would  be  implicated.     He  therefore  deter* 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  341 

mined  on  effecting  his  escape ;  and  the  manner  in  which  he  accomplished  it 
nas  been  thus  narrated  : — 

Having  discovered,  on  the  28th  of  April  1794,  the  extent  of  the  danger 
in  which  he  was  involved,  he  arranged  a  plan  of  flight,  to  be  put  into  execu- 
tion on  the  night  of  the  1st  of  May.  He  had  the  address  to  prevail  on 
the  jailer  of  Newgate,  who  knew  nothing  farther  of  his  prisoner  than  that 
he  was  under  sentence  of  confinement  for  a  political  libel,  to  accompany 
him  at  night  to  his  own  house.  They  were  received  by  Mrs.  Rowan,  who 
had  a  supper  prepared  in  the  front  room  of  the  second  floor.  The  supper 
over,  the  prisoner  requested  the  jailer's  permission  to  say  a  word  or  two 
in  private  to  his  wife  in  the  adjoining  room.  The  latter  consented,  on 
condition  of  tbe  door  between  the  two  rooms  remaining  open ;  and  he  had 
so  little  suspicion  of  what  was  meditated,  that,  instead  of  examininor  the 
state  of  the  other  room,  he  contented  himself  with  shifting  his  chair  at  tlie 
supper-table,  so  as  to  give  him  a  view  of  the  open  door- way.  In  a  few 
seconds  his  prisoner  was  beyond  his  reach,  having  descended  by  a  single 
rope,  which  had  been  slung  from  the  window  of  the  back  chamber,  into 
the  street.  In  his  stable  he  found  a  horse  ready  saddled,  and  a  peasant's 
outside  coat  to  disguise  him ;  and  with  these  he  posted  to  the  house  of 
Mr.  Matthew  Dowling,  his  attorney,  who  was  aware  of  his  design,  and 
was  under  an  engagement  to  aid  him,  both  by  his  advice  and  personal 
assistance.  On  his  arrival  at  the  attorney's  house,  he  found  it  full  of 
company ;  but  the  host  coming  to  him  pointed  out  the  imprudence  of 
his  giving  him  shelter,  and  directed  him  to  wait  for  him  at  the  Rotunda, 
a  building  in  Sackville-street,  where  he  would  join  him,  as  soon  as  he 
could  dispose  of  his  guests.  For  an  hour  and  a  half,  tormented  by  hopes 
and  fears,  did  the  fugitive  await  the  coming  of  his  friend ;  but  Irish  gen- 
tlemen in  those  days,  as  well  as  in  m.odern  times,  were  not  the  men  to  quit 
their  bottle;  and  it  was  not  until  the  expiration  of  that  time  that  5lr. 
Dowling  made  his  appearance.  He  at  length  arrived,  however ;  and  after 
a  short  and  anxious  conference,  it  was  determined  that  it  was  best  for 
Mr.  Rowan  to  proceed  at  once  to  the  house  of  a  friend,  a  Mr.  Sweetman, 
about  four  miles  off,  at  the  north  of  the  Bay  of  Dublin,  whence  it  was 
anticipated  he  might  in  a  day  or  two  make  his  escape  by  boat.  He 
accordingly  proceeded  thither  with  all  possible  speed,  but  three  days 
elapsed  before  the  design  could  be  carried  out.  Mr.  Sweetman's  pleasure- 
boat  was  then  manned  by  some  fellows  who  lived  on  the  spot,  and  who 
undertook  to  convey  their  passenger  to  the  coast  of  France.  They  put  to 
sea  at  night ;  but  a  gale  of  wind  coming  on,  they  were  compelled  to  put 
back,  and  take  shelter  under  the  Hill  of  Howth.  They  lay  there  at 
anchor  until  the  following  morning  ;  and  they  were  then  about  again  to 
proceed  on  their  voyage,  when  a  small  revenue  cruiser  sailing  by  threw  into 
the  boat  copies  of  a  proclamation,  which  had  issued,  offering  a  reward  of 
2000/.  for  the  apprehension  of  the  fugitive.  The  bills  were  read,  but  no 
remark  made ;  and  in  the  bustle  attending  the  getting  the  little  vessel 
under  way,  no  further  notice  was  taken  of  them.  AVhen  they  had  reached 
mid-channel,  however,  a  second  inspection  of  them  took  place,  and  the 
unfortunate  exile  beheld  the  brows  of  his  crew  contracted,  as  they  looked 
from  the  printed  papers  to  him,  apparently  engaged  in  comparing  the 
description  which  was  given  of  the  fugitive  with  his  person.  He  knew 
the  generous  character  of  the  Irish  peasantry.     He  was  himself  an  Iribh- 


342  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

man ;  he  knew  the  loyalty  and  devotion  of  their  hearts  to  persons  in 
distress ;  and  he  could  calculate  upon  receiving  from  them,  as  strangers, 
that  aid  which  they  would  not  have  more  readily  given  to  their  own 
brothers.  His  course  was  immediately  determined  upon  ;  he  admitted 
that  their  conjectures  were  right — that  he  was  the  runaway,  Hamilton 
Rowan  ;  but  he  added,  "  You  are  Irishmen."  The  answer  which  he 
received  was  characteristic  of  their  country.  They  gave  a  cheer,  threw 
the  proclamation  overboard,  and  set  about  hastening  their  passage  to  the 
place  of  tlieir  destination. 

On  the  third  morning,  a  little  after  daybreak,  they  arrived  in  sight  of 
St.  Paul  de  Leon,  a  fortified  town  on  tlie  coast  of  Bretagne ;  and  as  the 
sun  rose,  a  thick  mist,  which  had  hovered  over  them,  was  dissipated,  and 
they  discovered,  about  two  miles  astern,  the  British  Channel-fleet  moving 
along  under  easy  sail ;  through  which  their  little  vessel  had  passed  unper- 
ceived.  The  party  soon  efiiicted  a  landing,  and,  being  seen,  were  seized 
and  conducted  to  prison  as  suspected  spies  ;  but,  in  a  few  days,  their  real 
character  being  explained,  an  order  from  the  French  Government  procured 
for  their  liberation  ;  and  the  honest  crew  returned  to  Dublin  with  their  boat, 
while  Mr.  Rowan  proceeded  at  once  to  Paris.  In  a  political  convulsion, 
which  subsequently  occurred  in  that  city,  it  was  his  fate  once  more  to  effect 
his  escape  in  a  wherry  down  the  Seine,  in  which  he  was  unaccompanied 
by  any  person ;  and  although  the  banks  of  that  river  were  lined  with 
military,  he  answered  their  challenges  with  so  much  address,  that  he  was 
permitted  to  pass  unmolested.  Having  reached  a  French  port,  he 
embarked  for  the  United  States  of  America,  and  there,  unaffected  by  the 
political  changes  of  his  own  country,  he  continued  to  live  for  several 
years. 

At  length,  the  merits  of  his  personal  character  prevailed  against  the 
remembrance  of  his  political  aberrations  ;  and  an  act  of  royal  clemency, 
generously  conceded  without  any  humiliating  conditions,  restored  him  once 
more  to  his  country ;  where  he  continued  to  reside,  in  the  bosom  of 
domestic  quiet,  and  in  the  habitual  exercise  of  every  virtue.  He  had  the 
satisfaction,  too,  in  his  old  age,  of  finding  that,  in  a  public  point  of  view, 
his  debt  of  gratitude  to  the  Crown  had  not  been  wholly  unpaid.  In  his 
eldest  son.  Captain  Hamilton,  of  the  Cambrian  frigate,  he  gave  to  the 
British  navy  one  of  its  most  gallant  and  distinguished  commanders. 


WILLIAM  BUTTERWORTH  AND  FRANCIS  JENNISON. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  these  wretched  culprits  is  so  disgusting  in  its  details,  that 
we  feel  justified  in  giving  it  only  in  as  short  a  form  as  possible. 

At  the  Hants  assizes,  in  the  beginning  of  August  1794,  William  But- 
terworth  and  Francis  Jennison,  two  convicts  at  Cumberland  Fort,  were 
tried  before  Mr.  Justice  Grose  and  ]\Ir.  Baron  Thompson,  for  the  murder 
of  Mr.  John  Groundwater,  one  of  the  persons  deputed  to  look  after  them. 
The  circumstances  of  this  murder  were  of  the  most  brutal  and  atrocious 
nature.  These  hardened  wretches,  on  being  reprimanded  by  Mr.  Ground- 
water, who  threatened  to  report  them  for  ill-behaviour,  swore  that  they 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  349 

would  rip  his  bowels  out ;  and  were  heard  by  anotlier  of  the  convicts 
debating  about  the  manner  of  perpetrating  the  murder.  In  accordance 
with  a  resolution  which  tlioy  arrived  at,  about  six  in  the  evening  of  the 
same  day,  tliey  fell  upon  him  with  two  iron  shovels,  with  which  they  had 
been  at  work  in  spreading  gravel,  and  with  which  they  gave  him  three 
such  wounds  on  the  skull,  that  his  brains  fell  out  in  the  quantity  of  a 
double  handful.  They  then  struck  down  one  of  the  shovels  upon  his  neck, 
witli  intent  to  sever  the  head  from  the  body,  but,  striking  against  the  bone, 
it  had  not  the  intended  eflect.  The  rest  of  the  convicts  ran  to  the  spot, 
and  one  of  them  caught  hold  of  Butterworth,  to  prevent  his  mangling  the 
body  any  more ;  but,  after  a  struggle,  he  disengaged  himself,  ran  back  to 
the  unfortunate  suft'erer,  and,  catching  up  the  spade  again,  gave  him  several 
cuts,  saying,  "  There,  damn  him,  I  have  done  him  out  and  out."  On 
being  remonstrated  with  for  his  inhuman  conduct,  he  rejilied  that  he  was 
transported  for  life,  and  he  would  rather  be  hanged  than  suffer  that 
sentence.  It  is  a  most  extraordinary  circumstance,  established  on  the 
evidence  of  jNIr.  Hill,  surgeon,  who  attended  him,  that  Mr.  Groundwater 
lived  eighteen  hours  after  he  had  received  these  grievous  wounds,  notwith- 
standing the  brains  had  fallen  out,  and  a  prodigious  effusion  of  blood  had 
taken  place.  He  never  spoke  after  the  second  blow  was  given  him,  but 
the  action  of  the  pulse  was  strong,  and  respiration  continued  during  the 
whole  of  the  eighteen  hours  above  mentioned. 

Butterworth,  though  thus  steeled  in  cruelty,  was  only  nineteen  years 
old ;  his  wretched  companion  was  twenty-five.  The  publicity  of  the 
deed,  and  the  consequent  clear  evidence  of  their  guilt,  would  not  admit  of 
their  setting  up  any  defence.  The  jury  pronounced  them  guilty;  and  they 
were  sentenced  to  be  executed  in  three  days  after  in  Lanston  Harbour, 
and  their  bodies  were  ordered  to  be  liung  in  chains  in  Cumberland  Fort. 

They  were  taken  from  jail  at  about  four  o'clock  on  ]\Ionday  morning,  and 
reached  Portsea  about  eleven.  The  number  of  spectators  who  crowded  to 
see  the  execution  was  immense.  Both  the  prisoners  acknowledged  that 
they  alone  were  the  persons  who  committed  the  murder,  excillpating  all  the 
other  convicts  from  a  participation  in  this  horrid  offence.  Their  behaviour 
was  very  penitent,  and  they  seemed  to  feel  sensibly  the  enormity  of  their 
crime.  The  execution  took  place  about  twelve  o'clock,  and  their  bodies 
were  afterwards  hung  in  chains,  pursuant  to  sentence,  near  the  spot  where 
the  murder  was  committed. 

Both  prisoners.,  it  appears,  had  been  convicted  of  burglary,  for  which 
they  were  sentenced  to  death,  but  had  been  reprieved  on  condition  of  their 
being  transported  for  life.  They  had  been  at  the  hulks  only  about  seven 
days,  when  they  committed  the  murder  for  which  they  were  executed. 


ANNE   BROADRIC. 

INDICTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  unfortunate  young  woman  excited  at  the  time  of  its 
occurrence  nearly  universal  pity. 

It  appeared  that  Mr.  Errington,  the  object  of  her  attack,  was  a  gentle- 
man of  large  landed  and  personal  property  residing  at  Grays,  in  Essex, 
aad  his  name  had  become  well  known  from  the  circumstance  of  his  haviag 


314  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

Iteen  divorced  from  his  wife,  a  few  years  before  the  melancholy  event 
which  we  are  about  to  relate.  About  three  years  after  the  termination  of 
the  proceedings  in  the  Ecclesiastical  Courts,  he  became  acquainted  with 
Miss  Broadric,  who  was  a  young  lady  possessed  of  considerable  accom- 
plishments, of  a  fine  figure,  and  in  personal  charms  superior  to  the 
generality  of  her  sex.  Miss  Broadric  before  this  liad  lived  witli  a  Captain 
Robinson,  but  it  appears  that  being  addressed  by  ]\Ir.  Errington  with 
great  solicitude,  she  consented  to  reside  with  him  in  the  character  of  his 
wife,  A  mutual  attachment  sprung  up  in  the  course  of  their  connexion ; 
but  after  a  lapse  of  three  years,  during  which  they  lived  together  with 
every  appearance  of  domestic  felicity,  Mr.  Errington  bestowed  liis  affec- 
tions and  his  hand  on  a  lady  of  respectability  in  the  neighbourhood, 
acquaintino-  Miss  Broadric  that  he  could  see  her  no  more.  On  her  quitting 
him,  he  made  what  he  conceived  to  be  a  suitable  provision  for  her  future 
wants,  and  she  retired  apparently  deeply  grieved  at  tlie  unfortunate  change 
which  had  taken  place  in  the  feelings  of  her  late  protector.  On  the  11th 
September  1794,  she  wrote  a  letter  to  him  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  Dear  Errington, — That  you  have  betrayed  and  abandoned  the  most 
tender  and  aflfectionate  heart  that  ever  warmed  a  human  bosom,  cannot  be 
denied  by  any  person  who  is  in  the  least  acquainted  with  me.  Wretched 
and  miserable  as  I  have  been  since  you  left  me,  there  is  still  a  method  re- 
maininof  that  would  suspend,  for  a  time,  the  melancholy  sufferings  and  dis- 
tress Avhich  I  labour  under  at  this  moment;  and  still,  inhuman  as  tliou  art, 
I  am  half  persuaded,  when  I  tell  you  the  power  is  in  your  hands,  that  you 
will  not  withhold  it  from  me. — What  I  allude  to  is  the  permission  of 
seeing  you  once  more,  and,  perhaps,  for  the  last  time.  If  you  consider 
that  the  request  comes  from  a  woman  you  once  flattered  into  a  belief  of  her 
beino-  the  sole  possessor  of  your  love,  you  may  not  perhaps  think  it  unrea- 
sonable. Recollect,  however,  Errington,  ere  you  send  a  refusal,  that  the 
roarincr  of  the  tempest,  and  the  lightnings  from  heaven,  are  not  more  ter- 
rible than  the  rage  and  vengeance  of  a  disappointed  woman.  Hitherto  you 
can  only  answer  for  the  weakness  and  frailty  of  my  nature.  There  is  a 
further  knowledge  of  my  disposition  you  must  have  if  you  do  not  grant 
me  the  favour  demanded.  I  wish  it  to  come  voluntarily  from  yourself,  or 
else  I  will  force  it  from  you.  Believe  me,  in  that  case  I  would  seek  you 
in  the  farthest  corner  of  the  globe,  rush  into  your  presence,  and,  with  the 
same  rapture  that  nerved  the  arm  of  Charlotte  Cordet,  when  she  assassi- 
nated the  monster  jMarat,  would  I  put  an  end  to  the  existence  of  a  man, 
who  is  the  author  of  all'  the  agonies  and  care  that  at  present  oppress  the 
heart  of  "  Anne  Broadkic," 

"  P.  S.  This  comes  by  William  (the  servant  you  have  discarded  on  my 
account),  who  has  orders  to  wait  for  your  answer." 

Her  request  being  refused,  she  persisted  by  letters  to  endeavour  to  in- 
duce IMr.  Errington  to  permit  her  once  more  to  see  him,  but  finding  him 
inexorable,  she  wrote  to  him  that  if  nothing  could  induce  him  to  do  her  an 
act  of  justice,  he  must  prepare  himself  for  the  fatal  alternative,  as  she  was 
determined  that  he  should  not  long  survive  his  infidelity. 

To  this,  as  well  as  to  the  rest  of  her  letters,  Mr.  Errington  preserved  a 
btrict  silence,  and  in  about  a  month  after  i\Iiss  Broadric  carried  out  her 
dreadful  resolution.  On  Friday  morning,  the  15th  of  May,  she  dressed 
hsrself  elegantly,  and  going  to  the  Three  Nuns  Inn,  Whitechapel,  she  took 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  345 

her  place  in  the  Southend  coach,  which  passed  close  to  Mr.  Errington's  seat. 
Having  descended  at  the  avenue-gate,  she  went  towards  the  house,  but 
being  seen  by  Mr.  Errington,  he  begged  Mrs.  Errington  to  retire  for  a  few 
minutes,  saying  that  "  his  tormentor  was  coming,  but  that  lie  would  soon 
get  rid  of  Iier."  The  latter,  however,  desired  him  to  leave  the  interview  to 
her  management,  and  desiring  her  husband  to  go  into  the  drawing-room, 
she  awaited  the  arrival  of  j\Iiss  Broadric  in  the  parlour.  In  tlie  mean  time 
the  latter  had  entered  the  house  by  the  kitchen,  and  having  learned  from 
the  footman  that  Mr.  Errington  was  at  home,  she  was  proceeding  up 
stairs,  attended  by  the  gardener,  when  she  met  Mrs.  Errington.  She  de- 
manded to  see  Mr.  Errington,  and  was  told  that  he  was  not  to  be  seen,  but 
saying  "  I  am  not  to  be  so  satisfied ;  I  know  the  ways  of  tliis  house  too  well, 
and  will  search  for  him:"  she  rushed  up  stairs  into  the  drawing-room.  She 
there  found  the  object  of  her  inquiry,  and  going  up  to  him  she  suddenly 
drew  from  her  pocket  a  small  brass-barrelled  pistol,  with  a  new  bagged 
fiint,  and  presenting  it  to  his  left  side  in  a  direction  towards  his  heart, 
exclaimed,  '•'  Errington,  I  am  come  to  perform  my  dreadful  promise," 
and  she  immediately  fired.  Mrs.  Errington,  who  had  followed  her,  fainted, 
but  Miss  Broadric  observing  that  Mr.  Errington  did  not  fall,  she  said  that 
she  feared  she  had  not  despatched  him.  Mr.  Errington  demanded  to  know 
how  he  had  deserved  such  treatment  at  her  hands,  but  she  made  no  answer, 
and  the  servants,  alarmed  by  the  report  of  the  pistol,  then  coming  into  the 
room,  she  threw  the  pistol  on  the  carpet,  and  exclaimed,  laughing,  ^  Here, 
take  me;  hang  me  ;  do  what  you  like  with  me:  I  do  not  care  now."  Mr. 
Miller,  a  surgeon,  soon  after  attended,  and  found  that  the  ball  had  pene- 
trated the  lowest  rib,  had  cut  three  ribs  asunder,  and  then  passed  round  the 
back,  and  lodged  under  the  shoulder-bone,  from  whence  every  effort  was 
made  to  extract  it,  but  in  vain.  Mr.  Button,  a  magistrate,  now  came,  who 
took  the  examination  of  Mr.  Ei-rington  after  his  wound  was  dressed.  He 
asked  ]\Iiss  Broadric  what  could  induce  her  to  commit  &uch  an  act  of  ex- 
treme violence,  and  her  answer  was,  "  That  she  was  determined  tliat  neither 
JVIr.  Errington  nor  herself  should  long  outlive  her  lost  peace  of  mind  !" 
3Ir.  Errington  entreated  the  magistrate  not  to  detain  her  in  custody,  but 
let  her  depart,  as  he  Avas  sure  he  should  do  well;  but  this  request  Miss 
Broadric  refused  to  accept,  and  the  magistrate  to  grant.  Her  commit- 
ment being  made  out,  she  was  conveyed  that  evening  to  Chelmsford  jail, 
where  she  remained  tolerably  composed  till  she  heard  of  Mr.  Errington's 
death,  when  she  burst  into  a  flood  of  tears,  and  lamented  bitterly  that  she 
had  been  its  cause.  The  coroner's  inquest  sat  on  the  body  on  Tuesday, 
the  19th  of  May,  and  brought  in  their  verdict,  "  Wilful  murder,  by  the 
hands  of  Anne  Broadric."  Mr.  Errington  was  in  the  thirty -ninth  year  of 
his  age. 

Friday,  the  17th  of  July,  was  fixed  for  the  trial  of  the  prisoner,  and  at  six 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  prisoner  was  conveyed  from  the  jail,  in  a  chaise, 
to  a  room  in  the  shire-hall;  and  about  ten  minutes  before  the  Lord  Chief 
Baron  j\[acdonald,  the  sheriffs,  and  magistrates,  appeared  on  the  bench,  she 
was  conveyed  into  the  bail-dock  in  tlie  criminal  court,  attended  by  three 
ladies  and  her  apothecary.  She  was  dressed  in  mourning,  without  powder; 
and.  after  the  first  perturbations  were  over,  occasioned  by  the  concourse  of 
surrounding  spectators,  she  sat  down  on  a  ciiair  prepared  for  her.  and  waa 
tolerably  composed,  except  at  intervals,  when  she  discovered  violent  agita- 

VUL.     I.  Y  Y 


346  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

tions,  as  her  mind  became  afFected  by  various  objects  and  circvimstances. 
When  the  indictment  was  reading,  she  paid  a  marked  attention  to  it;  and  on 
tlie  words,  "  that  on  the  right  breast  of  the  said  G.  Errington  she  did  wilfully 
and  feloniously  inflict  one  mortal  wound,"  &c,  she  exclaimed,  "•  Oh,  my 
great  God ! "  and  burst  into  a  torrent  of  tears. 

The  facts  above  stated  having  been  proved  in  evidence,  the  prisoner's 
counsel  proceeded  to  call  witnesses  in  support  of  her  defence,  who  all  joined 
in  stating,  that  they  had  known  her  repeatedly  to  exhibit  symptoms  of 
insanity. 

This  defence  was  not  traversed  by  the  counsel  on  the  other  side,  and  the 
Jury,  after  a  few  minutes'  consideration,  returned  a  verdict  of  not  guilty. 

The  judges,  on  leaving  the  town,  after  the  assizes  were  over,  directed 
that  Miss  Broadric  should  be  examined  before  two  magistrates,  that  she 
mio-ht  be  safely  removed,  under  their  order,  to  the  place  of  her  settlement, 
with  a  particular  recommendation  annexed  thereto,  that  she  might  be  taken 
all  possible  care  of. 


THE  REV.  MR.  JACKSON, 

CONVICTED    OF    TREASON. 

In  connexion  with  the  case  of  the  unfortunate,  or  rather  the  fortunate, 
Mr.  Hamilton  Rowan,  this  case  may  prove  interesting,  as  showing  the  ex- 
tent to  which  that  gentleman  was  engaged  in  plotting  against  the  Govern- 
ment. Mr.  Jackson  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  a  minister  of  the  Church 
of  England.  Early  in  life  he  preached  at  Tavistock  Ciiapel,  London,  and 
for  several  years  resided  in  chambers  in  Lyon's  Inn;  but  the  emoluments 
of  his  clerical  occupation  not  attbrding  him  a  sufficient  subsistence,  he  ap- 
plied his  talents  to  literature,  and  was  for  a  considerable  time  editor  of  a 
newspaper,  in  which  situation  he  made  himself  very  conspicuous.  He 
afterwards  entered  into  a  criminal  conspiracy,  and  Avas  tried  at  Dublin  for 
high  treason,  on  the  :2:3d  of  April,  1795. 

The  indictment  charged  the  prisoner  with  two  species  of  treason,  namely, 
compassing  the  kind's  death,  and  adhering  to  his  enemies  ;  and  stated  four- 
teen overt  acts.  The  Attorney-general  opened  the  prosecution  on  the  part 
of  the  Crown  ;  and  having  dwelt  at  some  length  on  tlie  doctrine  of  treason, 
proceeded  to  substantiate  the  charges  in  the  indictment,  for  which  purpose 
he  called  Mr.  Cockayne,  an  attorney  of  London,  who  deposed  that  he  had 
been  for  a  series  of  years  the  law-agent  and  intimate  friend  of  Mr.  Jackson, 
who  a  few  years  since  went  to  France  (as  the  witness  understood)  to 
transact  some  private  business  for  J\Ir.  Pitt,  where  he  resided  a  consider- 
able time.  Soon  after  his  return,  Mr.  Cockayne  said  he  called  on  Jackson, 
who  told  him  in  confidence  that  he  had  formed  a  design  of  going  to  Ire- 
land, to  sound  the  people,  for  the  purpose  of  procuring  a  supply  of 
provisions,  &c.  from  them  for  the  French,  and  requested  him  (the  witness) 
to  accompany  him.  Having  accepted  the  invitation,  he  immediately 
waited  on  jMr.  Pitt,  and  discovered  to  him  the  whole  of  Mr.  Jackson's 
plans.  The  minister  thanked  him  for  the  information,  and  hinted  that, 
as  the  matter  was  to  become  a  subject  of  legal  investigation,  it  would  be 
necessary  for  him  to  substantiate  the  allegations ;  tiie  witness  in  conse- 
quence accompanied  Mr.  Jackson  to  Ireland,  for  the  purpose  of  making 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  347 

himself  acquainted  with  his  proceedings.  Shortly  after  their  arrival  ia 
Duhlin,  where  they  lived  together,  the  prisoner  expressed  a  wish  to  be 
introduced  to  Mr.  Hamilton  Rowan,  who  was  then  confined  in  Newgate; 
and  at  length,  through  the  interference  of  a  friend,  he  obtained  an  inter- 
view, at  which  Mr.  Cockayne  was  present.  In  the  course  of  conversation, 
the  prisoner  delivered  two  papers  to  Mr,  Rowan,  fur  the  purpose  of  con- 
vincing him  that  he  was  a  person  in  whom  he  might  confide.  From  tliat 
time  an  intimacy  took  place  between  tliem  ;  and  the  witness  always 
accompanied  Mr.  Jackson  in  his  visits  to  Mr.  Rowan,  and  constantly  took 
a  part  in  tlieir  conversation.  They  agreed,  he  said,  that  a  person  should 
be  sent  to  France  to  procure  a  force  to  make  a  descent  on  Ireland ;  and 
Counsellor  Wolfe  Tone  was  mentioned  as  a  fit  person  for  that  purpose, 
who  at  first  appeared  to  acquiesce,  but  afterwards  declined  the  office. 
Dr.  Reynolds  was  then  proposed  by  Mr.  Rowan,  but  objected  to  by  the 
prisoner,  as  he  did  not  understand  the  French  language.  It  was,  however, 
at  length  agreed  that  the  doctor  should  undertake  the  embassy ;  but  in  a 
short  time,  he  also  refused  to  enter  into  the  business.  On  this,  it  was 
agreed  that  Mr.  Jackson  should  write  several  letters,  which  were  directed 
for  a  Mr.  Stone,  of  the  firm  of  Lawrence  and  Co.,  London.  These  con- 
tained inclosures  for  houses  at  Hamburgh  and  Amsterdam  ;  and  some  of 
them,  to  the  French  agents,  described  the  situation  of  Ireland  at  the  time, 
invited  an  invasion,  and  pointed  out  tlie  proper  places  to  land.  These 
letters  having  been  sent  to  the  Post-office,  the  witness  went  to  the  secre- 
tary and  informed  him  of  the  subject  of  them,  on  which  they  were 
detained.  Tlie  plot,  matured  thus  far,  having  been  discovered,  the  pri- 
soner was  taken  into  custody. 

The  defence  was  grounded  upon  the  suggestion,  that  the  evidence 
adduced  in  support  of  the  prosecution  was  undeserving  of  credit ;  but  the 
jury  found  the  prisoner  guilty. 

A  motion,  in  arrest  of  judgment,  was  then  made  by  Mr.  Curran,  who 
appeared  as  counsel  for  the  prisoner,  on  a  point  of  law ;  in  consequence  of 
which,  he  was  remanded.  He  was  brought  up  again  on  the  3(»th  April ; 
when,  before  the  arguments  of  counsel  commenced,  he  was  observed  to  be 
in  a  sinking  state,  and  an  apothecary  being  called  in,  he  was  found  to 
have  taken  poison.  He  expired  almost  immediately  afterwards  in  the 
presence  of  the  Court  and  Bar. 


LEWIS  JEREMIAH  AVERSHAW. 

EXECUTED    FOR   MURDER,    IN    SHOOTING    A    PEACE-OFFICER. 

This  criminal  was  one  of  the  most  daring  and  unrepentant  sinners  that 
ever  died  by  the  hands  of  the  executioner.  Tliere  has  too  frequently  been, 
among  the  most  hardened,  an  affected  contempt  of  death,  and  a  fool- 
hardiness  of  behaviour,  on  their  exit  from  this  world,  which  makes  every 
one  shudder.     In  this  criminal  it  was  peculiarly  exemplified. 

Avershaw  was  an  old  offender,  and  had  committed  numerous  crimes 
which  called  aloud  for  justice.  He  was  at  length  brought  to  trial  at 
Croydon,  in  Surrey,  on  the  30th  of  July,  1795,  charged  on  two  indict- 
ments; one  for  having,  at  the  Tliree  Brewers'  public-house,  Southwark, 


348  THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

feloniously  shot  at,  and  murdered,  David  Price,  an  officer  belonging  to  the 
police-office,  held   at  Union  Hall,  in  the  Borough ;  the  other,  for  having, 
at  the   same  time  and  place,  fired   a  pistol  at  Bernard  Turner,  another 
officer  attached  to  that  office,  with  intent  to  murder  him.     Mr.  Garrow, 
the  leading  counsel  for  the  prosecution,  opened  the  case  by  stating,  that 
tlie  prisoner  at  the  bar,  being  a  person  of  ill-fame,  had  been  suspected  0/ 
havinof  perpetrated  a  number  of  felonies ;  and  the  magistrates  of  the  police- 
office  in  the  borough  of  Southwarh,  having  received  information  against 
him,  sent,  as  was  their  duty,  an  order  for  his  apprehension.     To  execute 
the  warrant,  the  deceased.  Price,  and  another  officer,  went  to  the  Three 
Brewers,  a  public-house,  where  they  understood  he  was  drinking  in  com- 
pany with  some  other  persons.     At  the  entrance  of  a  parlour  in  the  house 
the  prisoner  appeared  in  a  posture  of  resistance  ;  and  holding  a  loaded  pistol 
in  each  of  his  hands  he,  with  threats  and  imprecations,  desired  the  officers 
to  stand  off,  as  he  would  otherwise  fire  at  them.     The  officers,  however, 
attempted   to  rush  in  and  seize  him  ;  on  which  he  discharged  both  the 
pistols  at  the  same  instant,  lodging  the  contents  of  one  in  the  body  of 
Price,  and  with  the  other  wounding  Turner  very  severely  in  the  head.   Price, 
after  lanouishing  a  few  hours,  died  of  the  wound.     Mr.  Garrow  was  very 
pathetic  and  animated  in  his  description  of  tlie  several  circumstances  com- 
posing the  shocking  act  of  barbarity.     To  prove  it,  he  would  call  four 
witnesses,  whose  evidence,  he  said,  would  clearly  establish  the  prisoner's 
guilt.     He  accordingly  called  Turner,  the  landlord  of  the  house,  a  surgeon, 
and  a  fourth  witness ;  but,  as  the  substance  of  their  evidence  is  comprised 
in  the  opening  of  the  indictment,  it  would  be  superfluous  to  repeat  it. 
Turner  said  positively,  that  he  saw  the  prisoner  discharge  the  pistols,  from 
one  of  which  he  himself  received  his  wound,  and  the  contents  of  the  other 
were  lodged  in  the  body  of  Price,  who  died  very  shortly  after.     The  sur- 
geon proved   that  the   death   was   in   consequence  of  the  w^ound.     Mr, 
Knowlys  and  Mr.  Best  were  counsel  for  the  prisoner ;  but  the  weight  of 
the  evidence  against  him  was  too  strong  to  be  combated  by  any  exertions. 
Mr.  Baron  Perry n  summed  up  the  evidence;  and  the  jury,  after  a  con- 
sultation   of   about    three    minutes,    pronounced   the   verdict   of    guilty. 
Throuo-h   a  flaw    in  the  indictment    for    the  murder,   an  objection   was 
taken  by  counsel.     This  was  urged  nearly  two   hours,  when  Mr.  Baron 
Perryn  intimating  a  wish  to  take  the  opinion  of  the  twelve  judges,  the 
counsel  for  the  prosecution,  waving  the  point  for  the  present,  insisted  on 
the    prisoner's    being   tried   on     the    second    indictment,    for    feloniously 
shootino-  at  Bernard  Turner.     He  was  accordingly  tried ;  and,  upon  the 
testimony  of  one  witness,  found  guilty  on  a  second  capital  indictment. 
The  prisoner,  who,  contrary  to  general  expectation,  had  in  a  great  mea- 
sure hitherto  refrained  from  his  usual  audacity,  now  began  with  unparal- 
leled insolence  of  expression  and  gesture,  to  ask  his  lordship  if  he  "  was  to 
be  murdered  by  the  evidence  of  one  witness?"  several  times  repeating  the 
question,  till  the  jury  returned  him — guilty.      AYhen  Mr.  Baron  Perryn 
put  on  the  black  cap,  the  prisoner,  regardless  of  his  dreadful  situation, 
at  the  same  time  put  on  his  hat,  observing  the  judge  with  contemptuous 
looks  while  he  was  passing  the  sentence. 

When  the  constables  were  removing  him  from  the  dock  to  a  coach,  he 
continued  to  vent  torrents  of  abuse  against  the  judge  and  jury,  whom  he 
charged  with,  as  he  styled  it,  his  murder.     As  his  desperate  disposition 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  ^49 

was  well  known,  he  was,  to  prevent  resistance,  handcuffed,  and  his  thighs 
%nd  arms  also  bound  strongly  together  ;  in  which  situation  he  was  -lon- 
veyed  back  to  prison.  So  callous  was  this  ruffian  to  every  degree  of  feeling, 
that  on  his  way  to  be  tried,  as  he  was  passing  near  the  usual  place  of  exe- 
cution on  Kennington  Common,  he  put  his  head  out  of  the  coach  window, 
and,  with  all  the  sangfroid  imaginable,  asked  some  of  those  who  guarded 
liim,  if  they  did  not  think  he  would  be  Hcisted  on  that  pretty  spot  by 
Saturday  ?  After  receiving  sentence  of  death,  he  was  conducted  back  to 
prison ;  where  having  got  some  black  cherries,  he  amused  himself  with 
painting  on  the  white  walls  of  the  room  in  which  he  was  confined,  various 
sketches  of  robberies  which  he  had  committed ;  one  representing  him 
running  up  to  the  horses'  heads  of  a  post-chaise,  presenting  a  pistol  at  the 
driver,  and  the  words, — "  D — n  your  eyes,  stop,"  issuing  out  of  his 
mouth ;  another  exhibited  a  scene,  where  he  was  firing  into  the  chaise ; 
a  third,  wliere  the  parties  had  quitted  the  carriage,  and  several  others,  in 
which  he  was  described  in  the  act  of  taking  the  money  from  the  passen- 
gers, being  fired  at,  where  his  companions  were  shot  dead,  &c. 

At  the  place  of  execution,  he  appeared  entirely  unconcerned.  He  had 
a  flower  in  his  mouth,  his  bosom  was  thrown  open,  and  he  kept  up  an 
incessant  conversation  with  the  persons  who  rode  beside  the  cart ;  fre- 
quently laughing  and  nodding  to  others  of  his  acquaintance,  whom  he 
perceived  in  the  crowd. 

He  suffered  August  3,  1795,  at  Kennington  Common. 


WILLIAM  TILLEY,  JOHN  CROSSWELL,  GEORGE  HARD- 
WICK,  JAMES  HAYDEN,  JOHN  HAWDEN,  SIMON 
JACOBS,  JOHN  SOLOMONS,  JOHN  PHILLIPS,  AND 
JOHN  HENLEY. 

CONVICTED    OF    A    CONSPIRACY. 

This  most  extraordinary  conspiracy  to  procure  the  liberation  of  a  prisoner 
occurred  on  the  4th  of  April  1795. 

It  appears  that  a  fellow  named  Isdwell,  a  Jew,  stood  charged  with  a 
forgery  on  the  Stamp-Office,  and  for  security  was  committed  to  the  custody 
of  the  keeper  of  the  New  Prison,  Clerkenwell.  On  the  day  in  question, 
he  persuaded  two  of  the  turnkeys  that  an  aunt  of  his,  who  was  very  rich, 
then  lay  at  tlie  point  of  death,  and  that  he  had  been  informed  that,  could 
she  see  him  before  she  died,  she  would  give  him  one  thousand  pounds. 

He  proposed,  therefore,  that  if  they  would  let  him  out,  and  accompany 
him  to  the  place,  he  would  give  tliem  fifty  guineas  each  for  their  trouble : 
and  suggested  that  the  matter  might  be  effected  without  the  knowledge  of 
the  keeper  of  the  prison,  or  any  other  person,  they  having  the  keys  of  it  at 
night,  and  the  time  required  being  very  short.  To  this  proposal  the  turn  - 
keys  agreed  ;  and  accordingly,  about  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  gates 
were  opened,  and  Isdwell,  with  his  irons  on,  was  conducted  in  a  hackney- 
coach  by  one  of  them,  armed  with  a  blunderbuss,  to  the  house  in  Artillerj'- 
lane,  Bishopsgate-street,  where,  inquiring  for  the  sick  lady,  they  were 
ushered  up  stairs. 


350  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Isdwcll  entered  the  room  first,  on  which  several  fellows  rushed  forth, 
and  attempted  to  keep  tlie  turnkey  out ;  but,  not  succeeding,  they  put 
the  candles  out,  wrested  the  blunderbuss  out  of  his  hand,  and  discharged 
it  at  liim.  At  this  instant  Isdwell  was  endeavouring  to  make  his  escape 
out  of  the  window,  but  he  received  the  whole  charge  in  his  body,  and  fell 
dead  on  the  spot.  A  desperate  conflict  then  took  place,  in  the  course  of 
which  the  jailor  was  very  severely  beaten,  but  some  persons  being  attracted 
to  the  spot  by  the  uproar,  the  officer  was  rescued,  and  the  prisoners  were 
apprehended,  and  lodged  in  safe  custody. 

The  prisoners  were  tried  for  the  murder  of  their  companion,  to  which 
their  oU'ence  in  reality  amounted,  his  death  having  been  caused  by  them  in 
executing  an  unlawful  deed,  on  the  lilst  April;  but  the  prosecution  failed 
in  consequence  of  the  absence  of  any  proof  to  establish  the  fact  distinctly, 
the  occurrence  having  happened  in  the  dark  ;  but,  being  detained  to  be 
tried  for  the  conspiracy  to  procure  the  liberation  of  the  deceased  Isdwell, 
they  were  convicted,  and  received  sentence  of  transportation. 


CHARLES  SCOLDWELL. 

CONVICTED    OF    STEALING. 

The  case  of  this  fellow  may  prove  a  wholesome  lesson  to  some  of  the 
constables  and  bailiffs  of  the  present  day. 

The  very  remarkable  transaction,  upon  which  the  indictment  against 
the  prisoner  arose,  took  place  at  Bedfont ;  and  the  trial  came  on  at  the 
Old  Bailey,  on  the  23rd  July  1796^  The  indictment  charged  the  pri- 
soner with  feloniously  stealing,  taking,  and  carrying  away  two  live  tame 
ducks,  the  property  of  John  Spurling,  on  the  22nd  of  the  previous  month 
of  June. 

From  the  evidence  which  was  adduced,  it  appeared  that  Mr.  Spurling 
was  a  baker  at  Bedfont,  and  that  the  prisoner  was  a  bailiff.  On  the  22nd 
June,  the  latter  was  entrusted  with  a  writ  of  execution  against  Mr.  Spur- 
ling ;  and  accompanied  by  his  follower,  a  man  named  Taylor,  he  pro- 
ceeded to  Bedfont,  to  secure  his  person.  The  debt  amounted  to  161.  7s.  ; 
and  at  two  o'clock  at  niglit  the  prisoner  made  his  appearance  at  the  pro- 
secutor's house.  Upon  his  being  required  to  explain  his  business,  he  said 
that  he  had  a  writ,  and  that  Mr.  Spurling  must  accompany  him  to  New- 
gate. Mr.  Spurling  demurred  at  proceeding  to  prison  at  so  late  an  hour 
at  night,  and  suggested  that  he  might  settle  the  demand  ;  but  the  prisoner, 
with  all  the  insolence  usually  assumed  by  persons  holding  similar  situa- 
tions, declared  that  there  was  no  use  in  talking,  and  that  the  prosecutor 
must  hire  a  post-chaise,  and  go  off  with  him  at  once.  This  new  demand 
of  a  post-chaise  was  looked  upon  as  a  hardship,  almost  equal  to  that  of 
going  to  prison,  by  Mr.  Spurling,  and  he  offered  his  own  one-horse  chaise 
for  the  purpose  of  his  transportation  to  town,  but  all  was  of  no  avail  ;  the 
baihff  and  the  bully  were  imited  in  the  person  of  Mr.  Sculdwell,  and 
nothing  but  a  post-chaise  and  an  immediate  visit  to  Newgate  would  suit 
his  pleasure.  At  length,  however,  Mr.  Taylor,  his  follower,  whose  caution 
was  rather  greater  than  that  of  his  master,  ventured  to  inquire  what  sort 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  51 

of  a  settlement  could  be  tendered  by  Mr.  Spurling,  and  the  latter  imme- 
diately offered  to  pay  15^.,  which  he  had  in  tlie  house,  and  to  give  security 
for  the  remainder  of  the  debt.  "  Have  you  a  watch  ?"  peremptorily  de- 
manded Mr.  Scoldwell,  "  if  so,  I  must  have  it ;"  and  the  poor  baker  was 
cjompelled  to  give  up  his  watch,  worth  four  times  the  amount  of  the 
balance  of  the  demand.  The  officer,  however,  was  not  yet  satisfied. 
"  Such, gentlemen  as  we,"  said  he,  "  cannot  come  into  the  country  without 
sometliing  to  cover  our  expenses.  You  must  pay  us  for  our  trouble  and 
time;"  and  ten  shillings  in  halfpence,  the  amount  of  the  day's  earnings 
in  the  shop,  were  handed  over  to  him.  His  wife  was  as  much  an  object 
of  consideration  as  himself,  he  next  suggested.  She  had  been  deprived  of 
his  company,  and  he  must  cany  something  to  her  by  way  of  a  recompense- 
Were  there  no  fowls  in  the  house  ?  Mr.  Spurling  had  none.  A  goose 
would  do ; — Mrs.  Scoldwell  was  very  fond  of  goose,  and  Mr.  Spurling 
being  entitled  to  a  goose  which  was  feeding  on  the  common,  Taylor  was 
despatched  to  take  possession  of  it  on  behalf  of  his  master.  Still,  however, 
the  bailiff  was  dissatisfied  ;  and  he  demanded  that  some  additional  security 
should  be  given  for  the  debt;  and  having  discovered  that  the  baker  had  a 
lease  of  his  house,  he  procured  that  also  to  be  delivered  to  him,  together 
with  a  note  for  forty  pounds,  with  a  condition,  that  unless  the  debt  and 
costs  were  paid  witliin  twenty-one  days  all  should  be  his.  Thus  pretty 
well  secured,  the  prisoner,  between  four  and  five  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
proposed  to  depart,  and  the  baker  proceeded  to  his  oven.  While  there, 
however,  he  saw  the  prisoner  go  to  his  stable  where  his  ducks  were  con- 
fined, and  in  the  morning  the  two  ducks,  mentioned  in  the  indictment, 
were  found  to  have  been  carried  off.  On  his  way  to  London,  tlie  prisoner 
joked  with  the  stage-coachman  about  his  having  done  the  baker  out  of  his 
watch,  and  having  carried  off  his  ducks  without  his  knowledge ;  and  Mr. 
Spurling  having  subsequently  redeemed  his  wiitch,  lease,  and  tlie  note  of 
hand  for  40^.,  by  paying  the  balance  of  the  debt  and  the  costs,  he  immedi- 
ately gave  the  prisoner  into  custody. 

These  facts  being  clearly  proved  in  evidence,  the  Recorder  summed  up 
the  case  to  the  jury,  and  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  returned. 

The  prisoner  was  afterwards  sentenced  to  seven  years'  transportation  a 
punishment  which  he  richly  deserved. 


•JOSEPH  HODGES  AND  RICHARD  PROBIN. 

CONVICTED    OF    CROSS    DROPPIXG. 

The  trick  of  cross-dropping  has  become  so  notorious  of  late  years,  that 
any  description  of  the  mode  in  which  it  was  practised  is  almost  unneces- 
sary. As,  however,  tliis  is  the  first  case  of  the  kind  with  which  we  have 
met  in  the  course  of  our  search  in  the  records  of  crime,  we  shall  give  it  a 
piitte  in  our  calendar. 

The  dupe,  in  this  instance,  was  William  Headley,  an  ironmonger  at 
Cambridge,  who,  on  the  trial  of  these  robbers,  deposed  that  on  the  7th  of 
July  1796,  he  was  in  town,  goUig  from  Shoe-lane  to  the  Angel  Inn,  St. 
Clement's,  to  take  a  place  on  the  outside  of  the  coach  to  go  into  Wiltsliire : 


352  THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

sv^hen  he  met  Hodges  who  was  a  stranger  in  Butcher-row,  and  left  him  to 
take  his  place.  He  went  on  to  Clare  Market,  where  Hodges  overtook  him, 
and  they  walked  together  through  Portugal- street.  While  in  that  street 
Hodcres  suddenly  stopped,  and  clapping  his  cane  on  a  parcel  which  was  lying 
on  the  ground,  said  that  he  had  a  "  finding."  He  picked  up  the  parcel, 
and  opened  the  outer  covering,  and  the  witness  saw  in  it  something  like  a 
red  pocket-book.  He  inquired  what  it  was  ?  but  the  prisoner  refused  to 
show  him  in  the  street,  and  they,  in  consequence,  went  into  a  public-house 
in  order  to  open  it.  Having  called  for  some  liquor,  the  prisoner  opened  tne 
parcel,  and  produced  from  it  what  looked  like  a  diamond  cross,  and  a 
receipt  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  London.  20th  June,  1796.  Received  of  John  King,  Esq.  the  sum  of 
three  hundred  and  twenty  pounds,  for  one  brilliant  diamond  cross,  by  me, 
William  Smith." 

The  prisoner  seemed  much  alarmed  and  confused  on  seeing  this,  but  the 
witness  havincr  read  the  receipt,  suggested  that  the  parcel  should  be  taken 
to  Mr.  Smith.  This,  however,  was  opposed  by  Hodges,  who  asked  whe- 
ther they  had  not  better  inquire  of  the  gentleman  sitting  by  (the  prisoner 
Probin)  what  his  opinion  was?  This  was  assented  to,  and  upon  his  being 
addressed,  he  suggested  that  Hodges  ought  to  give  the  witness  a  present, 
as  havincr  been  by  when  the  cross  was  found,  and  that  he  should  keep  it. 
The  cross  was  then  taken  out  and  examined,  and  Hodges  said  that  he  did 
not  mind  orivincr  the  witness  something,  but  he  must  go  to  his  banker's 
first,  and  get  some  drafts  changed.  He  then  went  out,  leaving  the  cross 
with  the  witness  and  Probin,  but  returned,  saying  that  ^  his  bauKer  was 
out,  and  could  not  be  seen  until  four  o'clock,  and  a  meeting  at  that  hour 
was  eventually  appointed  to  take  place  at  the  Angel  Inn,  St.  Clerosnt's. 
Each  party  then  gave  his  name.  Hodges  said  that  he  came  from  Worces- 
ter, and  was  a  hop-merchant ;  and  Probin  said  that  his  name  was  William 
Jones,  and  that  he  lived  at  No.  7,  Charing-cross.  A  discussion  now  took 
place,  to  whom  the  care  of  the  cross  should  be  entrusted;  and  Probin  sug- 
gested, that  the  witness  perhaps  would  be  better  satisfied  if  it  were  left  in 
his  hands,  and  that  if  he  deposited  something  he  might  carry  it  away  until 
four  o'clock.  He  asked  what  would  be  required,  and  they  said  that  he 
ought  to  leave  one  hundred  pounds  at  least.  He  then  produced  a  Bank 
bill,  pavable  on  demand,  for  that  amount  from  his  stocking,  where  he  had 
concealed  it,  and  handing  it  to  Hodges,  he  said  that  that  would  do.  The 
witness  then  went  away,  but  subsequently  showing  the  cross  to  a  friend, 
he  found  that  it  was  quite  valueless.  Information  was,  in  consequence, 
given  at  Bow-street  of  the  robbery,  and  both  prisoners  were  apprehended 
in  the  course  of  the  ensuing  day,  money  to  the  amount  of  nearly  fifty 
pounds  being  found  on  each.  It  afterwards  turned  out,  that  the  pri- 
soner Hodc^es  changed  Mr.  Headley's  Bank  bill  almost  immediately 
after  he  had  received  it.  In  his  possession  was  found  a  second  cros«. 
precisely  similar  to  that  palmed  off  upon  the  prosecutor. 

The  prisoners  being  found  guilty,  were   sentenced   to  be  transported 
for  seven  years. 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  853 

THE   MUTINY   AT   THE   NORE. 
RICHARD  PARKER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MUTINY. 

In  the  year  1797,  when  the  threatening  aspect  of  affairs  abroad  made 
the  condition  of  her  naval  force  a  matter  of  vital  consequence  to  Britain, 
several  most  alarming  mutinies  broke  out  among  the  various  fleets  stationed 
around  the  sliores  of  the  country.  In  April  of  the  year  mentioned,  the 
seamen  of  the  grand  fleet  lying  at  Portsmouth  disowned  the  authority  of 
their  officers,  seized  upon  the  ships,  and  declared  their  determination  not 
to  lift  an  anchor,  or  obey  any  orders  whatsoever,  until  certain  grievances  of 
which  they  complained  were  redressed.  After  some  delay,  satisfactory 
concessions  were  made  to  them  by  the  government,  and  the  men  returned 
to  their  duty.  But  the  spirit  of  insubordination  had  spread  amonof  other 
squadrons  in  the  service,  and  about  the  middle  of  May,  immediately  after 
the  Portsmouth  fleet  had  sailed  peacefully  for  the  Bay  of  Biscay,  the  sea- 
men of  the  large  fleet  lying  at  the  Nore  broke  out  also  into  open  mutiny. 
The  most  prominent  personage  in  this  insurrection  was  an  individual  named 
Richard  Parker,  whose  history  it  is  our  object  in  this  paper  to  lay  before 
the  reader. 

Richard  Parker  was  a  native  of  Exeter,  where  he  was  born  about  the 
year  1765  or  1766.  His  father  was  a  reputable  tradesman,  and  kept  a 
baker's  shop  at  St.  Sidwell's,  in  the  bounds  of  the  city  mentioned.  Young 
Parker  received  an  excellent  education,  and  in  the  course  of  time  went  to 
sea,  which  he  had  chosen  as  the  scene  of  his  future  career.  He  served  for 
a  considerable  period  in  the  royal  navy  as  midshipman  and  master's  mate, 
and  at  one  period  also,  it  is  said,  lield  the  post  of  lieutenant.  He  appears 
to  have  given  up  the  naval  profession  on  his  marriage  with  Wiss  Ann 
Slachardy,  a  young  lady  resident  in  Exeter,  but  of  Scottish  origin,  being  a 
member  of  a  respectable  family  in  the  county  of  Aberdeen.  This  connexion 
led  Parker  to  remove  to  Scotland,  where  he  embarked  in  some  mercantile 
speculations  that  proved  unsuccessful.  The  issue  was,  that  he  ere  long 
found  himself  involved  in  difliculties,  and  without  the  means  to  maintain 
his  wife  and  two  cliildren.  In  Edinburgh,  where  these  embarrassments 
fell  \ipon  him,  he  had  no  friends  to  apply  to,  and,  in  a  moment  of  despe- 
ration, he  took  the  king's  bounty,  and  became  a  common  sailor  on  board  a 
tender  at  Leith.  When  he  communicated  to  his  wife  the  step  ho  had 
taken,  she  was  in  the  greatest  distress,  and  resolved  to  set  off  instantly  for 
Aberdeen,  in  order  to  procure  from  her  brother  there  the  means  of  hiring 
two  seamen  as  substitutes  for  her  husband.  Though  successful  in  raising 
the  necessary  funds,  no  time  was  allowed  her  to  complete  her  project.  On 
her  return  from  Aberdeen,  she  was  only  in  time  to  see  the  tender  sail  for 
the  Nore,  with  her  husband  on  board.  Her  grief  on  this  occasion  was  bit- 
terly aggravated  by  the  death  of  one  of  her  children.  Parker's  sufferings 
were  shown  to  be  equally  acute  by  his  conduct  when  the  vessel  sailed. 
Exclaiming  that  he  saw  the  body  of  his  child  floating  on  the  waves,  he 
leaped  overboard,  and  was  with  difficulty  rescued  and  restored  to  life. 

It  was  in  the  beginning  of  May  1797  that  Parker  reached  the  Nore,  or 
point  of  land  dividing  the  mouths  of  tlie  Thames  and  the  Medway-     TSto- 

VOL.  I.  z  z 


354  THE    NEW   NRWGATl     CALENDAR. 

bably  on  account  of  his  former  experience  and  station  as  a  seaman,  he  wag 
drafted  on  board  the  Sandwich,  which  was  the  guard-ship,  and  bore  the 
flag  of  Admiral  Buckner,  the  port-admiral.  The  mutinous  spirit  which 
afterwards  broke  out,  certainly  existed  on  board  of  the  Nore  squadron  be- 
fore Parkei''s  arrival.  Communications  were  kept  up  in  secret  between  the 
various  crews,  and  the  mischief  was  gradually  drawing  to  a  head.  But 
though  he  did  not  originate  the  feeling  of  insul)Oidination,  the  ardent  tem- 
per, boldness,  and  superior  intelligence  of  Parker,  soon  became  known  to 
his  comrades,  and  he  became  a  prominent  man  among  them.  Their  plans 
being  at  length  matured,  the  seamen  rose  simultaneously  against  their 
officers,  and  deprived  them  of  their  arms,  as  well  as  of  all  command  in  the 
ships,  though  behaving  respectfully  to  them  in  all  other  respects.  Each 
vessel  was  put  under  the  government  of  a  committee  of  twelve  men,  and, 
to  represent  the  whole  body  of  seamen,  every  man-of-war  appointed  two 
delegates,  and  each  gun-boat  one,  to  act  for  the  common  good.  Of  these 
delegates  Richard  Parker  was  chosen  president,  and,  in  an  unhappy  hour 
for  himself,  he  accepted  the  office.  This  representative  body  drew  up  a 
list  of  grievances,  of  which  they  demanded  the  removal,  offering  to  return 
immediately  afterwards  to  their  duty.  It  is  unnecessary  to  specify  these 
demands  further,  than  that  they  related  to  increase  of  pay  and  provisions, 
a  Jiore  equal  division  of  prize-money,  liberty  to  go  on  shore,  proper  pay- 
ment of  arrears,  and  other  points  of  naval  discipline.  A  committee  of 
naval  inquiry  subsequently  grrtH^ecZ  almost  all  that  was  demanded,  thereby 
acknowledging  the  general  justice  of  the  complaints  made.  Parker  signed 
these  documents,  and  they  were  published  over  the  whole  kingdom  with 
his  name,  as  well  as  presented  to  Port-admiral  Buckner,  through  whom 
they  were  sent  to  government. 

When  these  proceedings  commenced,  the  mutineers  were  suffered  to  go 
on  shore,  and  they  paraded  about  Sheerness,  where  a  part  of  the  fleet  lay, 
with  music,  flags  (red  in  colour — the  customary  hue  of  insubordination), 
and  other  appendages  of  a  triumphal  procession.  But,  on  the  22d  of  May, 
troops  were  sent  to  Sheerness  to  put  a  stop  to  this  indulgence.  Being  thus 
confined  to  their  ships,  the  mutineers,  having  come  to  no  agreement  with 
Admiral  Buckner,  began  to  take  more  decisive  measures  for  extorting  com- 
pliance with  their  demands,  as  well  as  for  insuring  their  own  safety.  The 
vessels  at  Sheerness  moved  down  to  the  Nore,  and  the  combined  force  of 
the  insurgents,  which  at  its  greatest  height  consisted  of  twenty-four  sail, 
proceeded  to  block  up  the  Thames,  by  refusing  a  free  passage,  up  or  down, 
to  the  London  trade.  Foreign  vessels,  and  a  few  small  craft,  were  suffered 
to  go  by,  first  receiving  a  passport,  signed  by  Richard  Parker  as  president 
of  the  delegates.  In  a  day  or  two  the  mutineers  had  an  immense  number 
of  vessels  under  detention.  The  mode  in  which  they  kept  these  was  as 
follows  : — The  ships  of  war  were  ranged  in  a  line,  at  considerable  distances 
from  each  other,  and  in  the  interspaces  were  placed  the  merchant-vessels, 
having  the  broadsides  of  the  men-of-war  pointed  to  them.  The  appear- 
ance of  the  whole  assemblage  is  described  as  having  been  at  once  grand 
and  appalling.  The  red  flag  floated  from  the  mast-head  of  every  one  of 
the  mutineer  ships,  It  may  be  well  imagined  that  the  alarm  of  the  citi- 
zens of  London  was  extreme.  The  government,  however,  though  unable 
at  the  period  to  quell  the  insurgents  by  force,  remained  firm  in  their  de- 
mand of  "  unconditional  submission  as  a  necessary  preliminary  to  any  in- 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  355 

tercourse."  This,  perhaps,  was  the  very  best  line  of  conduct  tliat  could 
have  been  adopted.  The  seamen,  to  their  great  honour,  never  seemed  to 
think  of  assuming  an  offensive  attitude,  and  were  thereby  left  in  quiet  to 
meditate  on  the  dangerous  position  in  which  they  stood  in  hostility  to  a 
whole  country.  They  grew  timorous ;  the  more  so,  as  the  government  had 
caused  all  the  buoys  to  be  removed  from  the  mouth  of  the  Thames  and  tlie 
adjacent  coasts,  so  that  no  vessel  durst  attempt  to  move  away  for  fear  of 
running  aground.  The  mutineering  vessels  held  together,  nevertheless,  till 
the  30th  of  ]\Iay,  when  the  Clyde  frigate  was  carried  off  through  a  combi- 
nation of  its  ofi&cers  with  some  of  the  seamen,  and  was  followed  by  the  St. 
Fiorenzo.     These  vessels  were  fired  upon,  but  escaped  up  the  river. 

On  the  4th  of  June,  the  king's  birth-day,  the  Nore  fleet  showed  that 
their  loyalty  to  their  sovereign  was  undiminished,  by  firing  a  general  sa- 
lute. On  the  5th,  another  frigate  left  the  fleet,  but  its  place  was  supplied 
by  a  sloop  and  four  men-of-war,  which  had  left  Admiral  Duncan's  fleet  at 
the  Texel  to  join  the  mutiny.  On  the  6th,  Lord  Northesk  met  the  dele- 
gates by  desire  on  board  the  Sandwich,  and  received  from  them  proposals 
for  an  accommodation,  to  which  the  unfortunate  Parker  still  put  his  name 
as  president.  The  answer  was  a  direct  refusal,  and  this  firmness  seems  to 
have  fairly  humbled  the  remaining  spirit  of  the  mutineers.  From  that 
time  one  vessel  after  another  deserted  the  band,  and  put  themselves  under 
the  protection  of  the  fort  at  Sheemess.  On  the  10th,  the  merchantmen 
were  allowed  by  common  consent  to  pass  up  the  river,  and  such  a  multitude 
of  ships  certainly  never  entered  a  port  by  one  tide.  By  the  12th,  only 
seven  ships  had  the  red  flag  flying,  and  on  the  16th  the  mutiny  had  ter- 
minated, every  ship  having  been  restored  to  the  command  of  its  officers.  A 
party  of  soldiers  went  on  board  the  Sandwich,  and  to  them  the  officers  sur- 
rendered the  delegates  of  the  ship,  namely,  a  man  named  Davies,  and 
Richard  Parker. 

Richard  Parker,  to  whom  the  title  of  Admiral  Parker  had  been  given 
by  the  fleet  and  by  the  public  during  the  whole  of  this  affair,  was  the  indi- 
vidual on  whom  all  eyes  were  turned  as  the  ringleader  of  the  mutineers 
He  was  brought  singly  to  trial  on  the  22d  of  June,  after  being  confined 
during  the  interval  in  the  black-hole  of  Sheerness  garrison.  Ten  officers, 
under  the  presidency  of  Vice- Admiral  Sir  Thomas  Paisley,  composed  the 
court-martial,  which  sat  on  board  the  Neptune,  off  Greenhithe.  The  pri- 
soner conducted  his  own  defence,  exhibiting  great  presence  of  mind,  and 
preserving  a  respectful  and  manly  deference  throughout  for  his  judges. 
The  prosecution  on  the  part  of  the  Crown  lasted  two  days,  and  on  the  26th, 
Parker  called  witnesses  in  his  favour,  and  read  a  long  and  able  defence 
which  he  had  previously  prepared.  The  line  of  argument  adp])ted  by  him 
was — that  the  situation  he  had  held  had  been  in  a  measure  forced  upon 
him;  that  he  had  consented  to  assume  it  chiefly  from  the  hope  of  restrain- 
ing the  men  from  excesses;  that  he  had  restrained  t.iem  in  various  in- 
stances; that  he  might  have  taken  all  the  ships  to  sea,  or  to  an  enemy's 
ports,  had  his  motives  been  disloyal,  &c.  &c.  Parker  unquestionably 
spoke  the  truth  on  many  of  these  points.  Throughout  the  whole  affair, 
the  injury  done  to  property  was  trifling,  the  taking  of  some  flour  from  a 
vessel  being  the  chief  act  of  the  kind.  Tliis  was  mainly  owing  to  him. 
But  he  had  indubitably  been  the  head  of  the  mutineers.  lie  was  proved 
to  iiave  gone  from  ship  to  ship  giving  orders,  and  haranguing  the  uien — te 


356  THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

have  been  cheered  as  he  passed  along,  and  treated  with  the  honours  cf  a 
chief.  Nothing  could  save  him.  He  was  sentenced  to  death.  When  hia 
doom  was  pronounced,  he  stood  up,  and  uttered  these  words  in  a  firm  voice: 
"  I  shall  submit  to  your  sentence  with  all  due  respect,  being  confident  of 
the  innocence  of  my  intentions,  and  that  God  will  receive  me  into  favour; 
and  I  smcerely  hope  that  my  death  will  be  the  means  of  restoring  tran- 
quillity to  the  navy,  and  that  those  men  who  have  been  implicated  in  the 
business  may  be  reinstated  in  their  former  situations,  and  again  be  ser- 
viceable to  their  country." 

On  the  morning  of  the  30th  of  June,  the  yellow  flag,  the  signal  of  death, 
was  hoisted  on  b  ard  of  the  Sandwich,  where  Richard  Parker  lay,  and 
where  he  was  to  meet  his  fate.  The  whole  fleet  was  ranged  a  little  below 
Sheerness,  in  sight  of  the  Sandwich,  and  the  crew  of  every  ship  was  piped 
to  the  forecastle.  Parker  was  awaked  from  a  sound  sleep  on  that  mom- 
ino-,  and  after  being  shaved,  he  dressed  himself  in  a  suit  of  deep  mourning. 
He  mentioned  to  his  attendants  that  he  had  made  a  will,  leaving  his  wife 
heir  to  some  property  belonging  to  him.  On  coming  to  the  deck,  he  was 
pale,  but  perfectly  composed,  and  drank  a  glass  of  wine  "  to  the  salvation 
of  his  soul,  and  forgiveness  of  all  his  enemies  1"  He  said  nothing  to  his 
mates  on  the  forecastle  but  "  Good  bye  to  you,"  and  expressed  a  hope 
that  "  his  death  would  be  deemed  a  sufficient  atonement,  and  save  the 
lives  of  others  i ''  He  was  strung  up  to  the  yard-arm  at  half-past  nine 
o'clock.  A  dead  silence  reigned  among  the  crews  around  during  the  cere- 
mony. In  closing  their  account  of  this  aftair,  the  journals  of  the  day  state 
that  the  body  of  Parker  was  put  into  a  shell,  and  interred,  within  an  hour 
or  two  after  the  execution,  in  the  New  Naval  Burying  Ground  at  Sheer- 
ness.  A  curious  sequel  to  this  account,  however,  it  is  now  in  our  power 
to  present  to  the  reader. 

Richard  Parker's  unfortunate  wife  had  not  left  Scotland,  when  the 
rumour  came  to  her  ears  that  the  Nore  fleet  had  mutinied,  and  that  the 
ringleader  was  one  Richard  Parker.  She  could  not  doubt  that  this  was 
her  husband,  and  immediately  took  a  place  in  the  mail  for  London,  to  save 
him  if  possible.  On  her  arrival,  she  heard  that  Parker  had  been  tried, 
but  the  result  was  unknown.  Being  able  to  think  of  no  way  but  petition- 
ing the  king,  she  gave  a  person  a  guinea  to  draw  up  a  paper,  praying 
that  her  husband's  life  might  be  spared.  She  attempted  to  make  her 
way  with  this  to  his  majesty's  presence,  but  w'as  obliged  finally  to  hand  it 
to  a  lord-in- waiting,  who  gave  her  the  cruel  intelligence  that  all  applica- 
tions for  mercy  would  be  attended  to,  except  for  Parker.  The  distracted 
woman  then  took  coach  for  Rochester,  where  she  got  on  board  a  king's 
ship,  and  learnt  that  Parker  was  to  be  executed  next  day  :  she  sat  up,  in 
a  state  of  unspeakable  wretchedness,  the  whole  of  that  night,  and  at  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning  went  to  the  river-side,  to  hire  a  boat  to  take  her  to 
the  Sandwich,  that  she  might  at  least  bid  her  poor  husband  farewell.  Her 
feelings  had  been  deeply  agonised  by  hearing  every  person  she  met  talking 
on  the  subject  of  her  distress,  and  now,  the  first  waterman  to  whom  she 
spoke  exclaimed,  "  No  !  I  cannot  take  one  passenger.  The  brave  Admiral 
Parker  is  to  die  to-day,  and  I  will  get  any  sum  I  choose  to  ask  for  a 
party.'  Finally,  the  wretched  wife  was  glad  to  go  on  board  a  Sheemess 
market-boat,  but  no  boat  was  allowed  to  come  alongside  the  Sandwich. 
In  her  desperation  she  called  on  Parker  by  name,  and  prevailed  on  the 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  357 

boat-people,  by  the  mere  spectacle  of  her  suffering,  to  attempt  to  go  nearer, 
when  they  were  stopped  by  a  sentinel  threatening  to  fire  at  them.  As  the 
hour  drew  nigh,  she  saw  her  husband  appear  on  deck  between  two  clergy- 
men. She  called  on  him,  and  lie  heard  her  voice,  for  he  exclaimed, 
"  There  is  my  dear  wife  from  Scotland."  Immediately  afterwards,  she  fell 
back  in  a  state  of  insensibility,  and  did  not  recover  till  some  time  after  she 
was  taken  ashore.  By  this  time  all  was  over,  but  the  poor  woman  could 
not  believe  it  so.  She  hired  another  boat,  and  again  reached  the  Sandwich. 
Her  exclamation  from  the  boat  must  have  startled  all  who  heard  it. 
"  Pass  the  word,"  she  cried,  in  her  delusion,  "  for  Richard  Parker !" 
The  truth  was  now  told  to  her,  and  she  was  further  informed  that  his  body 
had  just  been  taken  ashore  for  burial.  She  immediately  caused  herself  to 
be  rowed  ashore  again,  and  proceeded  to  the  churchyard,  but  found  the 
ceremony  over,  and  the  gate  locked.  She  then  went  to  tlie  admiral  and 
sought  the  key,  which  was  refused  to  her.  Excited  almost  to  madness  by 
the  information  that  the  surgeons  would  probably  disinter  the  body  that 
night,  she  waited  around  the  churchyard  till  dusk,  and  then,  clambering 
over  the  wall,  readily  found  her  husband's  grave.  The  shell  was  not  buried 
deep,  and  she  was  not  long  in  scraping  away  the  loose  earth  that  inter- 
vened between  her  and  the  object,  of  her  search.  She  got  the  lid  removed, 
and  then  she  clasped  the  cold  hand  of  her  husband  in  her  own ! 

Her  determination  to  possess  the  body  aroused  the  widow  from  the 
enjoyment  of  this  melancholy  pleasure.  She  left  the  churchyard,  and  com- 
municated her  situation  to  two  women,  who,  in  their  turn,  got  several  men 
to  undertake  the  task  of  lifting  the  body.  This  was  accomplished  success- 
fully, and  at  three  o'clock  in  the  morning,  the  shell  containing  the  corpse 
was  placed  in  a  van,  and  conveyed  to  Rochester,  where,  for  the  sum  of  six 
guineas,  Mrs.  Parker  procured  anotlier  waggon  to  carry  it  to  London. 
On  the  road  they  met  hundreds  of  persons  all  inquiring  about  and  talking 
of  the  fate  of  "  Admiral  Parker."  At  eleven  p.m.  the  van  reached  Lon- 
don ;  but  here  the  poor  widow  had  no  private  house  or  friends  to  go  to, 
and  was  obliged  to  stop  at  the  Hoop  and  Ilorse-Shoe  on  Tower-Hill,  which 
was  full  of  people.  Mrs.  Parker  got  the  body  into  her  room,  and  sat  down 
beside  it ;  but  the  secret  could  not  long  be  kept  in  such  a  place,  more  par- 
ticularly as  the  news  of  the  exhumation  had  been  brought  by  express  that 
day  to  London.  A  great  crowd,  by  and  bye,  assembled  about  the  house, 
anxious  to  see  the  body  of  Parker,  which,  however,  the  widow  would  not 
permit.  The  Lord  Mayor  heard  of  the  aftair,  and  came  to  ask  the  widow 
what  she  intended  to  do  with  her  husband's  remains.  She  replied,  "  To  inter 
them  decently  at  Exeter  or  in  Scotland."  The  Lord  Mayor  said  that  the 
body  would  not  be  taken  from  her,  but  prevailed  on  her  to  have  it  decently 
buried  in  London.  Arrangements  were  made  with  this  view,  and  finally 
the  corpse  of  the  unfortunate  Parker  was  inhumed  in  Whitechapel  church- 
yard ;  although  not  until  it  had  to  be  removed  to  Aldgate  workhouse,  on 
account  of  the  crowds  attracted  by  it,  and  whic'li  caused  some  fears  lest 
"  Admiral  Parker's  remains  should  create  a  civil  war."  After  the  closing 
ceremony  was  over,  ]\Irs.  Parker,  who  had  in  person  seen  her  husband  con- 
signed to  the  grave,  gave  a  certificate  that  all  had  been  done  to  her  satis- 
faction. But,  though  strictly  questioned  as  to  the  parties  who  had  aided 
her  in  the  disinterment,  she  firmly  refused  to  disclose  tlieir  names. 

Parker,  as  has  been  said,  made  a  will,  leaving  to  his  wife  a  small  pro- 


S58  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

perty  on  whicli  he  had  claims  near  Exeter.  This  she  enjoyed  for  a  number 
of  years,  but  ultimately  her  rights,  whether  erroneously  or  not,  were  decided 
to  be  invalid,  and  she  was  deprived  of  the  pittance  which  had  formed  her 
maintenance.  She  was  thrown  into  great  distress,  and  was  compelled  to 
solicit  assistance  from  the  charitable,  having  become  nearly  if  not  entirely 
blind.  The  late  King  William  gave  her  at  one  time  10^.,  and  at  another  20/. 
In  1836,  the  forlorn  and  miserable  condition  of  poor  Parker's  widow  was 
made  known  to  tlie  London  magistrates,  and  a  temporary  refuge  was  pro- 
vided for  her.  But  temporary  assistance  was  of  little  avail  to  one  whose 
physical  infirmities  rendered  her  incapable  any  longer  of  helping  herself, 
and  again  her  miseriible  condition  came  under  the  cognizance  of  the  public 
authorities.  An  appeal  to  the  charitable  has  recently  been  made,  by  a 
portion  of  the  daily  press,  in  her  favour,  but  with  what  success  we  are 
unable  to  say.  She  is  now  seventy  years  of  age,  blind,  and  friendless. 
Time  and  misfortune  have  not  quenched  her  affection  for  the  partner  of 
her  early  days.  Of  him  she  yet  speaks  with  all  the  enthusiasm  of  youth- 
ful affection,  and  still  mourns  his  fate. 


MARIA  THERESA  PHIPOE,  alias  MARY  BENSON 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

We  do  not  recollect  ever  to  have  seen  the  case  of  any  woman  who  has 
exhibited  so  much  masculine  determination  as  Mrs.  Phipoe.  She  was  twice 
tried  at  the  Old  Bailey  upon  charges  equally  atrocious,  and  each  equally 
exhibiting  the  ferocity  of  her  disposition. 

In  the  first  case,  the  indictment  charged  that  she  had  feloniously  assaulted 
]\Ir.  John  Cortois,  with  intent  to  kill  and  murder  him.  Her  trial  came  on 
at  the  Old  Bailey  in  the  month  of  January  1795,  when  it  was  proved  in 
evidence  that  the  prisoner  was  a  person  of  abandoned  character,  and  that 
she  kept  a  house,  where  she  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  visits  of  a  certain 
character  from  gentlemen.  Among  her  other  patrons  was  Mr.  John 
Cortois,  a  gentleman  of  considerable  property ;  and  it  appears  that  Mr. 
Cortois  having  called  upon  her  one  evening,  he  was  alarmed  at  finding 
himself  suddenly  seized  from  behind  by  his  paramour,  and  her  servant, 
a  woman  almost  as  powerful  as  herself,  by  whom  he  was  speedily  over- 
powered, and  bound  to  his  chair  with  strong  cords.  His  person  being  thus 
secured,  Mrs.  Phipoe  immediately,  with  horrid  imprecations,  demanded 
that  he  should  sign  a  note  or  bill  in  her  favour  for  2000/.,  threatening  that, 
in  the  event  of  his  refusal,  she  would  instantly  cut  his  throat ;  and  even 
enforcing  her  demands  by  holding  a  knife  at  his  throat  in  such  a  position 
as  that  on  tlie  smallest  movement  on  his  part  would  have  procured  the 
infliction  of  a  wound.  In  a  state  of  the  utmost  terror  and  alarm,  he 
consented  to  attach  his  name  to  the  instrument  which  was  produced,  ready 
drawn  by  Mrs.  Phipoe,  and  then  he  imagined,  as  a  matter  of  course,  that 
he  should  be  at  liberty.  But  Mrs.  Phipoe  by  this  time  had  begun  to 
consider  the  possibility  of  his  preventing  the  negotiation  of  the  note,  and 
determining  that  "  Dead  men  tell  no  tales,"  she  had  made  up  her  mind  that 
he  should  have  no  opportunity  of  disclosing  the  means  by  which  it  had 
been  obtained.     For  this  diabolical  purpose,  she  now  made  a  violent  attack 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  359 

upon  him  with  a  knife,  and  wounded  him  in  many  places ;  but  Mr. 
Cortois,  becoming  desperate  in  his  turn,  burst  the  bonds  by  whicli  he  was 
confined  with  a  violent  effort,  and  attacked  his  assailant.  A  struggle  took 
place,  in  which  Mr.  Cortois  was  again  mastered  by  the  united  efforts  of  Mrs. 
Phipoe  and  her  servant ;  and  then  a  choice  was  tendered  to  him  whether  he 
would  die  by  poison,  by  being  shot,  or  by  the  knife  which  ]\Irs.  Phipoe  bran- 
dished in  a  threatening  manner  over  his  head.  The  unfortunate  gentleman 
was  now  much  weakened  by  loss  of  blood,  and  was  almost  prevented  from 
opposing  the  further  violence  of  his  demoniac  assailants,  when,  luckily,  the 
cries  which  he  had  raised  brought  him  assistance  in  the  shape  of  a  watch- 
man, through  whose  instrumentality  Mrs.  Phipoe  was  secured. 

Upon  this  testimony  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  returned  ;  but  a  point  of 
law  being  subsequently  raised  in  favour  of  the  prisoner,  it  was  declared  that 
the  judgment  must  be  arrested. 

Mrs.  Phipoe  was,  however,  subsequently,  on  the  23rd  of  May,  indicted 
for  the  common  assault  upon  Mr.  Cortois,  and  a  verdict  of  guilty  having 
been  a  second  time  returned,  she  was  subjected  to  twelve  months'  imprison- 
ment in  Newgate. 

A  year  had  scarcely  elapsed  after  the  termination  of  the  period  of  her 
incarceration,  before  Mrs.  Phipoe,  or  Mrs.  Benson,  as  she  was  now  called, 
was  again  in  custody  on  a  charge  of  murder. 

She  was  indicted  on  the  8th  of  December  1797,  for  the  wilful  murder  of 
Mary  Cox  ;  and  it  appeared  that  at  the  time  of  the  commission  of  this 
offence,  the  prisoner  lived  in  lodgings  in  Garden-street,  St.  George's  in  the 
East.  On  the  night  of  the  murder,  Mrs.  Cox  called  upon  her  ;  but  within 
a  short  time  after  she  had  entered  her  room,  a  scuffle  was  heard,  followed 
by  loud  groans.  The  mistress  of  the  house  demanded  to  know  the  cause  of 
the  disturbance,  but  the  prisoner  declared  that  it  was  only  Mrs.  Cox  in  a 
fit.  The  door  being  opened,  however,  Mrs.  Benson  was  observed  to  be 
covered  with  blood,  and  Mrs.  Cox  was  found  lying  on  the  ground  despe- 
rately wounded.  Two  persons  immediately  went  for  a  doctor,  while  a 
constable  was  also  sent  for,  by  whom  the  prisoner  was  taken  into  custody. 
Mrs.  Cox,  on  being  examined,  was  found  to  have  sustained  some  severe 
wounds,  from  which  there  was  no  prospect  of  her  recovering ;  and  she 
pointed  out  Mrs.  Benson  as  the  person  by  whom  they  had  been  inflicted. 
A  lai'ge  clasp-knife,  covered  with  blood,  was  found  on  the  table  in  the 
room  ;  and  by  its  side  lay  a  part  of  a  finger  ;  and  on  Mrs.  Benson  being 
questioned, she  admitted  that  that  was  the  knife  with  which  "  she  had  done 
the  woman's  business  ;"  and  said  that  her  own  finger  had  been  cut  off"  in  the 
scuffle.  Mrs.  Cox  subsequently  died  in  the  hospital,  from  the  effects  of  the 
stabs  she  had  received,  having  previously  made  a  declaration  before  a 
magistrate  as  to  the  circumstances  attending  her  murder.  She  said  that 
having  purchased  a  gold  watch  of  the  prisoner  for  lU.,  she  asked  that  a 
coffee-cup,  which  she  pointed  out,  might  be  given  to  her  into  the  bargain. 
The  prisoner  bade  her  take  it ;  but  on  her  raising  her  hand  to  remove  it 
from  the  shelf,  she  received  a  stab  in  the  neck,  which  was  followed  by 
many  others  in  the  same  place  and  on  different  parts  of  her  body.  The 
prisoner  subsequently  got  her  on  the  bed,  and  swore  that  she  would  murder 
her  outright,  that  she  should  not  tell  her  own  tale ;  but  she  was  interrupted 
by  the  entrance  of  the  landlady. 

The  prisoner  in  her  defence  declared  that  Mrs.  Cox  had  abused  her,  and 


360  THE    NEW  NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

had  violently  wounded  her,  so  as  to  cut  off  part  of  her  finger  before  she 
oflFered  any  violence  to  her ;  but  that  then,  being  maddened  with  pain  and 
rage,  she  admitted  she  had  attacked  her.  She  knew  nothing  of  wiiat  sub- 
sequently occurred,  until  she  was  found  by  her  landlady  in  her  own  room 
covered  with  blood. 

The  jury  having  returned  a  verdict  that  the  prisoner  was  guilty,  she 
behaved  with  great  hardihood,  frequently  interrupting  the  learned  judge 
(Jlr.  Baron  PerrjTi)  in  his  observations,  while  condemning  her  to  death. 

Sentence  having  been  passed,  however,  that  she  should  be  hanged  and 
subsequently  dissected,  she  was  removed  from  the  bar,  and  then  she  appeared 
to  be  fully  sensible  of  her  guilt,  and  of  the  nature  of  her  present  position. 

She  was  executed  before  Newgate,  December  the  11th,  1797  ;  and  after 
hanging  an  hour  in  the  view  of  a  great  number  of  spectators,  one-third  of 
whom  were  females,  the  body  was  cut  down,  and  delivered  to  the  surgeons 
for  dissection. 

In  her  last  moments  she  confessed  the  justice  of  her  sentence,  but  denied 
having  cut  off  her  own  finger,  saying  it  was  done  in  the  scuflle  with  the 
Avoman  she  murdered.  She  owned  to  have  been  guilty  of  many  enormities, 
and  attributed  her  frequent  gusts  of  passion  to  the  use  of  laudanum. 

Her  body  was  publicly  exhibited  in  a  place  built  for  the  purpose  in  the 
Old  BaUey. 


JAMES  O'COIGLEY,  alias  FAYEY. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

James  O'Coigley  was  indicted  at  ^Maidstone,  on  the  21st  of  May  1798, 
for  high  treason.  The  indictment  was  read  by  Mr.  Knapp,  who  after- 
wards stated  the  charges  it  contained  in  a  summary  manner.  He  said  there 
were  three  distinct  species  of  treason  charged  in  the  indictment  and  seven 
overt  acts.  The  first  treason  was  compassing  and  imagining  the  death  of 
the  king  ;  the  second,  adhering  to  his  enemies  ;  the  third,  compassing  and 
imaorinincr,  inventino^,  devising  and  intending,  to  move  and  stir  certain 
foreigners  and  strangers,  that  is  to  say,  the  persons  exercismg  the  powers 
of  government  in  France,  to  invade  this  kingdom.  The  first  overt  act  was 
sending  intelligence  to  the  enemy  ;  the  other  overt  acts  were  attempts  to 
hire  vessels,  and  to  leave  the  kingdom. 

At  the  trial,  which  lasted  during  the  whole  of  two  days,  an  immense 
body  of  evidence  was  produced  in  support  of  the  charges  preferred  against 
the  prisoner.  A  pocket-book,  however,  which  had  been  found  in  his  great- 
coat, and  in  which  was  a  letter  addressed  to  the  Executive  Directory  of 
France,  afforded  conclusive  evidence  of  his  guilt. 

Upon  his  being  called  upon  for  his  defence,  he  addressed  the  jury  in  the 
following  terms  : — 

"  It  is  impossible  for  me  to  prove  a  negative  ;  but  it  is  a  duty  I  owe  to 
you,  and  to  myself,  solemnly  to  declare  that  I  never  was  the  bearer  of  any 
messao-e  or  paper  of  this  kind  to  France  in  the  course  of  my  life.  That 
paper  is  not  mine :  it  never  belonged  to  me.  It  states  that  it  was  to  be 
carried  by  the  bearer  of  the  last :  this  is  something  which  might  have  been 
proved,  but  it  is  impossible  for  me  to  prove  a  negative.  There  is  also  in 
tnia  paper  an  allusion  to  secret  committees  and  political  societies.   I  declare 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  361 

that  1  never  atteuJed  any  political  society  whatever.  With  these  consi- 
derations I  consign  my  life  to  your  justice  ;  not  doubting  but  that  you  will 
conduct  yourselves  as  English  jurymen  ever  do,  and  tliat  your  verdict  will 
be  such  as  shall  receive  the  approbation  of  your  own  conscience,  your 
country,  and  your  God." 

The  jury,  after  about  half-an-hour's  consideration,  found  O'Coigley  Guilty. 

Mr.  Justice  Duller,  in  an  address  to  the  prisoner,  which  he  read  from  a 
written  paper  previously  to  his  passing  the  sentence,  observed  that  he  had 
been  clearly  convicted  of  the  most  atrocious  crime  which  could  be  committed 
in  any  country — that  of  meditating  the  destruction  of  a  sovereign,  who  was 
one  of  the  best,  the  most  just,  upright,  and  amiable  of  princes  that  ever 
graced  a  throne  ;  and  he  could  not  conceive  what  were  the  motives  which 
could  actuate  any  man  even  to  wish  for  the  death  of  one  who  had  ever 
been  the  father  of  his  people. 

The  prisoner  was  also  found  guilty  of  conspiring  to  overturn  the  consti- 
tution of  these  kingdoms — a  constitution  which,  from  the  experiment  of 
years,  had  been  found  to  be  the  best  calculated  of  any  that  ever  existed  in 
the  world  to  ensure  the  liberty,  security,  and  happiness  of  the  people  who 
lived  under  it. 

These  atrocious  crimes  became  still  greater  from  the  manner  in  which 
they  were  intended  to  be  perpetrated — that  of  inviting  a  foreign  enemy  to 
come  and  invade  and  conquer  these  countries. 

Those  people  who  had  fancied  such  an  event  to  be  a  desirable  one  ought 
to  think  seriously  what  the  consequences  of  it  would  be,  provided  it  was 
possible  to  be  accomplished.  Did  they  suppose  that  (desperate  as  their 
present  situation  might  be)  their  condition  would  be  bettered  by  having 
their  country  put  into  the  possession  of  people  who  were  holding  out  the 
delusive  hopes  of  what  they  call  liberty  to  other  nations  ?  Could  such 
persons  hope  that  they  themselves  should  enjoy  liberty,  even  supposing  the 
conquerors  to  have  enjoyed  as  free  a  constitution  as  any  in  the  world  ? 
No ;  they  would  become  suspected,  be  despised,  and  destroyed  by  them. 

A  celebrated  writer  (IMontesquieu)  very  justly  observed  upon  this  sub- 
ject, that  a  country  conquered  by  a  democratic  nation  always  enjoyed  less 
liberty,  was  more  miserable,  and  more  enslaved,  than  if  that  country 
happened  to  have  been  conquered  by  a  nation  whose  government  was 
monarchical.  But  if  there  was  any  illustration  of  this  observation  wanting, 
one  had  only  to  look  to  the  conduct  of  the  French  at  this  moment  towards 
Holland,  Italy,  Switzerland,  and  every  other  country  they  had  conquered. 
His  lordship  believed  that  the  prisoner  might  have  been  actuated  by  motives 
similar  to  those  which  used  formerly  to  induce  many  people  to  think  that 
the  killing  of  men  of  a  diiFerent  religion  would  give  them  a  claim  to  canon- 
ization. But,  though  the  motives  miglit  be  similar,  the  subjects  connected 
with  them  were  very  diflferent.  In  the  present  times  he  did  not  believe 
that  any  person  entertained  such  sentiments  about  religion.  On  the  con- 
trary, he  was  sorry  to  find  that  religion  was  too  much  neglected,  and  that 
the  peace  and  tranquillity  of  numbers  of  people  were  destroyed  in  conse- 
quence of  their  having  lost  all  belief  of  the  existence  of  a  Divine  Providence, 
and  totally  abandoned  all  hopes  of  a  future  state.  He  was  afraid  that  the 
prisoner  had  been  infected  with  tliis  infidelity  ;  and  if  he  was,  he  (the 
judge)  prayed  that  the  Almighty  God,  in  his  infinite  mercy  and  goodness, 
would  change  his  heart,  and  cause  him  to  repent  of  his  sins. 

VOL.    I.  3  a 


3fi2  THE    NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR. 

His  lordship  then,  in  a  solemn  and  awful  manner,  passed  the  following 
sentence  : — 

"  That  tlie  prisoner  he  taken  from  the  har  to  prison,  and  from  thence  to 
the  place  of  execution  ;  there  to  he  hanged,  but  not  until  he  he  dead,  to  be 
cut  down  while  yet  alive,  and  then  to  have  his  heart  and  bowels  taken  out 
and  burnt  before  his  face ;  his  head  to  be  severed  from  his  body,  and  his 
body  to  be  divided  into  four  quarters." 

j\Ir.  O'Coigley  listened  to  this  address  and  sentence  w'ith  attention,  but 
at  the  same  time  with  the  gi'eatest  coolness.  He  bowed  his  head  when  the 
judge  concluded,  his  countenance  expressing  at  once  resignation  and  firm- 
ness. 

Thursday,  7th  June,  being  fixed  upon  for  the  execution,  on  the  previous 
day,  the  unhappy  prisoner  received  an  intimation  to  that  effect  without 
emotion.  He  spent  the  evening  very  calmly.  He  had  but  one  thing,  he  said, 
on  his  mind  which  created  any  anxiety  ;  that  was,  an  apprehension  that 
he  might  be  misrepresented  after  his  death.  He  was  anxious  to  be  faith- 
fully reported,  and  that  was  all  he  wanted.  On  Thursday,  at  a  quarter 
past  eleven  o'clock,  O'Coigley  left  the  jail.  He  was  dressed  in  black ;  his 
hair  was  cropped  and  powdered,  his  shirt -collar  open,  and  he  wore  no 
neckcloth.  His  elbows  w-ere  tied  behind  with  ropes,  and  over  his  shoul- 
ders was  the  rope  witli  which  he  was  to  be  executed.  He  stepped  into  the 
hurdle;  and  on  his  sitting  down,  a  chain  was  put  round  his  waist  to  fasten 
him.  The  executioner  sat  opposite  to  him.  The  cavalcade  was  well 
guarded  by  a  large  body  of  the  Kent  Volunteers  ;  and  throughout  the 
journey  to  Pennenden  Heath,  the  prisoner  was  engaged  in  reading  from  a 
book  of  devotions. 

Upon  their  arrival  at  the  place  of  execution,  the  military  formed  a  square. 
The  prisoner  being  unchained,  he  rose  up  and  stood  in  the  hurdle,  and  read 
two  pi'ayers,  one  of  them  aloud  in  Latin.  He  then  took  out  of  his  pocket 
an  orange,  and  also  a  penknife  ;  but  being  imable  to  cut  the  orange,  from 
his  hands  being  bound,  he  gave  it  to  a  friend,  whom  he  beckoned  to  come 
near  him,  saying,  "  Open  this  orange  with  my  penknife  ;  it  has  been  said 
they  would  not  trust  me  with  a  penknife,  lest  I  should  cut  my  throat ;  but 
they  little  knew  that  I  would  not  deprive  myself  of  the  glory  of  dying  in 
tliis  way."  He  desired  his  friend  to  keep  the  penknife  for  his  sake,  and  to 
hold  the  orange,  several  pieces  of  Avhich  he  ate. 

After  finishing  his  devotions,  the  clergyman  gave  him  absolution ;  and 
having  ascended  the  platform,  he  bid  farewell  to  the  jailor,  thanking  liim 
for  the  many  civilities  he  had  shown  him.  On  his  being  tied  up  to  the 
gallows,  he  made  the  following  speech  : — 

"  I  shall  only  here  solemnly  declare,  that  I  am  innocent  of  the  charge  for 
which  I  suffer.  I  never  was  in  my  life  the  bearer  of  any  letter,  or  other 
paper  or  message,  printed,  written,  or  verbal,  to  the  Directory  of  France, 
nor  to  any  person  on  their  behalf ;  neither  was  I  ever  a  member  of  the 
London  Corresponding  Society,  or  of  any  other  political  society  in  Great 
Britain  ;  nor  did  I  attend  any  of  their  meetings,  public  or  private,  so  help 
me  God !  I  know  not  whether  I  sliall  be  believed  liere  in  what  I  say,  but 
I  am  sure  I  shall  be  believed  in  the  world  to  come.  It  can  scarcely  be  sup- 
posed that  one  like  me,  in  this  situation,  going  to  eternity,  before  the  most 
awful  tribunal,  would  die  with  a  falsehood  in  his  mouth  ;  and  I  do  declare, 
by  the  hopes  I  confidently  feel  of  salvation  and  happiiaess  in  a  futui-e  8tat«, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  36.1 

tbat  my  life  is  falsely  and  maliciously  taken  away  by  corrupt  and  base 
perjury,  in  some  cases  proceeding  from  mistake,  no  doubt,  but  in  others 
from  design.  Almighty  God,  forgive  all  my  enemies.  I  beg  of  you  to 
pray  that  God  will  grant  me  grace — for  I  have  many  sins  to  answer  for ; 
but  they  are  the  sins  of  my  private  life,  and  not  the  charge  for  which  I  now 
die.  (Raising  his  voice.)  Lord  have  mercy  on  me,  and  x'eceive  my  soul." 
A  white  nightcap  was  then  drawn  over  his  face,  and  he  made  a  signal 
by  dropping  a  handkerchief.  The  board  was  then  let  down,  and  he 
remained  suspended  for  twelve  or  thirteen  minutes.  Upon  his  being  taken 
down,  his  head  was  taken  off"  by  a  surgeon,  and  the  executioner  held  it  up  to 
the  populace,  saying  "  This  is  the  head  of  a  traitor."  Both  head  and  body 
■were  then  put  into  a  shell,  and  buried  at  the  foot  of  the  gallows. 


GEORGE  WALDRON,  alias  BARRINGTON. 

TRANSPORTED    FOR    PICKIXG    POCKETS. 

This  notorious  offender  was  born  of  decent  parents  in  the  year  1755,  in 
the  town  of  Maynooth,  county  Kildare,  Ireland.  His  father,  whose  name 
was  Waldron,  was  a  working  silversmith ;  and  his  mother  followed  the 
occupation  of  mantua-maker,  and  occasionally  joined  with  it  the  profession 
of  a  midwife.  Owing  to  a  law-suit  in  which  they  were  engaged  with  a 
relative,  for  the  recovery  of  a  legacy  to  which  they  conceived  themselves 
entitled,  their  circumstances  were  by  no  means  affluent.  But  although 
they  were  unable  to  procure  for  their  son  the  advantages  of  a  superior 
education,  they  had  him  instructed  at  an  early  age  in  reading  and  writing ; 
and  afterwards,  through  the  bounty  of  a  medical  gentleman  in  the  neigh- 
bourhood, he  was  tauglit  the  principles  of  arithmetic,  and  the  elements  of 
geography  and  English  grammar. 

When  he  had  entered  his  sixteenth  year,  he  had  the  good  fortune  to 
attract  the  notice  of  a  dignitary  of  the  Church  of  Ireland,  through  whose 
interest  he  was  placed  at  a  free  grammar-school  in  the  Irish  capital,  where 
his  patron  proposed  he  should  fit  himself  for  the  University  ;  and  in  order 
that  he  might  be  able  to  make  an  appearance  equal  to  that  of  the  youths 
with  whom  he  was  to  associate,  his  generous  protector  supplied  him  witl. 
money  and  every  other  necessary  that  could  render  his  situation  at  school 
not  only  comfortable,  but  respectable. 

These  advantages  he  enjoyed  but  a  short  time,  for  the  impetuosity  of  his 
passions  hurried  him  into  an  action  by  which  he  lost  his  patron's  favour 
for  ever.  When  he  had  been  about  half  a  year  at  the  grammar-school,  he 
was  involved  in  a  quarrel  with  a  lad  mucli  older  and  stronger  than  himself. 
Some  blows  passed,  in  which  George  suff'ered  considerably ;  but  in  order 
to  be  revenged,  he  stabbed  his  antagonist  with  a  penknife  ;  and  had  he  not 
been  prevented,  would  probably  have  murdered  him.  For  this  atrocious 
offence  the  discipline  of  the  house  was  inflicted  with  proper  severity,  which 
irritated  the  youth  to  such  a  degree,  that  he  formed  the  resolution  of  aban- 
doning not  only  the  school,  but  also  his  family  and  friends.  Plis  plan  of 
escape  was  no  sooner  formed  than  it  was  carried  into  execution  ;  but  before 
his  departure  he  found  means  to  steal  ten  or  twelve  guineas  from  the 
master,  and  a  gold  repeating-watch  from  his  sister.     With  this  booty  he 


364  THE    KEW    XEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

safely  effected  his  escape  from  the  school-house  in  the  middle  of  a  still  night 
in  the  month  of  May  1771  ;  and  pursuing  the  great  north  road  froin 
Dublin  all  that  night  and  the  next  day,  he  arrived  late  in  the  evening  at 
Drogheda  witliout  interruption. 

Having  reached  this  town,  where  he  thought  that  he  should  be  safe 
from  the  chances  of  pursuit  and  discovery,  by  a  species  of  forced  march, 
without  rest  or  refreshment,  he  entered  a  small  public-house  in  order  to 
procure  the  one  and  the  other ;  but  the  following  morning  introduced  to 
his  notice  a  band  of  strolling  players,  whose  acquaintance  he  immediately 
made.  A  friendship  commenced  under  such  unfavourable  circumstances,  it 
might  be  thouo-ht  W'ould  scarcely  last  many  days,  but  it  was  nevertheless 
maintained  through  choice  and  aftection  for  several  years ;  and  it  appears 
that  whilst  engaged  as  a  member  of  the  company,  he  picked  up  much  in 
formation  which  was  exceedingly  useful  to  him  in  his  subsequent  career. 

Price,  the  manager  of  the  company,  having  lived  some  time  in  London, 
in  the  capacity  of  clerk  to  a  pettifogging  attorney,  was  intimately  acquainted 
with  the  town,  and  all  the  arts  of  fraud,  deception,  or  violence,  which  are 
practised  in  it  by  the  most  imprincipled  classes  to  procure  money.  For 
indulfinor  these  vicious  propensities,  he  subjected  himself  to  the  lash  of  the 
law,  and  was  at  this  time  an  involuntary  exile  in  Ireland  till  the  expira- 
tion of  the  term  for  which  he  was  to  be  transported  ;  and  this  man  soon 
became  the  confidant  and  counsellor  of  the  young  fugitive.  By  his  advice 
he  renounced  his  paternal  name,  assumed  that  of  Barrington,  and  entered 
into  the  company ;  and  in  the  course  of  four  days  he  became  so  well 
initiated  in  the  mysteries  of  his  profession  as  to  be  able  to  perform  the  part  of 
Jaffier  m  "  Yeuice  Preserved,"  without  the  aid  of  a  prompter,  in  a  crowded 
barn  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Drogheda  with  the  most  flattering  demon- 
strations of  applause 

His  success,  however,  was  by  far  too  great  to  render  it  at  all  desirable 
that  he  should  continue  his  performances  so  near  the  scene  of  his  late 
depredations  ;  and  in  obedience  to  the  dictates  of  prudence,  lest  our  hero 
might  be  called  upon  to  make  his  last  appearance  on  a  "  stage"  fitted  up 
■with  a  drop,  before  his  character  as  a  player  was  fully  established,  it  was 
resolved  that  the  whole  company  should,  without  delay,  move  northwards 
with  all  speed,  so  as  to  get  out  of  the  way,  with  the  anticipation  of  their 
being  able  to  reach  sixty  or  eighty  miles  from  Dublin  without  any  long 
halt.  In  order  to  carry  this  resolution  into  effect,  however,  it  was  recol- 
lected that  some  means  must  be  found  to  feed  the  strollers,  as  the  produce 
of  their  late  performances  was  not  so  weighty  as  to  require  any  great 
exertion  on  the  part  of  the  treasurer  to  squeeze  it  into  his  waistcoat  pocket; 
and  the  gold  repeater  being  remembered,  it  was  immediately  given  up  by 
oar  hero,  2)ro  bono  publico,  with  a  degree  of  liberality  which  procured  for 
him  a  burst  of  applause  from  his  companions  in  the  search  of  histrionic  fame 
The  watch  being  disposed  off,  its  proceeds  were  equally  divided,  and  the 
party  set  out  on  its  march  ;  but  when  they  arrived  at  Londonderry,  it  was 
found  that  the  Belvidera  of  the  company  had  sun-endered  her  heart  to  the 
new  Jafl&er.  A  reciprocal  attachment  was  found  to  exist,  and  the  connexion 
was  only  dissolved  by  the  death  of  the  lady.  It  appears  that  she  was  the 
daughter  of  a  respectable  tradesman  at  Coventry  ;  and  having  eloped  from 
her  "father's  house,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  with  a  lieutenant  of  marines, 
was  conducted  by  him  to  Dublin,  and  there,  in  less  than  three  months. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  365 

was  infamously  abandoned  to  all  the  horrors  of  penury  and  want.  Reduced 
to  this  extremity,  she  readily  embraced  a  proposal  made  to  her  by  Price,  to 
join  his  company,  as  her  only  resource ;  and  being  young  and  beautiful,  it 
is  not  extraordinary  that  she  should  have  excited  a  flame  in  tlie  bosom  of 
her  new  admirer.  She  was  unfortunately  drowned,  in  her  eighteenth  year, 
in  crossing  the  Boyne,  through  the  negligence  of  the  ferryman. 

To  return,  however,  to  the  Company.  The  money  wliich  had  been 
raised  was  foimd  to  be  quite  expended  on  their  arrival  at  Londonderry,  and 
some  means,  it  was  determined,  must  be  foimd  to  recruit  their  bank.  In 
this  dilemma,  Price  insinuated  to  our  adventurer  that  a  young  man  of  his 
address  and  appearance  might  easily  introduce  himself  into  the  public 
places,  to  which  the  merchants  and  dealers  of  the  town  resorted,  and  that 
he  might,  without  difficulty,  find  opportunities  of  picking  their  pockets, 
and  escaping  unseen  and  undiscovered.  The  idea  pleased  Harrington,  and 
the  fair  coming  on,  oflFered  a  favourable  juncture  at  which  to  commence 
his  new  profession.  The  design  was  carried  into  execution  in  the  course  of 
the  ensuing  day  with  very  great  success,  their  acquisitions  amounting  to 
about  forty  guineas  in  cash,  and  one  hundred  and  fifty  pounds  in  Bank 
notes.  The  circumstance,  it  may  readily  be  supposed,  excited  no  small 
alarm  among  the  honest  traders,  on  its  becoming  generally  known  that 
robberies  to  so  large  an  amount  had  been  effected;  but  the  players  remain- 
ing in  the  town,  suspicion  did  not  rest  upon  them,  and  the  depredation  was 
put  down  to  the  score  of  some  of  the  ordinary  scamps  who  then,  as  well  as 
now,  followed  the  fairs,  in  Ireland  and  England.  It  was  resolved,  how- 
ever, that  the  company  should  quit  Derry,  and  after  having  played  a  few 
nights  with  more  applause  than  profit,  they  removed  to  Ballyshannon, 
where  our  hero  may  be  said  to  have  commenced  the  business  of  a  professed 
pickpocket  in  the  summer  of  the  year  1771,  in  the  16th  year  of  his  age. 

At  Ballyshannon  he  passed  the  autumn  and  winter  of  1771  with  the 
company  to  which  he  belonged,  playing  two  days  in  the  week,  and  pick- 
ing pockets  whenever  opportunity  offered ;  and  this  business,  though  at- 
tended with  some  danger  and  certain  infamy,  he  found  so  much  more 
lucrative  than  that  of  the  theatre,  where  his  fame  and  his  proficiency  by 
no  means  kept  pace  with  the  expectations  raised  by  his  first  appearance, 
that  he  determined  to  quit  the  stage. 

He  now  commenced  what  is  called  a  "  gentleman  pickpocket,"  by  af- 
fecting the  airs  and  importance  of  a  man  of  fashion;  but  he  was  so  much 
alarmed  at  the  detection  and  conviction  of  his  preceptor.  Price  (who  was 
sentenced  to  transportation  for  seven  years),  that  he  hastened  to  Dublin, 
where  he  practised  his  pilfering  art  during  dark  evenings  only.  He  soon 
made  his  own  country  too  hot  to  hold  him,  for  at  one  of  the  races  in  the 
county  of  Carlow  he  was  detected  picking  the  pocket  of  a  nobleman  ;  but, 
upon  restoring  the  property,  his  lordship  declined  any  prosecution,  and  he 
therefore  left  Ireland,  and  for  the  first  time  appeared  in  England  in  1773. 
On  his  first  visit  to  Ranelagh  with  a  party,  he  quitted  his  friends,  and 
picked  the  pockets  of  the  Duke  of  Leinster  and  Sir  William  Draper  of  a 
considerable  sum ;  and  he  also  took  from  a  lady  a  watch,  with  all  which 
he  got  off  undiscovered,  and  rejoined  his  friends. 

In  1775  he  visited  the  most  celebrated  watering-places,  particularly 
Bath;  and,   being  supposed   to   be  a  gentleman  of  fortune  and  family, 


366  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR 

lie  wa3  noticed  by  persons  of  the  first  distinction.  On  liis  return  to  Lon- 
ion  he  formed  a  connexion  with  one  Lowe,  and  became  a  most  daring  pick- 
pocket. He  went  to  court  on  the  queen's  birthday,  as  a  clergyman,  and 
not  only  picked  several  pockets,  but  found  means  to  deprive  a  nobleman 
of  his  diamond  order,  and  retired  from  the  palace  without  suspicion. 

In  the  course  of  the  winter  of  1775  the  celebrated  Russian  Prince  Orloff 
visited  England.  The  various  circumstances  of  his  history,  the  high  fa- 
vour he  enjoyed  at  the  court  of  his  sovereign,  and  the  valuable  presents  he 
had  received  from  her,  were  frequently  mentioned  in  the  public  prints. 
Among  the  rest,  a  gold  snuff-box,  set  with  brilliants,  and  valued  at  the 
enormous  sura  of  thirty  thousand  pounds,  particularly  attracted  the  atten- 
tion of  Barrington.  It  was  not  long  before  he  formed  a  plan  for  obtaining 
possession  of  it.  A  favourable  opportunity  one  night  presenting  itself  at 
Covent-garden  Theatre,  he  contrived  to  get  near  the  prince,  and  found 
means  to  convey  the  precious  trinket  out  of  his  excellency's  waistcoat 
pocket  into  his  own.  This  operation,  however,  was  not  performed  with 
such  dexterity  as  to  escape  detection.  The  prince  felt  the  attack  so  impu- 
dently made  upon  him,  and  immediately  seized  the  depredator  by  the  col- 
lar. During  the  confusion  that  ensued,  Barrington  slipped  the  box  into 
the  hand  of  the  owner,  who  was  doul)tless  well  pleased  at  having  recovered 
it  so  easily  ;  but  the  delinquent  was,  nevertheless,  secured,  and  committed 
to  Tothill-fields  Bridewell,  previous  to  his  examination  at  Bow-street  for 
the  offence.  On  this  occasion  he  represented  himself  as  belonging  to  an 
affluent  and  respectable  family  in  Ireland,  adding  that  he  had  been  edu- 
cated for  the  medical  profession,  and  had  come  to  London  to  improve  him- 
self in  it ;  and  having  accompanied  this  plausible  representation  with  many 
tears,  and  seeming  to  rest  so  much  on  his  being  an  unfortunate  gentleman 
rather  than  a  gnilty  culprit.  Prince  Orloff  declined  to  prosecute,  and  he 
was  dismissed  by  the  magistrate,  with  some  wliolesome  admonition. 

This  adventure,  however,  had  no  effect  with  our  hero.  He  had  gone  too 
far  to  recede,  and  he  was  compelled  to  continue  his  depredations  upon  the 
public,  in  order  to  obtain  a  living. 

In  pursuit  of  his  business,  it  was  his  custom  to  attend  the  sittings  of  the 
two  Houses  of  Parliament ;  but  being  one  day  in  the  House  of  Peers,  he 
was  recognised  by  a  stranger  who  was  present,  and  turned  out  by  one  of 
the  ushers,  who  was  made  acquainted  with  his  character.  A  threat  of 
vengeance  was  heard  to  slip  from  the  lips  of  the  thief,  and  he  was  taken 
into  custody,  and  being  unable  to  give  security  for  his  future  good  beha- 
viour, he  was  committed  to  Tothill-fields  Bridewell,  and  remained  there 
during  a  considerable  period  of  time.  On  his  discharge,  his  only  refuge 
was  his  old  profession  :  but  he  had  not  pursued  it  long  before  he  was  de- 
tected in  picking  the  pocket  of  a  woman  in  Drury-lane  Theatre,  for  which 
he  was  indicted  and  convicted  at  the  Old  Bailey  in  the  year  1777,  and  wag 
sentenced  to  three  years'  hard  labour  on  board  the  hulks  at  Woolwich. 
The  excellence  of  his  deportment  there,  however,  procured  for  him  a  miti- 
gation of  his  punishment,  and  at  the  termination  of  a  year  he  was  set  at 
liberty,  in  obedience  to  the  recommendation  of  the  superint^ndants  of  nis 

g^°^-.     .       .  .  .        .     .         , 

Within  six  months  after  his  release,  he  was   detected  in  picking  tiie 

pocket  of  a  lady  during  divine  service  in  St.  Sepulchre's  church,  and  being 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  867 

convicted  of  this  offence,  he  was  again  sentenced  to  hard  labour  on  the 
river ;  but  for  a  period  of  five  years,  and  in  pursuance  of  his  sentence,  he 
was  removed  to  the  hulks  a  second  time,  in  tlie  year  1778. 

During  this  second  confinement,  he  either  found  that  his  sufferings  were 
more  severe  or  his  situation  more  desperate  than  in  his  former  imprison- 
ment, and,  wearied  out  with  labour  and  disgusted  with  life,  he  determined 
to  commit  suicide.  With  this  view  he  stabbed  himself  in  the  breast  with 
a  penknife ;  but  the  wound,  though  deep  and  dangerous,  did  not  prove 
mortal,  and  it  healed  slov/ly,  although  it  left  the  unfortunate  prisoner  in  a 
state  of  the  greatest  weakness.  While  he  was  in  this  state,  he  had  the 
good  fortune  to  attract  the  attention  of  a  gentleman  of  rank,  who  happened 
to  visit  the  hulks  for  the  purpose  of  inquiring  into  the  state  of  the  con- 
victs, and  who,  commiserating  his  wretched  plight,  exerted  his  influence 
and  procured  for  him  a  pardon,  on  condition  of  his  quitting  the  kingdom. 
The  condition  was  eagerly  accepted,  and  having  been  provided  with 
money  by  his  benefactor,  he  proceeded  at  once  to  Dublin. 

He  had  scarcely  arrived  in  this  city,  however,  before  he  was  appre- 
hended on  a  charge  of  picking  the  pocket  of  a  nobleman  of  his  gold  watch 
and  money  at  a  theatre;  but  the  evidence  being  defective,  he  was  acquitted 
and  discharged.  Upon  his  defence  to  this  charge  he  displayed  considerable 
powers  of  oratory,  and  having  been  addressed  by  the  Judge  in  terms  of 
suitable  admonition,  he  spoke  with  great  animation,  and  enlarged  upon 
what  he  termed  the  force  of  prejudice,  insinuating  that  the  calumnies 
which,  he  contended,  had  been  uttered  against  him  in  England,  had  fol- 
lowed him  to  his  native  country. 

He  tlicn  quitted  the  bar,  and  as  soon  as  he  had  obtained  his  liberty,  he 
deemed  it  prudent  to  retire  from  Dublin,  and  he  proceeded  to  Edinburgh. 
Suspicions  were,  however,  soon  entertained  of  his  character  there,  and, 
braving  all  danger,  he  returned  to  London,  and  there  frequented  the  the- 
atres, the  Opera  House,  Pantheon,  and  other  places  of  public  resort, 
but  was  at  length  taken  into  custody.  Having  been  acquitted  for  want 
of  evidence  of  the  charge  brought  against  him,  he  was  unexpectedly  de- 
tained for  having  returned  to  England  in  violation  of  the  condition  on 
which  his  majesty  was  pleased  to  grant  him  a  remission  of  his  punish- 
ment, and  was  accordingly  confined  in  Newgate  during  the  remainder  of 
the  time  that  he  was  originally  to  have  served  on  the  river  Thames. 

On  the  expiration  of  his  captivity  he  returned  to  his  former  practices, 
but  with  greater  caution:  but  in  spite  of  all  his  cares,  he  was  at  length  ap- 
prehended for  picking  the  pocket  of  Mr.  Le  Mesurier,  at  Drury-lane  play- 
house, but  effected  his  escape  from  the  constable;  and  while  the  lawyers 
were  outlawing  him,  and  the  constables  endeavouring  to  take  him,  he 
evaded  detection  by  travelling  in  various  disguises  and  characters  through 
the  northern  counties  of  the  kingdom. 

The  appearances  of  a  clergyman,  a  quack  doctor,  and  a  rider  or  travel  • 
ler,  wei'e  in  turn  assumed;  but  going  to  Newcastle-upon-Tyne,  he  was 
secured  and  removed  to  London  by  a  writ  of  habeas  corpus.  He  now 
employed  counsel,  and  had  the  outlawry  against  him  reversed;  and  being 
then  tried  for  stealing  Mr.  Le  Mesurier's  purse,  was  acquitted  in  conse- 
quence of  the  absence  of  a  material  witness. 

Being  once  more  enlarged,  he  had  the  presumption  to  visit  Dublin  again, 
where  liaving  been  soon  suspected,  he  with  difficulty  escaped  to  England; 


368  TTIE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

but,  soon  after  his  arrival,  he  was  taken  into  custody  for  picking  the  pocket 
of  Henry  Hare  Townsend,  Esq.  at  Epsom  Races.  For  this  he  was  tried  at 
the  Old  Bailey,  September  1,  1798,  and  found  guilty,  notwithstanding  he 
made  an  ingenious  defence.  On  September  22d  the  Recorder  pronounced 
the  sentence  of  transportation  on  him  for  seven  years,  when  Barrington 
addressed  the  Court  to  the  following  effect: — 

"  My  Lord, — I  have  a  great  deal  to  say  in  extenuation  of  the  cause  for 
v  hich  I  now  stand  convicted  at  this  bar ;  but,  upon  consideration,  I  will 
not  arrest  the  attention  of  the  honourable  Court  too  long.  Among  the 
extraordinary  vicissitudes  incident  to  human  nature,  it  is  the  peculiar  and 
unfortunate  lot  of  some  devoted  persons  to  have  their  best  wishes,  and 
their  most  earnest  endeavours  to  deserve  the  good  opinion  of  the  most  re- 
spectable part  of  society,  entirely  frustrated.  Whatever  they  can  say  or 
whatever  they  can  do,  every  word  and  its  meaning,  every  action  and  its 
motive,  is  represented  in  an  unfavourable  light,  and  is  distorted  from  the 
real  intention  of  the  speaker  or  the  actor.  That  this  has  been  my  unhappy 
fate,  does  not  seem  to  stand  in  need  of  any  confirmation.  Every  eftbrt  to 
deserve  well  of  mankind,  and  my  heart  bore  witness  to  its  rectitude,  has 
been  thwarted  by  such  measures  as  those,  and  consequently  has  been  ren- 
dered abortive.  Many  of  the  circumstances  of  my  life  I  can,  without  any 
Tiolation  of  truth,  declare  to  have,  therefore,  happened  absolutely  in  spite 
of  myself.  The  world,  my  lord,  has  given  me  credit  for  abilities,  indeed, 
much  greater  than  I  possess,  and  therefore  much  more  than  I  deserved; 
but  I  have  never  found  any  kind  hand  to  foster  these  abilities.  I  might 
ask,  where  was  the  generous  and  powerful  hand  that  was  ever  stretched 
forth  to  rescue  George  Barrington  from  infamy?  In  an  age  like  this, 
which,  in  several  respects,  is  so  justly  famed  for  liberal  sentiments,  it  was 
my  severe  lot  that  no  noble-minded  gentleman  stepped  forward,  and  said 
to  me,  '  Barrington,  you  are  possessed  of  talents  which  may  be  useful  to 
society.  I  feel  for  your  situation;  and  as  long  as  you  act  the  part  of  a 
good  citizen,  I  will  be  your  protector:  you  will  then  have  time  and  op- 
portunity to  rescue  yourself  from  the  obloquy  of  your  former  conduct.' 
Alas,  my  Lord,  George  Barrington  never  had  the  supreme  felicity  of  hav- 
ing such  comfort  administered  to  his  wounded  spirit.  As  matters  have 
unfortunately  turned  out,  the  die  is  cast, — and  as  it  is,  I  bend  resigned  to 
my  fate,  without  one  murmur  or  complaint." 

Having  concluded  this  address,  rendered  more  forcible  by  his  pathetic 
manner,  he  left  the  bar  with  a  respectful  bow,  and  thus  retired  from  public 
life  in  Europe,  to  act  his  part  in  a  new  hemisphere. 

From  the  period  of  his  conviction  Barrington's  conduct  was  such  as  to 
retrieve  his  character  from  the  disgrace  with  which  he  had  loaded  it 
during  the  former  portion  of  his  life.  Soon  after  the  ship  in  which  he, 
with  many  other  culprits,  embarked  for  Botany  Bay,  had  left  England, 
a  circumstance  occurred  which  may  justly  be  asserted  to  have  laid  the 
foundation  of  his  subsequent  good  fortune. 

The  humanity  of  the  captain  had  induced  him  to  release  many  of  the 
convicts  who  were  in  a  weakly  state  from  their  irons,  and  to  permit  them 
alternately,  ten  at  a  time,  to  walk  upon  deck.  Two  of  them,  who  were 
Americans,  formed  the  design  of  seizing  the  ship,  and  prevailed  on  the 
majority  of  their  comrades  to  enter  into  the  plot.  It  was  agreed,  that  on 
the  first  favourable  opportunity,  pait  of  those  who  were  on  deck  should 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  369 

force  the  arm-chest,  overpower  the  sentinels,  and  then  give  a  signal  for 
those  below  to  join  them.  This  design  was  planned  with  great  secrecy, 
and  executed  with  equal  spirit  and  audacity.  One  day,  the  captain  and 
most  of  the  officers  being  below,  Barrington,  who  was  the  only  man  on 
deck  except  the  man  at  the  helm,  heard  a  noise  on  the  main-deck,  and 
going  forward  to  ascertain  its  cause,  was  met  by  one  of  the  Americans 
and  another  convict,  who  presented  a  sabre  at  his  breast,  which  they  had 
just  wrenched  from  one  of  the  sentinels,  and  commanded  him  instantly  to 
stop,  and  to  make  no  noise.  The  sentinel  at  the  moment  came  up,  and 
with  a  pistol  which  he  had  just  snapped  at  the  villain's  head,  knocked  up 
the  weapon  ;  and  Barrington,  seizing  the  opportunity,  snatched  up  a  hand- 
spike, and  felled  his  assailant  to  the  ground.  The  man  at  the  helm  was 
a  witness  to  this  scene  of  violence,  and  gave  the  alarm,  while  Barrington 
meanwhile  kept  his  situation,  guarding  the  passage  of  the  quarter-deck. 
His  antagonists  now  retreated  a  few  paces,  but,  being  joined  by  many 
others,  were  rushing  upon  him,  when  the  discharge  of  a  blunderbuss  from 
behind  our  hero  wounded  several,  and  they  retreated ;  and  Barrington 
being  by  this  time  aided  by  the  captain  and  the  rest  of  the  officers,  the 
mutineers  were  in  a  few  minutes  driven  below.  An  attempt  of  this  kind 
required  the  most  exemplary  punishment ;  and,  accordingly,  two  of  the 
ringleaders  were  immediately  hanged  at  the  yard-arm,  and  several  others 
severely  flogged. 

Order  being  restored,  the  captain  paid  Barrington  many  handsome  com- 
pliments for  his  conduct,  to  which  he  attributed  the  salvation  of  the  ship, 
promised  him  a  recompense  for  his  services,  and  directed  his  steward  to 
supply  him  with  everything  he  wanted  during  the  voyage.  Accordingly, 
on  the  arrival  of  the  ship  at  the  Cape  of  Good  Hope,  he  gave  Barrington 
a  draft  on  a  merchant  there  for  one  hundred  dollars,  with  permission  to 
go  on  shore  as  often  as  he  pleased.  Nor  was  this  all ;  for,  when  they 
reached  the  place  of  their  final  destination,  the  captain  made  such  a  favour- 
able report  of  Barrington's  character  and  merits  to  the  governor  of  Port 
Jackson,  that  he  immediately  appointed  him  superintendant  of  convicts  at 
a  kind  of  colony  from  the  parent  settlement,  called  Paramatta,  where  a 
convenient  habitation  was  assigned  him. 

Barrington's  conduct  in  this  situation  was  marked  by  such  undeviating 
rectitude  as  not  oidy  to  obtain  him  the  esteem  of  the  governor  and  other 
officers,  but  also  to  procure  him  the  appointment  of  high  constable  of 
Paramatta,  with  a  salary  of  fifty  pounds  a-year ;  on  which  occasion  the 
governor  complimented  him  on  the  faithful  discharge  of  his  duty,  which 
he  considered  as  effiicing  his  former  misconduct. 

In  this  situation  he  continued  some  time,  but  in  1801  he  was  a  mere 
living  skeleton ;  and,  having  lost  the  use  of  his  intellectual  faculties,  had 
retired  on  a  small  pension.  He  died  in  1804,  a  melancholy  instance  of 
perverted  talents ;  and  it  is  supposed  that  his  mental  imbecility  wa,s 
brought  on  by  remorse  and  conscious  sensibility,  operating  on  a  mind 
capable  of  better  things. 


VOL.  I. 


3    B 


•370  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


JAMES  HADFIELD. 

TRIED    FOR    HIGH    TREASON,    IN    SHOOTING    AT   THE    KING. 

The  case  of  this  unfortunate  man  has  attracted  universal  attention,  but 
its  circumstances  exliibit  only  that  the  most  lamentable  insanity  existed  in 
the  mind  of  the  prisoner. 

The  trial  of  the  wretched  man  came  on  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench, 
on  the  26th  June,  1800,  whc-n  the  prisoner  was  arraigned  upon  an  indict- 
ment, which  charged  him  with  shooting  at  the  King  in  Drury-Lane 
Theatre  on  the  loth  May  preceding. 

The  indictment  having  been  read,  the  prisoner  pleaded  Xot  Guilty,  and 
the  Attorney-general  then  opened  the  case  against  him. 

Mr.  Joseph  Craig  was  the  first  witness  examined.  He  deposed,  that 
he  was  a  musician  at  Drury-Lane  Theatre,  and  was  there  on  the  night  of 
his  Majesty  honouring  the  performance  with  his  presence.  His  attention 
was  suddenly  drawn  to  the  prisoner,  whose  figure  he  saw  elevated  above 
tlie  rest ;  his  right  hand  being  extended  ^vith  a  pistol  pointed  towards  his 
3Iajesty.  The  pistol  was  immediately  discharged,  and  then  it  fell  down 
instantly.  Several  persons  seized  the  prisoner  at  once,  and  he  assisted  in 
pullincT  him  over  the  rails,  and  in  taking  him  into  the  music  room.  Mr. 
Sheridan  and  the  Duke  of  York  afterwards  entered  the  room,  when  the 
prisoner  said,  "  God  bless  your  Royal  Highness !  I  like  you  very  well, 
you  are  a  good  fellow.'' 

Other  witnesses  deposed  to  the  same  efi"ect ;  and  stated,  in  addition,  that 
tiiey  had  remarked  that  the  prisoner  was  a  pitiful  object  before  the  dread- 
ful attempt  which  he  made.  The  situation  which  the  prisoner  selected 
was  the  best  which  he  could  have  chosen  for  the  object  wb.ich  he  had  in 
view ;  he  was  observed  to  be  agitated  on  the  entrance  of  his  ^lajesty ;  and 
on  his  bowing  a  second  time  to  the  audience,  the  prisoner  raised  his  arm 
and  fired.  The  pistol  was  picked  up  from  the  ground  in  front  of  him, 
after  he  was  taken  into  the  music  room. 

Mr.  Law,  one  of  the  counsel  for  the  prosecution,  here  desired  that  the 
Duke  of  York  might  be  called  ;  upon  which  the  prisoner,  in  a  paroxysm 
of  enthusiasm,  cried  out,  "•  God  l)less  the  duke  !  I  love  him."  The  Court, 
seeing  his  agitation,  immediately  gave  directions  that  he  should  be  per- 
mitted to  sit  down ;  and  Mr.  Kirby,  the  keeper  of  Newgate,  (who  all  the 
time  sat  next  to  him,)  told  him  he  had  permission  of  the  Court  to  sit 
down,  which  he  did,  and  remained  composed  during  tlie  I'emainder  of  the 
trial. 

The  Duke  of  York  then  stated,  that  he  was  present  at  the  examination; 
he  remarked  at  the  time  that  he  knew  the  prisoner,  and  that  he  had  been 
one  of  his  orderly  men.  The  prisoner  said,  ■•'  He  knew  his  ov.n  life  was 
forfeited ;  he  regretted  the  fate  of  his  wife  only  ;  he  would  be  only  two 
days  lonorer  from  his  wife;"  and  he  added,  "The  worst  is  not  come  yet." 
His  royal  highness  said  the  prisoner  appeared  to  be  perfectly  collected. 
After  his  majesty  had  retired,  his  royal  highness  directed  a  search  to  be 
made  in  the  king's  box,  when  a  hole  was  discovered,  evidently  made  by 
the  impression  of  a  shot,  fourteen  inches  from  his  majesty's  head.  It  had 
perforated  the  pillar.     In  searchuig  below,  some  slugs  were  found;  and  by 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  371 

the  smell,  it  appeared  that  they  had  been  recently  fired  ofi:  Mr,  Erskine 
asked  his  royal  highness  if  the  most  loyal  and  brave  men  were  not  usually 
selected  to  be  the  orderly  men.  His  royal  highness  answered,  that  the 
most  tried  and  trusty  men  were  appointed  orderly  men.  When  the  pri- 
soner was  asked  what  could  induce  him  to  commit  so  atrocious  an  act,  he 
said  he  was  tired  of  life,  and  thought  he  should  have  been  killed. 

The  evidence  for  the  prosecution  being  closed,  Mr.  Erskine  addressed 
the  jury  at  considerable  length. 

]\lajor  Ryan,  of  the  15th  light  dragoons,  in  which  the  prisoner  was 
a  private,  Hercules  M'Gill,  private  in  the  same  regiment,  and  John  Lane, 
of  the  Guards,  all  knew  the  prisoner,  and  deposed  to  his  havino-  been 
guilty  of  different  acts  of  insanity. 

Mr.  Cline,  surgeon ;  Dr.  Crichton,  physician ;  and  Dr.  Letherne,  sur- 
geon to  the  15th  regiment,  as  professional  gentlemen,  gave  testimony  to 
their  belief  of  the  prisoner's  insanity. 

Captain  Wilson  and  Christopher  Lawton,  of  the  15th  light  drao^oons ; 
David  Hadfield,  brother  to  the  prisoner ;  jMary  Gore,  sister-in-law  to  the 
prisoner ;  Catharine  Harrison,  and  Elizabeth  Roberts,  detailed  diffi^rent 
acts  of  insanity,  particularly  on  the  day  previous  to  and  on  which  he 
committed  the  crime  for  which  he  stood  indicted :  and  the  prisoner  was 
found  by  the  jury  to  be  insane,  and  was  remanded  to  be  dealt  with  accord- 
ing to  his  Majesty's  pleasure. 

He  was  subsequently  removed  to  Bedlam,  where  he  remains. 

Ravillac,  who  stabbed  King  Henry  IV.  of  France,  while  in  his  coach, 
and  suiTounded  by  his  guards,  was  tortured  to  death  in  the  following 
inhuman  manner : — 

At  the  place  of  execution,  his  right  hand,  with  which  he  gave  the  fatal 
blow,  was  put  into  a  furnace  flaming  with  fire  and  brimstone,  and  there 
consumed.  His  flesh  was  pulled  from  his  bones  with  red-hot  pincers ; 
boiling  oil,  resin,  and  brimstone,  were  poured  upon  the  wounds,  and 
melted  lead  upon  his  navel.  To  close  the  scene  of  horror,  four  horses  were 
fastened  to  the  foui*  quarters  of  his  body,  which  were  torn  asunder. 

He  declared  to  the  last  moment  that  he  had  no  accomplices,  and  that 
the  only  motive  which  impelled  him  to  act  the  regicide  was,  because  the 
king  tolerated  two  religions  in  Frauce. 

His  parents  were  banished  their  country,  never  more  to  return,  on  pain 
of  immediate  death  ;  and  his  whole  kindred,  nay,  every  individual  bearing 
the  name,  were  ordered  to  renounce  it ;  so  that  the  name  of  Ravillas 
should  never  more  be  heard  of  in  Frauce. 


RICHARD  FERGUSON,  alias  GALLOPING  DICK. 

HANGED    FOR    HIGHWAY    ilOBBERY. 

TnE  adventures  of  Galloping  Dick  are  scarcely  less  notorious  than  those 
of  the  celebi'ated  Turpin,  or  the  unfortunate  Dijk  King,  the  "  Gentleman 
Higliwayman." 

Richard  Ferguson  was  the  son  of  a  gentleman's  valet,  and  was  a  native 
of  Hertfordshire.  Having  received  some  little  educat'on,  he  was  at  an 
early   age   taken   into  employment  in  the  establishment  of  his  father's 


372  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

master  as  a  stable-boy.  Being  an  active  lad,  and  withal  well  versed  in 
the  management  of  horses,  he  was  temporarily  employed  as  postilion 
during  the  illness  of  the  regular  servant ;  but,  being  at  length  compelled 
to  return  to  his  more  humble  duties  of  stable-boy,  his  pride  could  ill  brook 
the  degradation  ;  and  he  determined  to  look  for  higher  employment.  A 
friend  of  his  master  was  in  want  of  a  postilion,  and  young  Dick  applied  for 
the  place.  His  qualifications  were  at  once  admitted,  and  he  was  engaged, 
and  immediately  accompanied  his  new  employer  to  London.  His  nabits 
were,  at  this  time,  of  such  a  nature  as  to  render  him  a  favourite  with  his 
master,  and,  by  means  of  steadiness  and  perseverance,  he  remained  during 
a  considerable  period  in  the  same  service  ;  but,  being  at  length  discovered 
in  a  situation  with  one  of  the  female  servants  which  left  no  doubt  of  his 
claims  to  a  character  for  gallantry,  he  was  dismissed. 

He  remained  out  of  place  during  a  considerable  period,  and,  resorting  to 
public-houses,  he  became  acquainted  with  a  number  of  persons  of  his  own 
condition,  from  whom  he  speedily  acquired  a  knowledge  of  all  the  vices 
fashionable  among  the  party-coloured  gentry.  He,  at  length,  was  com- 
pelled to  accept  employment  in  the  service  of  a  livery-stable  keeper  in 
Piccadilly  ;  but  his  master  dying,  he  was  again  thrown  upon  the  town, 
though  not  altogether  without  provision,  for  he  had  so  far  gained  his 
master's  good  opinion,  that  he  had  left  him  a  legacy  of  oOl. 

Dick  was  now  the  owner  of  a  sura  far  greater  than  he  had  ever  yet 
had  the  good  fortime  to  possess ;  and  he  determined  to  commence  business 
in  a  new  line — that  of  gentleman.  Purchasing  mourning  out  of  respect 
to  his  last  employer,  he  frequented  the  theatres,  and  while  at  Drury-lane 
he  became  acquainted  with  a  woman,  his  admiration  of  whose  charms 
eventually,  though  by  indirect  means,  proved  his  ruin.  At  first,  he  was 
disposed  to  imagine  that  she  was  a  person  of  respectability,  but,  meeting 
with  a  ready  acquiescence  in  his  request  to  be  permitted  to  accompany 
her  home,  he  soon  discovered  the  mistake  into  which  he  had  fallen.  Day 
after  day  he  visited  his  dulcinea,  until  he  had  disposed  of  all  the  cash 
he  possessed,  and  then  he  began  to  find,  that  there  were  others,  whose 
visits  were  more  welcome  than  his.  He,  cot  unfrequeutly,  met  persons 
in  their  way  in  or  out  of  the  house,  with  whose  figures  he  became  speedily 
familiar,  and  an  accident  subsequently  made  him  acquainted  with  the 
nature  of  their  avocations. 

Findinor  that  he  was  no  longer  welcome  to  the  house  of  his  lady,  he 
resolved  now  to  endeavour  to  procure  the  means  by  which  he  hoped  again 
to  secure  her  favour ;  and  he  accepted  a  situation  as  postilion  at  an  inn  in 
Piccadilly. 

In  his  drives  round  the  metropolis,  he  not  unfrequently  saw  his  rivals 
ofaily  dressed  and  mounted,  but  he  was  rather  surprised  one  day,  while  on 
the  North  Road,  at  receiving  a  sudden  summons  to  stop  from  a  man, 
whose  figure  he  fancied  he  recognised  as  that  of  one  of  them,  but  whose 
face  was  covered  with  crape.  He  speedily  obeyed  the  order  which  he 
had  so  peremptorily  received ;  and  while  the  man  who  had  called  to  him 
stood  by  his  side  with  a  pistol  at  his  head,  another,  similarly  disguised. 
•Tfalloped  from  a  by-road  to  the  chaise  and  demanded  the  money  of  its 
occupant.  A  sudden  gust  of  wind  now  enabled  our  hero  to  satisfy  himself 
of  the  trutli  of  his  surmises  as  to  the  higliwaynian  near  him,  for  the  crape 
beiuT  momentarLv  blown  from  his  face,  he  at  once  recognised  in  him  one 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  373 

of  the  admirers  of  the  lady  of  his  affections,  whom  he  subsequently  found 
to  be  Jerry  Avershaw.  He  stared  at  tlie  man,  but  some  persons  at  this 
moment  appearing  in  view,  the  highwayman  precipitately  rode  off. 

Avershaw,  it  appears,  was  no  less  uneasy  at  the  discovery,  which  he 
knew  had  been  made,  than  Ferguson  was  astonished  ;  and,  pulling  up 
with  his  companion  at  a  roadside  inn,  they  gave  directions,  that  Dick 
should  be  introduced  to  them  on  his  stopping  there  to  water  his  horses,  on 
his  way  home  with  the  return  chaise.  Upon  his  entry,  an  offer  was 
immediately  made  to  him  of  a  bribe,  to  prevent  his  discovering  the  haunts 
of  the  thieves,  and  his  acquiescence  procured  for  him  an  invitation  to  sup 
with  the  highwaymen  on  the  same  evening  at  their  rendezvous  in  the 
Borough.  With  the  money  our  hero  flew  to  his  doxy,  but  the  lady 
having  now  discovered  his  situation  declined  to  have  anything  more  to 
say  to  him. 

The  chance,  which  had  operated  to  deprive  him  of  the  society  of  the 
lady,  however,  gained  for  him  the  companionship  of  her  visitors  ;  and, 
meeting  Avershaw  at  the  house  which  he  had  appointed,  he  was  received 
with  every  mark  of  attention.  A  sumptuous  supper  was  served,  and 
a  large  party  having  assembled,  the  night  was  spent  in  boisterous  hilarity. 
Ferguson  was  delighted  with  the  society  to  which  he  was  introduced,  and 
at  once  assented  to  a  proposition,  that  he  should  become  one  of  their 
number — a  sharer  in  their  dangers  and  profits.  In  obedience  to  a  sug- 
gestion which  was  offered,  it  was  determined,  however,  that  he  should  not 
yet  be  called  upon  to  enter  into  active  service,  but  that  he  should  furnish 
his  associates  with  information  as  to  the  routes  of  the  various  chaises  which 
went  from  the  inn  where  he  was  employed,  so  that  they  might  intercept 
them,  and  rob  them.  He  pursued  this  diabolical  plan  with  so  much 
success  as  frequently  to  obtain  some  share  of  very  large  booties ;  but,  at 
length,  his  connexion  with  the  highwaymen  being  suspected,  he  lost  his 
place,  and  was  compelled  to  take  the  road  himself.  In  this  new  employ- 
ment, he  was  long  remarked  for  the  most  extraordinary  success.  Of  a 
bold  and  daring  disposition,  he  defied  danger.  His  skill  in  horses  was 
found  to  be  of  the  greatest  importance  to  him  ;  and  the  headlong  pace  at 
which  he  would  travel,  when  in  pursuit  of  an  object,  or  when  chased,  pro- 
cured for  him  the  name  of  '*  Galloping  Dick."  Numerous  were  the 
escapes  which  he  succeeded  in  making  from  his  pursuers,  after  he  had 
committed  robberies  ;  and,  in  one  instance,  having  been  concerned  with 
two  others  in  stopping  two  gentlemen  in  the  Edgeware  Road,  he  succeeded 
in  galloping  off,  while  his  companions  were  secured,  and  upon  being  tried 
were  convicted  and  executed. 

Nor  were  his  successes  confined  to  the  road.  In  his  amours  he  was 
equally  bold  and  enterprising,  and  equally  happy.  He  persuaded  two 
married  women,  the  wives  of  publicans  in  the  Borough,  to  elope  with  him, 
and  his  intrigues  were  almost  innumerable. 

To  follow  him  through  the  whole  of  his  exploits  would  be  to  occupy  a 
very  considerable  portion  of  our  limits  with  the  recital  of  his  case  alone. 
He  was  concerned  in  almost  every  robbery  which  was  committed  in  the 
neighbourhood  of  the  metropolis  during  the  period  at  which  he  was  cele- 
brated., and  his  acquaintance  and  connexion  with  other  thieves  were  almost 
as  extensive  as  his  crimes.  He  was  repeatedly  in  custody  at  Bow-street, 
ami  was  several  times  tried  at  the  Old  Bailey,  but  acquitted:  but  at  length 


374  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

having  been  a  party  to  a  most  daring  robbery  near  Aylesbury,  he  was 
taken  into  custody  within  a  short  time  of  the  commission  of  his  offence 
and  being  fully  identified,  he  was  committed  for  trial. 

He  was  indicted  at  the  ensuing  assizes,  and  a  verdict  of  guilty  having 
been  found,  he  was  sentenced  to  death. 

Upon  his  discovering  that  all  hopes  of  mercy  were  vain,  he  sedulously 
applied  himself  to  a  preparation  for  his  approaching  end,  and  upon  the  day 
of  execution  conducted  himself  with  decent  resignation. 

He  was  executed  at  Aylesbury  in  the  month  of  April,  1800. 


JOSEPH  WALL,  ESQ. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

Mr.  Wall,  or  as  he  has  been  more  commonly  called.  Governor  Wall 
was  descended  from  a  good  family  in  Ireland,  and  entered  into  the  army 
at  an  early  age.  He  was  of  a  severe  and  rather  unaccommodating  tem- 
per; nor  was  he  much  liked  among  the  officers. 

Mr.  Wall  was  Lieutenant-governor  of  Senegambia,  but  acted  as  chief, 
the  first  appointment  being  vacant.  His  emoluments  were  very  consider- 
able, as,  besides  his  military  appointments,  he  was  superintendant  of  trade 
to  the  colony.  It  was  an  office  he  held  but  a  short  time — not  more  than 
two  years;  during  which  he  committed  the  crime  for  which  he  suffered, 
by  ordering  Benjamin  Armstrong  to  receive  eight  hundred  lashes,  on  the 
10th  of  July,  1782,  of  which  he  died  in  five  days  afterwards. 

As  soon  as  the  account  of  the  murder  reached  the  board  of  admiralty,  a 
reward  was  offered  for  his  apprehension;  but,  having  evaded  justice  in 
1 784,  he  lived  on  the  Continent,  sometimes  in  France,  and  sometimes  in 
Italy,  but  mostly  in  France,  under  an  assumed  name,  where  he  was  ad- 
mitted into  good  society. 

It  is  most  extraordinary  that  a  species  of  fatality  almost  invariably 
appears  to  attend  persons  who  have  been  guilty  of  off"ences  like  that  of 
Mr.  Wall.  A  gnawing  desire  to  return  to  London  constantly  preyed  on 
the  mind  of  that  gentleman,  and  at  length  in  the  year  1797,  having  first 
written  to  a  confidential  friend  to  procure  him  lodgings,  he  once  more  ap- 
peared in  the  metropolis.  His  presence  was  quickly  notified  to  his  rela- 
tions, who  constantly  urged  the  imprudence  of  this  step,  and  the  impor- 
tance of  his  again  retiring  beyond  the  reach  of  tlie  laws  of  England,  but  all 
remonstrance  proved  vain,  and  he  continued  to  reside  in  his  lodgings  in 
Lambeth,  scarcely  exhibiting  any  desire  to  conceal  his  name,  character,  or 
situation.  He  soon  afterwards  removed  to  new  apartments  in  Upper 
Thornhauoh-street,  Bedford-square,  and  from  this  time  he  seems  to  have 
contemplated  surrendering  himself  to  the  Government,  in  order  that  he 
might  take  his  trial  for  the  offence  imputed  to  him.  His  mind  appeared 
ill  at  ease,  but  he  was  evidently  incapable  of  coming  to  any  firm  determi- 
nation upon  a  point  of  so  much  importance  to  his  interests  and  those  of  his 
family.  It  was  not  until  the  year  1801  that  he  at  length  summoned  up 
courage  to  do  that  which  he  now  looked  upon  as  his  duty  to  his  country, 
and  then  he  wrote  to  the  Government  in  terms  singularly  indicative  of  !us 


THE    NEW    XEWG  4."i;;p    CALENDAR.  375 

disposition,  saying  that  "  He  was  ready  to  give  himself  up,"  but  not  im- 
mediately tendering  his  person  to  custody. 

A  communication  of  this  character  was  not  to  be  overlooked  by  a  mini- 
ster of  state,  and  although  it  was  extremely  possible,  that  in  case  of  his 
continued  silence,  no  steps  would  have  been  taken  to  procure  t!ie  apj.re- 
hension  of  ]\Ir.  Wall,  orders  were  now  given  that  he  should  be  secured. 
At  this  period  he  was  still  living  in  Upper  Thornhaugh  street,  and  there 
he  was  apprehended  by  officers,  who  received  instructions  from  the  office 
of  the  Secretary  of  State  for  the  Home  Department. 

On  the  20th  of  January,  1802,  about  twenty  years  after  the  commission 
of  the  crime  with  which  he  stood  charged,  Mr.  "Wall  was  indicted  at  the 
Old  Bailey,  and  his  trial  came  on  before  the  Chief  Baron  of  the  Exche- 
quer, Mr.  Justice  Rook,  and  Mr.  Justice  Lawrence. 

Upon  the  case  being  called  on,  the  prisoner  informed  the  Court  that  he 
was  deaf,  and  requested  to  be  permitted  to  sit  near  his  counsel,  but  the 
Lord  Chief  Baron  informed  him,  that  such  an  application  could  not  be  ac- 
ceded to,  for  that  there  was  a  situation  pointed  out  for  persons  placed  in 
his  condition,  and  that  any  distinction  would  be  invidious.  The  case  then 
proceeded,  and  it  was  proved  by  the  witnesses,  that  Armstrong  was  far 
from  being  undutiful  in  his  behaviour;  that  he  was,  however,  tied  to  the 
gun-carriage;  black  men,  brought  there  for  the  purpose — not  the  drum- 
mers, who  in  the  ordinary  course  of  things  would  have  had  to  flog  him, 
supposing  him  to  have  deserved  flogging; — but  black  men  were  ordered  to 
inflict  the  punishment  ordered.  Each  man  took  his  turn,  and  gave  this 
unhappy  sufferer  twenty-five  lashes,  until  he  had  received  the  number  of 
eight  hundred;  and  the  instrument  with  which  the  punishment  was  in- 
flicted was  not  a  cat-o'-nine  tails,  which  is  usually  employed,  but  a 
piece  of  rope  of  a  greater  thickness,  which  was  much  more  severe  than  the 
cat.  During  the  time  at  which  this  inhuman  punishment  was  being  in- 
flicted, the  prisoner  stood  by,  and  with  a  degree  of  cruelty  almost  unpa- 
ralleled urged  the  executioners  to  "  cut  him  to  the  heart  and  liver,"  and 
in  answer  to  the  poor  wretch's  cries  for  mercy,  he  was  proved  to  have  de- 
clared that  "  the  sick  season  coming  on,  with  the  punishment,  would  do  for 
him."  At  the  conclusion  of  the  flogging,  the  miserable  being  was  con- 
ducted to  the  hospital,  and  there,  at  the  expiration  of  five  days,  he  died, 
declaring  that  he  had  been  punished  without  trial. 

The  defence  set  up  was,  that  the  deceased  had  been  guilty  of  mutiny, 
and  that  the  punishment  was  not  so  severe  as  reported,  but  that  the  de- 
ceased was  suffered  to  drink  strong  spirits  when  in  the  hospital.  Several 
witnesses  were  called  on  the  part  of  the  prisoner,  particularly  Mrs.  Lacv, 
widow  of  the  captain  who  succeeded  Mr.  Wall,  and  Mary  Falkner,  who 
not  only  agreed  with  him  in  the  outrageous  conduct  of  the  men,  and  the 
violent  language  they  used,  but  both  positively  swore  that  Lewis,  the  first 
witness  against  the  prisoner,  was  not  the  orderly  serjeant  on  that  day. — 
John  Falkner,  Peter  Williams,  and  some  others  who  were  present,  were 
also  examined,  and  their  testimony  went  in  full  corroboration  of  the  ac- 
count given  by  the  prisoner,  and  so  far  went  to  his  justification;  but  in 
many  material  points  it  was  in  direct  contradiction  to  the  evidence  which 
had  been  given  by  the  witnesses  for  the  Crown. 

The  jury,  after  being  out  of  court  some  time,  pronounced  a  vf^rdict  of 
^  guilty."     The  Recorder  then  proceeded  to  pass  sentence  of  death  upon 


376  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

the  prisoner:  that  he  be  executed  the  following  morning,  and  that  his  body 
be  afterwards  delivered  to  be  anatomized  according  to  the  statute.  Mr. 
"Wall  seemed  sensibly  affected  by  the  sentence,  but  said  nothing  more  than 
to  request  the  court  would  allow  him  a  little  time  to  prepare  himself  for 
death.  On  the  :21st  of  January,  a  respite  was  sent  from  Lord  Pelham's 
office,  def(.'rring  his  execution  until  the  '2oi\\,  and  on  the  24th,  he  was  fur- 
ther respited  till  the  28th.  During  the  time  of  his  confinement,  previous 
to  trial,  he  occupied  the  apartment  which  was  formerly  the  residence  of  Mr. 
Rido-way,  the  bookseller.  His  wife  lived  with  him  for  the  last  fortnight; 
although  he  was  allowed  tvvo  hours  a-day,  from  twelve  to  two,  to  walk  in 
the  yard,  he  did  not  once  embrace  tliis  indulgence;  and  during  his  whole 
confinement,  he  never  went  out  of  his  room,  except  into  the  lobby  to  con- 
sult his  counsel.  He  lived  well,  and  was  at  times  very  facetious,  easy  in 
his  manners,  and  pleasant  in  conversation:  but  during  the  night  he  fre- 
quently sat  up  in  his  bed  and  sang  psalms,  overheard  by  his  fellow-pri- 
soner. He  had  not  many  visitors,  and  his  only  attendant  was  a  prisoner, 
who  was  appointed  for  that  purpose  by  the  turnkey. 

After  trial  he  did  not  return  to  his  old  apartment,  but  was  conducted 
to  a  cell;  and  he  was  so  far  favoured  as  not  to  have  irons  put  on,  but  a 
person  was  employed  as  a  guard  to  watch  him  during  the  night  to  prevent 
him  doing  violence  to  himself.  On  his  return  from  court,  on  the  day  of 
trial,  his  bed  was  brought  to  him  in  the  cell,  on  which  he  threw  himself 
in  an  aoony  of  mind,  saying  it  was  his  intention  not  to  rise  until  they 
called  him  on  the  fatal  morning. 

The  sheriffs  were  particularly  pointed  and  precise  in  their  orders,  with 
respect  to  confining  him  to  the  usual  diet  of  bread  and  water,  preparatory 
to  the  awful  event,  and  this  order  was  scrupulously  fulfilled.  The  prisoner, 
during  a  part  of  the  night,  slept,  owing  to  fatigue  and  perturbation  of 
mind.  The  next  morning  his  wife  applied,  but  was  refused  admittance 
without  an  order  from  one  of  the  sheriffs.  She  applied  to  Mr.  Sheriff  Cox, 
who  attended  her  to  the  prison. 

From  the  time  of  the  first  respite,  until  twelve  o'clock  on  Wednesday 
night,  he  did  not  cease  to  entertain  hopes  of  his  safety.  The  interest  made 
to^save  him  was  very  great.  The  whole  of  Wednesday  occupied  the  great 
law  officers;  the  judges  met  at  the  chancellor's  in  the  afternoon,  and  the 
conference  which  then  took  place  lasted  upwards  of  three  hours. 

All  hopes  were,  however,  vain,  and  at  a  little  after  four  o'clock,  on 
Thursday  the  i^Sth,  the  scaffold  began  to  be  erected  by  torch-light. 

The  prisoner  had  had  an  affecting  interview  with  his  wife,  the  night  before, 
from  whom  he  was  painfully  separated  about  eleven  o'clock.  3Irs.  Wall 
then  reluctantly  departed,  overwhelmed  with  grief,  and  bathed  with  tears; 
while  the  unfortunate  husband  declared  that  he  could  now,  with  Christian 
fortitude,  submit  to  his  unhappy  fate. 

During  the  greater  part  of  the  night  he  slept  but  little;  but  at  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  morning  his  sleep  was  observed  to  become  sound,  and, 
according  to  the  best  recollection  of  his  attendant,  he  continued  in  this 
sleep  rather  more  than  an  hour;  so  that  he  could  not  have  heard  the  fatal 
machine  in  its  passage  to  the  Debtors'-door.  His  voice  preserved  its  usual 
strenffth  and  tone  to  the  end;  and,  though  very  particular  in  his  questions 
respecting  the  machinery  in  every  part,  yet  he  spoke  of  his  approaching 
execution  and  death  with  perfect  calmness.     At  half  after  six  in  the  morn- 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  877 

incr,  his  prison  attendant,  going  to  his  cell,  was  asked  by  him  "  whether 
tiie  noise  he  heard  was  not  that  of  erecting  his  scaffold  ?"  but  he  was 
liumanely  answered  in  the  negative. 

The  Ordinary,  Dr.  Ford,  soon  after  entered, when  the  pris^oner  devoutly 
Joined  him  for  some  time  in  prayer.  They  then  passed  on  to  an  ante- 
room, when  the  governor  asked  "  whether  it  was  a  fine  mornino-  ?"  On 
beincr  answered  in  the  affirmative,  he  said,  "  The  time  hangs  heavily  :  I  am 
anxious  for  the  close  of  this  scene."  One  of  the  officers  then  proceeded  to 
bind  his  arms  Avith  a  cord,  for  which  he  extended  them  out  firmly ;  but 
recolJocting  himself,  he  said,  "  I  beg  your  pardon  a  moment ;"  and  putting 
his  hand  in  his  pocket,  he  drew  out  two  white  handkerchiefs,  one  of  which 
be  bound  over  his  temples  so  as  nearly  to  conceal  his  eyes,  over  wlucli  he 
placed  a  white  cap,  and  then  put  on  a  round  hat ;  tlie  other  handkerchief 
he  kept  between  his  hands.  He  then  observed,  "  the  cord  cuts  me  ;  but 
it's  no  matter :"  on  which  Dr.  Ford  desired  it  to  be  loosened,  for  whicli 
the  prisoner  bowed,  and  thanked  him. 

As  the  clock  struck  eight,  the  door  was  thrown  open,  and  Sheriff  Cox 
and  his  officers  appeared.  The  governor  approaching  him,  said,  "  I 
attend  you,  sir ;"  and  the  procession  to  the  scuffuld,  over  the  Debtors'-  door, 
immediately  succeeded.  He  had  no  sooner  ascended  it,  accompanied  by  the 
Ordinary,  than  three  successive  shouts  from  an  innumerable  populace,  the 
brutal  effusion  of  one  common  sentiment,  evidently  deprived  him  of  the 
small  portion  of  fortitude  which  he  had  summoned  up.  He  bowed  his 
head  under  the  extreme  pressure  of  ignominy,  when  the  hangman  put  the 
halter  over  it.  This  done,  Mr.  Wall  stooped  forward  and  spoke  to  the 
Ordinary,  who,  no  doubt  at  his  request,  pulled  the  cap  over  the  lower 
part  of  the  face,  when  in  an  instant,  without  waiting  for  any  signal,  the 
platform  dropped. 

From  the  knot  of  the  rope  turning  round  to  the  back  of  the  neck,  and 
his  legs  not  being  pulled,  as  at  his  particular  request,  he  was  suspended  in 
convulsive  agony  for  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  After  hanging  a 
full  hour,  his  body  was  cut  down,  put  into  a  cart,  and  immediately  con- 
veyed to  a  building  in  Cow-cross-street  to  be  dissected.  He  was  dressed 
in  a  mixed  coloured  loose  coat,  with  a  black  collar,  swan-down  waistcoat, 
blue  pantaloons,  and  white  silk  stockings.  He  appeared  a  miserable  and 
emaciated  object,  never  having  quitted  the  bed  of  his  cell  from  the  day  of 
condemnation  till  the  morning  of  his  execution. 

The  body  of  the  unfortunate  gentleman  was  not  exposed  to  public  view, 
as  was  usual  in  such  cases.  l\Ir.  Belfour,  secretary  to  the  Surgeons' 
Company,  applied  to  Lord  Kenyon  to  know  whether  such  an  exposure  was 
necessary ;  and  finding  that  the  forms  of  dissection  only  were  required,  the 
body,  after  those  forms  had  been  complied  with,  was  consigned  to  the  rela- 
tions of  the  unhappy  man,  upon  their  paying  fifty  guineas  to  the  Phiiau- 
t'nropic  Society, 


VOL.    I.  3  r 


378  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

JOHN  TERRY  AND  JOSEPH  HEALD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

These  villains  were  executed  for  the  wilful  murder  of  a  poor  old  woman, 
named  Elizabeth  Smith,  aged  sixty-seven  years  ;  their  object  being  to 
possess  themselves  of  a  small  sum  of  money,  known  to  have  been  recently 
before  transmitted  to  her  by  her  son. 

Their  trial  came  on  at  York,  on  Friday  the  18th  of  March  1803  ;  and 
the  indictment  alleged  the  murder  to  have  been  committed  at  Flaminshaw, 
near  "Wakefield,  in  the  same  county. 

It  appeared  that  the  deceased  was  a  respectable  woman,  who  obtained 
an  humble  living  by  disposing  of  the  produce  of  two  cows  which  she 
possessed.  JMisfortune,  however,  fell  upon  her,  and  her  cows  died  ;  but 
through  the  instrumentality  of  her  neighbours  a  subscription  was  raised  for 
her,  by  which  one  cow  was  purchased.  Her  son,  who  was  engaged  in  a 
decent  way  of  life  at  Leeds,  sent  her  eighteen  guineas  to  buy  another  ;  and 
this  was  the  bait  by  which  the  wretched  men,  whose  crime  we  are  about 
to  describe,  were  allured.  On  the  morning  of  the  I4th  of  January  1803, 
the  poor  old  woman  was  found  to  have  been  murdered  in  her  own  house, 
under  circumstances  of  very  great  barbarity  ;  and  suspicion  having  fallen 
upon  the  prisoners,  they  were  taken  into  custody.  Terry  then,  driven  by 
remorse,  made  a  confession  to  Shaw  and  Linley,  the  constables  by  whom 
he  had  been  secured.  He  said  that  he  and  Heald,  having  determined  upon 
the  perpetration  of  the  murder,  agreed  to  meet  outside  tlie  house  of  the 
deceased  at  about  one  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  14th  of  January.  They 
met  in  accordance  with  their  appointment ;  and  Heald  having  first  entered 
the  house,  by  making  his  way  through  the  first-floor  window,  with  his 
(Teriy's)  assistance,  he  directly  afterwards  placed  something  against  the 
side  of  the  house  by  means  of  Avhich  he  was  enabled  to  follow  him. 
On  their  gaining  the  room  of  Mrs.  Smith,  they  found  that  she  had  been 
alarmed  by  the  noise  which  they  had  made,  and  was  getting  up  ;  but  they 
directly  attacked  her,  and  knocked  her  down  ;  and  when  Heald  liad  struck 
her  several  blows,  he  took  out  a  razor.  The  deceased  was  now  still  on  the 
ground,  and  he  (Terry)  held  her  head,  while  Heald  cut  her  tliroat ;  but  at 
lenoth  liis  fingers  being  wounded,  he  called  to  his  companion  to  desist,  as  they 
had  done  enough,  and  proposed  that  they  should  go  and  see  if  all  was  safe. 
He  then  ran  down  stairs,  but  returning  in  a  few  moments,  he  found  that 
Heald  had  got  the  old  woman  into  another  room,  and  was  beating  her  over 
the  head  with  a  pair  of  tongs.  Upon  seeing  him,  he  struck  her  no  more, 
and  then  they  directly  secured  the  money  and  made  off.  From  the  evidence 
of  the  constables  it  further  appeared  that  Heald,  on  hearing  the  confession 
of  the  other  prisoner,  upbraided  him  for  deceiving  him,  and  added,  "  Thou 
knowest  I  was  not  with  thee."  Terry  answered,  "  Thou  knowest  there  is 
a  God  above,  who  knows  all ;"  and  upon  Heald  remarking,  "  Thou  hadst 
better  lay  it  upon  somebody  else,"  he  repHed,  "  I  will  not  hang  an  innocent 
man  ;  thou  knowest  there  were  but  us  two,  and  God  for  our  witness." 

This,  together  with  some  other  circumstances  of  suspicion,  proved 
afi-ainst  tlie  two  prisoners,  constituted  the  evidence  against  tliem  ;  and  the 
jury  returned  a  verdict  of  Guilty.     8«nteuce  of  death  was  then  immediately 


jo^/Tz^  C^oTt^My /Zo^^t/n^  a/ a^lamP?t€-^/  ^oizcn/>?ta/?z/ 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  379 

passed,  and  was  ordered  to  be  put  into  execution  on  the  f(>llowin£^  Monday; 
but  in  the  mean  time  a  most  extraordinary  change  took  place  in  the 
demeanour  of  the  prisoner  Terry. 

Upon  his  being  attended  by  Mr.  Brown,  the  Ordinary,  he  asserted  that 
Heald  was  not  guilty,  and  that  if  he  were  hanged,  he  should  be  guilty  of 
two  murders  instead  of  only  one.  He  entreated  that  the  clergyman  would 
endeavour  to  procure  the  respite  of  his  fellow-prisoner,  and  declared  that  ho 
could  not  bear  to  be  hanged  with  an  innocent  man.  The  whole  of  the 
circumstances  were  in  consequence  submitted  to  the  consideration  of  the 
learned  judge  ;  and  every  measure  of  precaution  was  instantly  taken  by 
that  learned  individual  to  prevent  the  occurrence  of  an  event  which  might 
deprive  an  innocent  person  of -life;  but  as  it  was  found  that  Heald  made 
no  attempt  to  join  in  the  protestations  of  his  companion,  and  further  that 
the  whole  of  Terry's  conduct  appeared  to  arise  from  a  desire  only  that  the 
execution  should  be  respited,  and  that  his  declarations  were  contradictory 
and  evidently  devoid  of  trutli,  the  law  was  ordered  to  take  its  course. 

On  the  way  from  his  cell  to  the  scaffold  Terry  appeared  to  be  in  the 
highest  state  of  excitement ;  and  upon  his  appearance  on  the  platform,  he 
exhibited  a  most  extraordinary  degree  of  stubbornness.  He  shouted  to  the 
mob  assembled,  that  they  were  going  to  hang  an  innocent  man,  and  even 
made  an  effort  to  escape,  by  jumping  from  the  ladder  placed  against  the 
gallows,  and  which  he  was  only  prevented  from  doing  by  the  clergyman, 
who  seized  him  by  the  collar.  He  then  renewed  his  protestations  of  his 
own  guilt,  and  the  innocence  of  his  companion ;  and  in  spite  of  the 
entreaties  of  the  clergyman,  and  of  Heald,  that  he  would  allow  him  the 
benefit  of  the  prayers,  he  continued  to  make  the  most  clamorous  resistance 
to  the  execution  of  the  sentence.  By  the  united  exertions  of  five  men,  he 
was  at  length  dragged  to  the  drop,  and  the  rope  was  forced  over  his  head ; 
but  in  his  efforts  he  tore  off  the  cap  ;  and  at  the  moment  at  which  the 
platform  sunk,  he  made  a  spring,  and  throwing  himself  towards  the  side  of 
the  gallows,  got  his  foot  upon  the  beam,  and  caught  the  corner-post  with  his 
arm.  In  this  dreadful  situation  he  supported  himself  for  about  a  minute, 
when  he  was  forced  off  by  the  executioner,  and  then,  with  his  face  un- 
covered, he  was  left  suspended.  In  a  few  moments  both  he  and  his  compa- 
nion in  crime  were  lifeless. 


ROBERT  SMITH. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 


This  singular  robber  was  a  Scotchman,  and  one  of  those  adventurers  who, 
ingenious  in  wickedness,  devise  new  plans  of  depredation,  and  make  the 
industrious,  whose  hard  earnings  they  enjoy,  the  chief  objects  of  their  prey. 

The  mode  of  robbery  which  this  man  adopted,  was  that  of  employing  a 
hackney-coach  to  drive  him  to  some  outlet,  and  then  robbing  the  coach- 
man in  the  first  lonesome  place  he  came  to  ;  in  which  for  some  time  he  was 
very  successful.  This  trade  he  commenced  early  in  the  month  of  March. 
1803,  when,  being  genteelly  dressed,  at  night  about  ten  o'clock,  he  hired  a 
hackney-coach  at  Charing-cross,  and  ordered  the  coachman  to  drive  to  St. 
John's  Farm,  near  the  one  mile-stone  on  the  Edgeware-road.     AYhen  the 


380  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR, 

coach  got  to  the  top  of  the  lane  leading  to  St.  John's  Farm,  Smith  pulled 
the  string,  and  told  the  coachman  to  let  him  get  out,  for  he  had  passed  the 
house  he  wanted  to  go  to  ;  upon  which  the  coachman  got  off  his  box,  and 
let  him  out  of  the  coach.  Smith  then  asking  what  his  fare  was,  he  told 
him,  five  shillings  and  sixpence  ;  wlien  he  put  his  hand  into  a  side-pocket, 
pulled  out  a  pistol,  and  swore  that  he  would  immediately  shoot  him  if  he 
did  not  deliver  his  money.  The  coachman  complied ;  and  upon  his 
demanding  his  watch,  delivered  that  up  also  ;  and  the  robber  succeeded  in 
making  his  escape  across  the  fields. 

On  jNIunday  the  6th  of  March,  at  about  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  Smith 
hired  another  coach,  and  ordered  the  driver  to  proceed  to  St.  George's -row, 
on  the  Uxbridge-road.  Upon  his  arrival  at  the  place  of  his  destination,  he 
demanded  the  coacliman's  money  and  watch  with  the  most  horrid  impre- 
cations ;  and  on  some  hesitation  being  shown  to  comply  with  his  request, 
he  produced  a  pistol  and  a  tuck-stick,  with  the  latter  of  which  he  wounded 
the  driver  in  the  side.  Two  seven-shilling  pieces,  and  eight  and  sixpence 
in  silver,  were  then  handed  over  to  him,  and  he  decamped,  threatening  the 
coachman  with  instant  death  in  case  of  his  attempting  to  pursue  him. 

His  career  of  guilt,  however,  was  destined  soon  to  close;  for  being  met  in 
King's-road,  Chelsea,  by  a  patrole  named  Jones,  on  Sunday  night,  the  20th 
of  March,  under  suspicious  circumstances,  he  was  taken  into  custody,  and  a 
pistol  and  sword-stick  were  found  in  his  possession.  Information  of  his 
capture  being  published,  on  the  morning  of  liis  examination  at  Bow-street, 
he  was  instantly  recognised  by  Jones  and  Treadwell,  the  two  coachmen, 
his  robberies  upon  whom  we  have  described;  and  further  proof  of  his  identity 
in  the  former  case  was  found  in  a  duplicate  which  was  taken  from  his 
pocket,  referring  to  the  pawning  of  the  watch  of  the  prosecutor- 
Three  other  charges  of  a  similar  character  were  subsequently  preferred 
against  him  by  other  coachmen,  whom  he  had  induced  to  convey  him  to 
unfrequented  places  in  the  vicinity  of  London  ;  and  a  fourth  case  of  robbery 
on  the  highway  was  proved  by  John  Chilton,  a  porter  at  Messrs.  Spode's 
Staffordshire  warehouse,  whom  he  had  met  at  Bayswater,  and  wliom,  after 
having  maltreated  and  wounded,  he  had  robbed  of  three  shillings  and 
sixpence. 

On  his  trial  the  prisoner  was  recognised  as  a  discharged  artillery-man, 
and  was  identified  by  Treadwell,  one  of  his  prosecutors,  as  having  been  his 
fellow- prisoner  in  the  King's  Bench;  and  he  was  found  guilty,  and  sentenced 
to  death. 

He  was  hanged  at  the  Old  Bailey  in  the  month  of  June  1803,  apparently 
fully  sensible  of  the  enormity  of  the  crimes  which  he  had  conimitted. 


GEORGE  FOSTER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    WIFE    AND    CHILD. 

The  conviction  of  this  wretched  man  was  founded  entirely  upon  circum- 
stantial evidence. 

He  was  indicted  on  the  14th  January,  1803,  at  the  Old  Bailey,  for  the 
wilful  murder  of  his  wife  and  child. 

From  the  testimony  of  the  witnesses  called  in  support  of  the  case  for  tht 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  381 

prosecTition,  it  appeared,  that  the  prisoner  lived  in  a  place  called  North- 
row,  Grosvenor- square,  and  that  his  wife  and  child  lived  witli  the  mother 
of  the  former  in  Old  Boswell-court,  but  were  in  the  habit  of  going  to  the 
prisoner's  lodginps  to  sleep,  every  Saturday  niglit.  On  tlie  4th  December, 
in  compliance  with  this  custom,  his  wife  quitted  her  mother's  house  with 
the  child,  and  was  never  more  seen  by  her  until  the  Wednesday  followin.fif, 
when  her  body  was  picked  up  in  the  Paddington  Canal,  near  the  Miti-e 
Tavern,  at  a  distance  of  about  two  miles  from  Paddington.  Inquiries 
were  subsequently  made,  the  result  of  which  proved,  that  the  prisoner  had 
been  seen  with  his  wife  at  the  Mitre,  as  late  as  half-past  four  o'clock  on 
the  evening  of  the  5th  December,  and  that  then  they  went  away  together, 
walking  by  the  side  of  the  canal  towards  London.  The  prisoner  was  met 
in  town,  by  an  acquaintance,  at  about  six  o'clock ;  but  no  suspicion  was 
entertained  until  the  discovery  of  the  body.  The  prisoner  was  then  taken 
into  custody,  when  he  declared  that  immediately  on  his  leaving  the  Mitre, 
he  had  quitted  his  wife,  and  had  gone  across  the  fields  as  far  as  Whet- 
stone, on  his  way  to  Barnet  to  see  two  of  his  children,  who  were  in  the 
workhouse  there ;  but  that  on  his  arrival  there,  it  was  so  dark  that  he 
returned  to  London  at  about  eight  o'clock,  but  that  he  never  saw  his 
wife  again. 

The  learned  judge,  in  summing  up  the  case  to  the  jury,  remarked  to 
them  that  the  prisoner's  story  was  utterly  at  variance  and  inconsistent 
with  the  evidence  adduced ;  and  a  verdict  of  Guilty  was  returned,  and 
the  prisoner  was  sentenced  to  deatb. 

He  subsequently  confessed  the  justice  of  his  conviction  and  punishment; 
and  admitted  that  he  had  conducted  his  wife  twice  to  the  same  spot  with 
the  same  object,  before  he  could  summon  up  courage  to  destroy  her.  He 
assigned  no  reason  for  the  diabolical  deed,  except  that. he  had  taken  an 
unaccountable  dislike  for  her,  and  did  not  know  how  otherwise  to  rid 
himself  of  her. 

He  was  executed  at  the  Old  Bailey,  on  the  18th  January,  1803. 

After  he  had  hung  the  usual  time,  his  body  was  cut  down  and  con- 
veyed to  a  house  not  far  distant,  where  it  was  subjected  to  the  Galvanic 
process,  by  Professor  Aldini,  under  the  inspection  of  Mr.  Keate,  Mr. 
Carpue,  and  other  medical  gentlemen.  M.  Aldini,  who  was  the  nephew 
of  the  discoverer  of  this  most  interesting  science,  showed  the  powers  of 
Galvanism  to  be  far  superior  to  those  of  any  other  stimulant.  On  the  first 
application  of  the  process  to  the  face,  the  jaw  of  the  deceased  criminal 
began  to  quiver,  and  the  adjoining  muscles  were  horribly  contorted,  and 
one  eye  actually  opened.  In  the  subsequent  part  of  the  process,  the  right 
hand  was  raised  and  clenched,  and  the  legs  and  thighs  were  set  in  motion. 
Mr.  Pass,  the  beadle  of  the  Surgeons'  Company,  being  officially  present 
during  the  time  of  these  extraordinary  experiments,  was  so  alarmed,  that 
on  his  going  home  he  died  from  fright. 

An  experiment  of  another  description  was  made  on  a  convict,  named 
Patrick  Redmond,  who  was  hanged  for  a  street-robbery,  on  the  24th  of 
February,  1767,  in  order  to  bring  him  to  life.  It  appears  that  the  sufferer 
bad  hung  twenty-eight  minutes,  when  the  mob  rescued  the  body,  and 
carried  it  to  an  appointed  place,  where  a  surgeon  was  in  attendance  to  try 
the  experiment  of  hronchotomy^  which  is  an  incision  in  the  windpipe,  and 


38-  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

which,  in  less  than  six  hours,  produced  the  desin.'d  eflfect.  A  collection 
was  made  for  tlie  poor  fellow,  and  interest  mado  to  obtain  his  pardon, 
for  it  will  be  remembered  that  the  law  says  the  condemned  shall  hang 
until  he  is  dead;  consequently,  men  who,  like  Redmond,  recovered,  are 
liable  to  be  again  hanged  up  until  they  are  dead. 


ROBERT  EMMET. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

This  enthusiast  was  the  son  of  Dr.  Emmet,  a  man  of  good  family,  and 
possessed  of  considerable  wealth ;  but  who,  having  imbibed  opinions 
favourable  to  republicanism,  took  care  to  instil  them  into  his  children. 
His  eldest  son  was  implicated  in  the  Irish  rebellion  of  1798,  and  escaped 
with  his  life  upon  the  terms  offered  to  Arthur  O'Connor,  Dr.  M'Xevin,  and 
others,  and  accepted  by  them,  and,  like  them,  became  an  exile  in  a  foreign 
land. 

The  hero  of  the  present  sketch  was  intended  for  the  Irish  Bar,  and 
received  a  most  liberal  education.  In  Trinity  College  he  became  con- 
spicuous, not  only  for  his  abilities,  but  for  his  display  of  eloauence  in  the 
"■  Historical  Debating  Society,"  a  school  which  matured  the  talents  of 
Bushe,  Burrows,  and  several  other  members  of  the  Irish  Bar.  Young 
Emmet,  however,  wanted  discretion ;  and  having  too  often  avowed  his 
political  principles,  a  prosecution  was  threatened,  to  avoid  which  he  preci- 
pitately fled  to  France,  where  his  republican  opinions  were  confirmed. 

In  1803  he  returned  to  Dublin,  not  being  then  more  than  twenty- four 
years  of  age,  and  found  himself  in  possession  of  three  thousand  five  hun- 
dred pounds,  left  him  by  his  father,  then  recently  deceased.  With  this 
money,  and  the  talents  and  connexions  which  he  possessed,  he  might  easily 
have  established  his  own  independence ;  but  the  sober  business  of  life  had 
no  attractions  for  him;  he  aspired  to  greater  fame,  and  resolved  to  attempt 
the  separation  of  his  country  from  England. 

Wild  and  extravagant  as  the  scheme  was,  he  entered  seriously  upon  it, 
and  easily  found  abettors  among  those  who  had  escaped  the  angry  ven- 
geance of  1798.  Having  procured  several  associates,  he  took  a  house  in 
Patrick-street,  and  converted  it  into  a  rebel  depot  for  powder,  guns, 
swords,  pikes,  &c.  In  the  purchase  and  preparation  of  these  he  expended 
upwards  of  one  thousand  pounds ;  but  before  the  plan  of  insurrection  was 
ripe,  the  powder  in  the  magazine,  through  accident,  ignited,  and  the  whole 
depot  was  blown  into  the  air.  Such,  however,  was  the  fidelity  of 
Emmet's  partisans,  that  no  discovery  took  place,  further  than  that  caused 
by  the  explosion;  and  the  Government,  who  ordered  the  guns  to  be  brought 
to  the  Castle,  remained  ignorant  of  the  purpose  for  which  those  destructive 
implements  were  provided. 

A  mind  so  sanguine  as  that  of  Emmet  was  not  to  be  damped  by  an 
accidental  disappointment :  he  collected  his  partisans,  took  another  house 
in  a  lane  in  Thomas-street,  and  again  commenced  preparations  for  a 
popular  rebellion.  The  ramifications  of  treason  were  easily  extended 
through  Ireland,  where  the  discontent  of  the  Catholics  induced  them  to  joiu 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  »583 

in  a,ny  extravagant  scheme  which  promised  them  redress  of  grievances. 
Emmet  had  correspondents  in  every  county ;  and  the  23rd  of  July  1803 
was  the  day  appointed  for  a  general  rising,  the  signal  of  which  was  to  be 
an  attack  upon  Dublin. 

The  plan  of  surprising  tlie  metropolis  was  admirably  adapted  for  its 
sanguinary  purpose ;  but  fortunately  several  disappointments  took  place, 
and  Emmet  was  unable  to  proceed  as  he  intended.  In  the  confusion  of 
such  a  moment  the  rebels  deceived  one  another,  and  several  hundred  men, 
who  came  in  from  the  country,  returned  home,  being  told  that  the  rising 
was  postponed,  while  those  who  remained  were  crowded  into  the  depot,  and 
impeded  the  preparations.  It  was  too  late,  however,  to  retract,  or  alter 
the  intended  movement,  as  Emmet  expected  the  whole  country  to  rise  on 
that  night.  He  therefore  made  the  desperate  attempt,  and,  with  eighty 
followers,  sallied  out,  at  nine  o'clock,  into  Thomas-street,  and  made 
towards  the  Castle,  which  he  intended  to  surprise. 

The  experience  of  a  few  minutes  showed  him  his  madness  and  folly  ; 
for  he  quickly  found  himself  without  authority,  in  the  midst  of  a  ruffianly 
mob,  who  wotild  neither  obey  nor  accompany  him ;  but  who  soon  con- 
vinced him,  that,  though  cowardly,  they  were  brutal  and  sanguinary. 
When  he  had  arrived  at  the  market-house,  his  followers  had  diminished 
to  eighteen ,  and  as  he  was  now  convinced  of  his  rashness,  he  prevented 
the  discharge  of  a  rocket  which  was  to  be  the  signal  for  the  outposts  to 
commence  hostilities.  This  act  saved  the  lives  of  hundreds,  for  the  Wex- 
ford men,  to  the  number  of  three  hundred,  had  assembled  on  the  Coal- 
quay,  and  other  large  bodies  had  met  in  the  barley-fields  behiiid  Mountjoy- 
square ;  all  of  whom,  in  consequence,  escaped  uninjured,  and  were  pre- 
vented from  inflicting  injury  on  others. 

The  rebel  band  in  Thomas-street,  meanwhile,  largely  increased  in  num- 
bers; but,  being  without  a  leader,  they  remained  confused  and  inactive.  At 
this  moment,  however,  an  act  of  atrocity  Avas  perpetrated,  sufficiently 
serious  to  exhibit  the  nature  of  the  design.  The  coach  of  the  lamented 
Lord  Kilwarden,  chief-justice  of  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  containing 
his  lordship,  and  his  nephew  and  niece,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Wolfe,  and  Miss 
Wolfe,  drove  up,  and  was  instantly  surrounded.  Much  confusion  pre- 
vailed, and  his  lordship  received  a  deadly  stab  from  the  hand  of  an  assassin 
v/hich  eventually  deprived  him  of  life :  his  nephew  was  dragged  from  the 
vehicle  and  ill-treated;  but  Miiss  Wolfe  was  borne  to  an  opposite  house  in 
the  arms  of  a  lusty  rebel,  apparently  more  humane  than  his  comrades. 

The  precise  particulars  of  the  murder  of  Lord  Kilwarden  are  not  known, 
and  have  always  been  the  subject  of  controversy.  By  some  it  is  alleged 
that  it  was  the  unpremeditated  act  of  a  ferocious  rabble  ;  by  others,  that 
he  was  mistaken  for  another  person;  but  there  is  another  account,  which 
admits  the  mistake  in  the  first  instance,  but  subjoins  other  particulars, 
which  appear  sufficiently  probable.  It  is  related,  that,  in  the  year  1795, 
when  his  lordship  was  attorney-general,  a  number  of  young  men,  between 
the  ages  of  fifteen  and  twenty  years,  were  indicted  for  high  treason,  and 
upon  the  day  appointed  for  their  trial  they  appeared  at  the  bar,  wearing 
fchirts  with  tuckers  and  open  collars,  in  the  manner  usual  with  boys.  When 
the  chief-justice  of  the  King's  Bench  appeared  in  court  to  proceed  with  their 
ferial,  he  remarked,  "  Well,  Mr.  Attorney,  I  suppose  you  are  ready  to  go  on 


384  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

with  tlie  trial  of  these  tuckered  traitors?"  The  attorney-general  was  qnite 
prepared  to  proceed  at  once;  but,  disgusted  with  the  remark  which  had  been 
made,  he  said,  "  No,  my  lord,  I  am  not  ready ;"  and  he  added  in  a  lower 
tone  to  the  prisoners'  counsel,  "  If  I  have  any  power  to  save  the  lives  of 
these  boys,  whose  extreme  youth  I  did  not  before  observe,  that  man  shall 
never  have  the  gratification  of  passing  sentence  upon  one  of  these  tuckered 
traitors."  He  performed  his  promise,  and  soon  afterwards  procured  par- 
dons for  them  all,  upon  condition  of  their  going  abroad.  One  of  them, 
however,  refused  to  accept  the  pardon  upon  the  condition  imposed  ;  and 
being  obstinate,  he  was  tried,  convicted,  and  executed.  After  his  death, 
it  is  said  that  his  relatives,  readily  listening  to  every  misrepresentation 
which  flattered  their  resentment,  became  persuaded  that  the  attorney- 
general  had  selected  him  alone  to  suffer  the  utmost  severity  of  tlie  laws. 
One  of  these,  a  person  named  Shannon,  was  an  insurgent  of  the  23rd  July ; 
and  when  Lord  Kilwarden,  hearing  the  popular  cry  of  venofeance, 
exclaimed  from  his  carriage,  "  It  is  I,  Kilwarden,  chief-justice  of  the 
King's  Bench,"  Shannon  inmiediately  cried  out,  "  Then  you  are  the  man  I 
want,"  and  instantly  plunged  a  pike  into  his  lordship  s  body. 

Whatever  may  be  the  truth  or  falsehood  of  this  story,  his  lordship's 
death,  there  is  no  doubt,  was  the  effect  of  the  violence  of  the  mob  on  this 
occasion  ;  and  it  appears,  that  the  fatal  wound  had  scarcely  been  given, 
when  a  party  of  military  reaching  the  spot,  the  people  were  put  to  flight, 
and  his  lordship's  body  rescued  from  further  violence,  and  conveyed  to 
Werburgh-street. 

Major  Swan  soon  after  arrived,  and  in  his  fury  at  the  attack  upon 
so  good  a  man,  exclaimed  indignantly,  that  every  rebel  taken  with  arms 
in  his  hands  ought  to  be  instantly  hanged ;  when  his  lordship,  who 
still  lived,  turned  round,  and  impressively  exhorted  him  "  to  let  no  man 
suffer  but  by  the  laws  of  his  country."  In  a  few  minutes  after,  this  great 
and  good  man  expired. 

Fur  a  few  hours  the  rebels  continued  to  skirmish  with  the  military,  and 
several  men  were  killed.  By  morning,  however,  all  appearance  of  rebellion 
had  vanished,  and  large  rewards  were  oflered  for  the  apprehension  of  the 
leader,  Robert  Emmet,  who  had  escaped  to  the  county  of  Wicklow, 
where  he  arrived  in  time  to  prevent  a  rising  of  the  assembled  rebels. 

This  unfortunate  young  man  was  every  way  an  enthusiast;  for  his  love 
was  as  extravagant  as  his  patriotism.  It  appears  that  soon  after  his  re- 
turn from  France  he  visited  at  the  house  of  Curran,  the  celebrated  Irish 
barrister,  and  became  attached  to  that  gentleman's  youngest  daughter. 
Their  affection  was  mutual,  but  unknown  to  ]Mr.  Curran.  Upon  the  fail- 
ure of  the  insurrection  Emmet  might  easily  have  effected  his  departure 
from  the  kingdom,  had  he  attended  solely  to  his  safety;  but,  in  the  same 
spirit  of  romantic  enthusiasm  which  distinguished  his  short  career,  he  could 
not  submit  to  leave  the  country  to  which  he  could  never  more  return,  with- 
out making  an  effort  to  have  one  final  interview  with  the  object  of  his  un- 
fortunate attachment,  in  order  to  receive  her  personal  forgiveness  for  what 
he  now  considered  as  the  deepest  injury.  With  a  view  of  obtaining  this 
last  gratification,  he  selected  a  place  of  concealment  midway  between  IMr. 
Curran's  country-house  and  Dublin;  but  before  the  meeting  took  place  he 
was  arrested.     On  his  person  were  found  some  papers,  which  showed  that 


■IHE  NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  385 

he  corresponded  with  Mr.  Curran's  family,  in  consequence  of  which  that 
gentleman's  house  was  searched,  and  the  letters  there  found  were  produced 
in  evidence  against  him. 

His  trial  came  on,  at  the  sessions-house.  Green-street,  Dublin,  Septem- 
ber the  19th,  1803,  before  Lord  Norbury;  and  the  evidence  being  conclu- 
sive, his  conviction  followed.  When  called  iipon  in  the  usual  way,  before 
passing  sentence,  he  addressed  the  Court  as  follows: — 

"■  I  am  asked  if  I  have  anything  to  say  why  sentence  of  death  should 
not  be  pronounced  upon  me.  Was  I  to  sufter  only  death,  after  being  ad- 
judged guilty,  I  should  bow  in  silence;  but  a  man  in  my  situation  has  not 
only  to  combat  with  the  difficulties  of  fortune,  but  also  the  difficulties  of 
prejudice:  the  sentence  of  the  law  which  delivers  over  his  body  to  the 
executioner,  consigns  his  character  to  obloquy.  The  man  dies,  but  his 
memory  lives;  and  that  mine  may  not  forfeit  all  claim  to  the  respect  of  my 
countrymen,  I  use  this  occasion  to  vindicate  myself  from  some  of  the 
charges  advanced  against  me. 

"  I  am  charged  with  being  an  emissary  of  France: — 'tis  false!  I  am  no 
emissary — I  did  not  wish  to  deliver  up  my  country  to  a  foreign  power, 
and  least  of  all,  to  France.  No !  never  did  I  entertain  the  idea  of  esta- 
blisliing  French  power  in  Ireland — God  forbid!  On  the  contrary,  it  is 
evident  from  the  introductory  paragraph  of  the  Address  of  the  Provisional 
Government,  that  every  hazard  attending  an  independent  effort  was  deemed 
preferable  to  the  more  fatal  risk  of  introducing  a  French  army  into  the 
country.  Small  would  be  our  claims  to  patriotism  and  to  sense,  and  pal- 
pable our  affectation  of  the  love  of  liberty,  if  we  were  to  encourage  the 
profanation  of  our  shores  by  a  peojile  who  are  slaves  themselves,  and  the 
unprincipled  and  abandoned  instruments  of  imposing  slavery  on  others.  If 
such  an  inference  be  drawn  from  any  part  of  the  proclamation  of  the  Pro- 
visional Government,  it  calumniates  their  views,  and  is  riot  warranted  by 
the  fact. — How  could  they  speak  of  freedom  to  their  countrymen?  How 
assume  such  an  exalted  motive,  and  meditate  the  introduction  of  a  power 
which  has  been  tlie  enemy  of  freedom  in  every  part  of  tlie  globe?  Re- 
viewing the  conduct  of  France  to  other  countries,  could  we  expect  better 
towards  us?  No!  Let  not,  then,  any  man  attaint  my  memory  by  believ- 
ing that  I  could  have  hoped  for  freedom  through  the  aid  of  France,  and 
betrayed  the  sacred  cause  of  liberty,  by  committing  it  to  the  power  of  her 
most  determined  foe:  had  I  done  so,  I  had  not  deserved  to  live;  and  dying 
with  such  a  weight  upon  my  character,  I  had  merited  the  honest  execra- 
tion of  that  country  which  gave  me  birth,  and  to  which  I  would  have 
given  freedom. 

"Had  I  been  in  Switzerland,  I  would  have  fought  against  the  French — in 
the  dignity  of  freedom,  I  would  have  expired  on  the  threshold  of  that 
country,  and  they  should  have  entered  it  only  by  passing  over  my  lifeless 
corpse.  Is  it,  tlien,  to  be  supposed,  that  I  would  be  slow  to  make  the 
same  sacrifice  to  my  native  land?  Am  I,  who  lived  but  to  be  of  service 
to  my  country,  and  who  would  subject  myself  to  the  bondage  of  the  grave 
to  give  her  independence — am  I  to  be  loaded  with  the  foul  and  grievous 
calumny  of  being  an  emissary  of  France?  JVIy  Lords,  it  may  be  part  of 
the  system  of  angry  justice  to  bow  a  man's  mind  by  humiliation  to  meet 
the  ignominy  of  the  scaffold;  but  worse  to  me  than  the  scaffold's  shame 
or  th**  scaffold's  terrors,  would  be  the  imputation  of  having  been  the  agent 

VOL.  I.  3d 


386  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

of  French  despotism  and  ambition ;  and  while  I  have  breath  I  will  call 
upon  my  countrymen  not  to  believe  me  guilty  of  so  foul  a  crime  against 
their  liberties  and  their  happiness. 

"  Though  you,  my  lord,  sit  there  a  judge,  and  I  stand  here  a  culprit,  yet 
you  are  but  a  man,  and  I  am  another;  I.  have  a  right  therefore  to  vindi- 
cate my  character  and  motives  from  the  aspersions  of  calumny;  and  as  a 
man  to  whom  fame  is  dearer  than  life,  I  will  make  the  last  use  of  that  life 
in  rescuing  my  name  and  my  memory  from  the  afflicting  imputation  of 
having  been  an  emissary  of  France,  or  seeking  her  interference  in  the  in- 
ternal regulation  of  our  affairs. 

"  Did  I  live  to  see  a  French  army  approach  this  country,  I  would  meet 
it  on  the  shore  with  a  torch  in  one  hand  and  a  sword  in  the  other — I 
would  receive  them  with  all  the  destruction  of  war  !  I  would  animate  my 
countrjTuen  to  immolate  them  in  their  very  boats;  and  before  our  native 
soil  should  be  polluted  by  a  foreign  foe,  if  they  succeeded  in  landing,  I 
would  burn  every  blade  of  grass  before  them,  raze  every  house,  contend  to 
the  last  for  every  inch  of  ground,  and  the  last  spot  on  which  the  hope  of 
freedom  should  desert  me,  that  spot  I  would  make  my  grave  :  what  I  can- 
not do,  I  leave  a  legacy  to  my  country,  because  I  feel  conscious  that  my 
death  were  unprofitable,  and  all  hope  of  liberty  extinct,  the  moment  a 
French  army  obtained  a  footing  in  this  land.  God  forbid  that  I  should 
see  my  country  under  the  hands  of  a  foreign  power.  If  the  French  should 
come  as  a  foreign  enemy.  Oh!  my  countrymen!  meet  them  on  the  shore 
with  a  torch  in  one  hand,  a  sword  in  the  other:  receive  them  with  all  the 
jJestruction  of  war;  immolate  them  in  their  boats  before  our  native  soil 
shall  be  polluted  by  a  foreign  foe!  If  they  proceed  in  landing,  fight  them 
on  the  strand,  burn  every  blade  of  grass  before  them  as  they  advance — 
raze  every  house;  and  if  you  are  driven  to  the  centre  of  your  country,  col- 
lect your  provisions,  your  property,  your  wives,  and  your  daughters;  form 
a  circle  around  them — fight  while  but  two  men  are  left ;  and  when  but 
one  remains,  let  that  man  set  fire  to  the  pile,  and  release  himself,  and  the 
families  of  his  fallen  countrymen,  from  the  tyranny  of  France. 

"  My  lamp  of  life  is  nearly  expired — my  race  is  finished:  the  grave 
opens  to  receive  me,  and  I  sink  into  its  bosom.  All  I  request,  then,  at 
parting  from  the  world,  is  the  charity  of  its  silence.  Let  no  man  write  my 
epitaph;  for  as  no  man,  who  knows  my  motives,  dare  vindicate  them,  let 
not  prejudice  or  ignorance  asperse  them;  let  them  and  me  repose  in  obscu- 
rity and  peace,  and  my  tomb  remain  undescribed,  till  other  times  and  other 
men  can  do  justice  to  my  character." 

Judgment  was  then  passed  on  him  in  the  usual  form,  and  he  was 
ordered  for  execution.  On  his  return  to  Newgate  he  drew  up  a  statement 
of  the  insurrection,  and  the  cause  of  its  failure,  which  he  requested  might 
be  sent  to  his  brother,  Thomas  Addis,  who  was  then  at  Paris. 

The  unfortunate  young  man,  on  the  night  before  his  execution,  ^^Tote  to 
Mr.  Curran  and  his  son  Robert,  excusing  himself  for  his  conduct  towards 
Miss  Curran,  and  the  firmness  and  regularity  of  the  original  hand- writing 
contain  an  affecting  proof  of  the  little  influence  which  the  approaching 
event  exerted  over  his  frame.  The  same  enthusiasm  which  allured  him  to 
his  destruction  enabled  him  to  support  its  utmost  rigour.  He  met  his  fate 
with  unost(>ntatious  fortitude;  and  although  few  could  ever  tliink  of  jus- 
tifying his  projects  or  regretting  their  failure,  yet  his  youth,  his  talents, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  387 

and  the  great  respectability  of  his  connexions,  and  the  evident  delusion  of 
which  he  was  the  victim,  liave  excited  more  general  sympathy  for  his  un- 
fortunate end,  and  more  forbearance  towards  his  memory,  than  is  usually 
extended  to  the  errors  or  sufterings  of  political  offenders. 

Moore,  the  celebrated  Irish  bard,  has  lamented  his  fate  in  the  following 
melody: — 

Oh!  breathe  not  liis  name — let  it  sleep  in  t^.c  shade ? 
Where  cold  and  unhonor'd  his  relics  are  laid  1 
Sad,  silent,  and  darl<,  be  the  tears  that  we  shed, 
As  the  night-dew  that  falls  on  the  grass  o'er  his  head. 

But  the  night-dew  that  falls,  though  in  silence  it  weeps, 
Shall  brighten  witli  verdure  the  grave  where  he  sleeps; 
And  the  tear  that  we  shed,  though  in  secret  it  rolls. 
Shall  long  keep  his  memory  green  in  our  souls. 

Several  of  Emmet's  deluded  followers  met  the  fate  of  their  leader,  and 
by  their  ignominious  deaths,  taught  their  countrymen  the  folly  and  mad- 
ness of  attempting  to  separate  Ireland  from  this  kingdom  by  violent 
means. 

The  following  pathetic  history  of  ]\Iiss  Curran,  after  the  death  of  her 
lover,  is  extracted  from  Washington  Irving's  "  Sketch  Book,"  in  which  it 
appears  under  the  title  of  "  The  Broken  Heart."  It  is  rather  long,  but 
its  beauty  will  amply  repay  the  trouble  of  its  perusal : — 

"  Every  one  must  recollect  the  tragical  story  of  young  E ,  the  Irish 

patriot ;  it  was  too  touching  to  be  soon  forgotten.  During  the  troubles  in 
Ireland  he  was  tried,  condemned,  and  executed,  on  a  charge  of  treason.  His 
fiite  made  a  deep  impression  on  public  sympathy.  He  was  so  young — so 
intelligent — so  generous — so  brave — so  everything  that  we  are  apt  to  like 
in  a  young  man.  His  conduct  under  trial,  too,  was  so  lofty  and  intrepid! 
The  noble  indignation  with  which  he  repelled  the  charge  of  treason  against 
his  country — the  eloquent  vindication  of  his  name — and  his  pathetic  appeal 
to  posterity,  in  the  hopeless  hour  of  condemnation — all  these  entered  deeply 
into  every  generous  bosom,  and  even  his  enemies  lamented  the  stem  policy 
that  dictated  his  execution. 

"  But  there  was  one  heart,  whose  anguish  it  would  be  impossible  to  de- 
scribe. In  happier  days  and  fairer  fortunes,  he  had  won  the  affections  of  a 
beautiful  and  interesting  girl,  the  daughter  of  a  late  celebrated  Irish  bar- 
rister. She  loved  him  with  the  disinterested  fervour  of  a  woman's  first 
and  early  love.  When  every  worldly  maxim  arrayed  itself  against  him; 
when  blasted  in  fortune,  and  disgrace  and  danger  darkened  around  his 
name,  she  loved  him  tlie  more  ardently  for  his  very  sufferings.  If,  then, 
his  fate  could  awaken  the  sympathy  even  of  his  foes,  what  must  have  been 
the  agony  of  her  wliose  soul  was  occupied  by  his  image'.  Let  those  tell 
who  have  had  the  portals  of  the  tomb  suddenly  closed  between  them  and 
tht  being  they  most  loved  on  earth — who  have  sat  at  its  threshold,  as  one 
shut  out  in  a  cold  and  lonely  world,  from  whence  ail  that  was  most  lovely 
and  loving  had  departed. 

"  But  then  tlie  hori'ors  of  such  a  grave!  so  frightful,  so  dishonoured! 
There  was  nothing  for  memory  to  dwell  on  that  could  soothe  the  pang  of 
separation — none  of  those  tender,  though  melancholy  circumstances,  that 
endear  the  parting  scene — nothing  to  melt  sorrow  into  those  blessed  tears, 


388  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

sent,  like  the  dews  of  heaven,  to  revive  the  lieart  in  the  parching  hour  of 
anguish. 

"  To  render  her  widowed  situation  more  desolate,  she  had  incurred  her 
father's  displeasure  by  her  unfortunate  attachment,  and  was  an  exile  from 
the  paternal  roof.  But  could  the  sympathy  and  kind  offices  of  friends 
have  reached  a  spirit  so  shocked  and  driven  in  by  horror,  she  would  have 
experienced  no  want  of  consolation ;  for  the  Irish  are  a  people  of  quick  and 
generous  sensibilities.  The  most  delicate  and  cherishing  attentions  were 
paid  her  by  families  of  wealth  and  distinction.  She  was  led  into  society, 
and  they  tried  by  all  kinds  of  occupation  and  amusement  to  dissipate  her 
grief,  and  wean  her  from  the  tragical  story  of  her  lover.  But  it  was  all  in 
vain.  There  are  some  strokes  of  calamity  that  scathe  and  scorch  the  soul 
— that  penetrate  to  the  vital  seat  of  happiness — and  blast  it,  never  again  to 
put  forth  bud  or  blossom.  She  never  objected  to  frequent  the  haunts  of 
pleasure,  but  she  was  as  much  alone  there  as  in  the  depth  of  solitude.  She 
walked  about  in  a  sad  reverie,  apparently  unconscious  of  the  world  around 
her.  She  carried  with  her  an  inward  woe  that  mocked  at  all  the  bland- 
ishments of  friendship,  and  '  heeded  not  the  song  of  the  charmer,  charm 
he  never  so  wisely.' 

"  The  person  who  told  me  her  story  had  seen  her  at  a  masquerade. 
There  can  be  no  exhibition  of  far-gone  wretchedness  more  striking  and 
painful  than  to  meet  it  in  such  a  scene.  To  find  it  wandering  like  a  spec- 
tre, lonely  and  joyless,  where  all  around  is  gay — to  see  it  dressed  out  in  the 
trappings  of  mirth,  and  looking  so  wan  and  woe-begone,  as  if  it  had  tried 
in  vain  to  cheat  the  poor  heart  into  a  momentary  forgetfulness  of  sorrow. 
After  strolling  through  the  splendid  rooms  and  giddy  crowd  with  an  utter 
air  of  abstraction,  she  sat  herself  down  on  the  steps  of  an  orchestra,  and 
looking  nbout  some  time  with  a  vacant  air,  that  showed  her  insensibility 
of  the  garish  scene,  she  began,  with  the  capriciousness  of  a  sickly  heart,  to 
warble  a  little  plaintive  air.  She  had  an  exquisite  voice ;  but  on  this 
occasion  it  was  so  simple,  so  touching,  it  breatlied  forth  such  a  soul  of 
wretchedness,  that  she  drew  a  crowd  mute  and  silent  around  her,  and 
melted  every  one  into  tears. 

"  The  story  of  one  so  true  and  tender  could  not  but  excite  great  interest 
in  a  country  remarkable  for  enthusiasm.  It  completely  won  the  heart  of 
a  brave  officer,  who  paid  his  addresses  to  her,  and  thought  that  one  so 
true  to  the  dead  could  not  but  prove  affi^ctionate  to  the  living.  She  de- 
clined his  attentions,  for  her  thoughts  were  irrevocably  engrossed  by  the 
memory  of  her  former  lover.  Pie,  however,  persisted  in  his  suit.  He 
solicited  not  her  tenderness,  but  her  esteem.  He  was  assisted  by  her  con- 
viction of  his  worth,  and  her  sense  of  her  own  destitute  and  dependent 
situation  ;  for  she  was  existing  on  the  kindness  of  her  friends.  In  a  word, 
he  at  length  succeeded  in  gaining  lier  hand,  though  with  the  solemn 
assurance  that  her  heart  was  unalterably  anotlier's. 

"  He  took  her  with  him  to  Sicily,  hoping  that  a  change  of  scene  might 
wear  out  the  remembrance  of  early  woes.  She  was  an  amiable  and  ex- 
emplary wife,  and  made  an  efibrt  to  be  a  happy  one;  but  nothing  could 
cure  the  silent  and  devouring  melancholy  that  had  entered  into  her  very 
soul.  She  wasted  away  in  a  slow,  but  hoj)eless  decline;  and  at  length 
<;ank  into  the  grave,  the  victim  of  a  broken  heart." 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  389 


COLONEL  EDWARD  MARCUS  DESPARD,  JOHN  FRANCIS, 
JOHN  WOOD,  AND  OTHERS. 

EXECUTED  FOR  HIGH  TREASON. 

The  professed  object  of  the  plot,  in  which  these  misguided  men  were 
enoraged,  was  neither  more  or  less  than  the  overthrow  of  the  Government, 
and  the  destruction  of  tlie  Royal  Family. 

The  men,  who  were  found  guilty  of  being  concerned  in  the  project,  were 
Edward  Marcus  Despard,  aged  fifty,  a  colonel  in  the  army;  John  Francis, 
a  private  soldier,  aged  twenty-three  ;  John  Wood,  a  private  soldier,  aged 
thirty-six ;  Thomas  Broughton,  a  carpenter,  aged  twenty-six ;  James 
Sedgwick  Wratton,  a  shoemaker,  aged  thirty-five ;  John  Macnamara, 
a  carpenter,  aged  fifty ;  and  Arthur  Graham,  a  slater,  aged  fifty-three. 

Colonel  Despard,  the  ill-starred  leader  of  the  conspirators,  was  descended 
from  a  very  ancient  and  respectable  family,  in  the  Queen's  County  in  Ire- 
land. He  was  the  youngest  of  six  brothers,  all  of  whom,  except  the 
eldest,  had  served  their  country,  either  in  the  army  or  navy. 

In  1766  he  entered  the  army  as  an  ensign  in  the  3th  regiment ;  and  he 
afterwards  served  in  the  same  regiment  as  a  lieutenant ;  and  in  the  79th 
he  successively  held  rank  as  lieutenant,  quarter-master,  captain-lieutenant, 
and  captain.  From  his  superior  officers  he  received  many  marks  of  appro- 
bation, particularly  from  General  Calcraft,  of  the  50th,  General  Meadows, 
and  the  Duke  of  Northumberland.  He  had  been,  for  the  last  twenty 
years  before  his  execution,  detached  from  any  particular  corps,  and  in- 
trusted with  important  offices. 

In  1779,  he  was  appointed  chief  engineer  to  the  St.  Juan  expedition, 
and  conducted  himself  so  as  to  obtain  distinguished  praise.  He  also  re- 
ceived the  thanks  of  the  council  and  assembly  of  Jamaica,  for  the  construc- 
tion of  public  works  there,  and  was,  in  consequence  of  these  services, 
appointed,  by  the  governor  of  Jamaica,  to  be  commander-in-chief  of  the 
island  of  Rattan  and  its  dependencies,  and  of  the  troops  there  ;  and  to  rank 
as  lieutenant-colonel  and  field-engineer-;  and  he  commanded,  as  such,  on 
the  Spanish  Main  in  Rattan,  and  on  the  JMusquito  shore,  and  Bay  of  Hon- 
duras. After  this,  at  Cape  Gracias  a  Dios,  he  put  himself  at  the  head 
of  the  inhabitants,  who  voluntarily  solicited  him  to  take  the  command, 
and  retook  from  the  Spaniards  Black  River,  the  principal  settlement  of 
the  coast.  For  this  service  he  received  the  thanks  of  the  governor,  council, 
and  assembly  of  Jamaica,  and  of  the  king  himself.  In  1788,  he  was  pro- 
moted to  the  rank  of  colonel.  In  1784,  he  was  appointed  first  commis- 
sioner for  settling  and  receiving  the  territory  ceded  to  Britain  by  the  sixth 
article  of  the  definitive  treaty  of  peace  with  Spain,  in  1783;  and  he  so 
well  discharged  his  duty  as  colonel,  that  he  was  appointed  superintendant 
of  his  majesty's  aft'airs  on  the  coast  of  Honduras,  which  office  he  lield 
much  to  the  advantage  of  the  crown  of  England,  for  he  obtained  from  tliat 
of  Spain  some  very  important  privileges.  The  clashing  interests,  however, 
of  the  inhabitants  of  this  coast  produced  much  discontent,  and  the  colonel 
was,  by  a  party  of  them,  accused  of  various  misdemeanours  to  his  majesty's 
ministers. 

He  now  came  home,  and  demanded  that  bis  conduct  should  be  investi- 


390  THE   NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

gated ;  but,  after  two  years'  constant  attendance  on  all  the  departments  of 
government,  he  was  at  last  told  by  the  ministers,  that  there  was  no  charge 
against  him  worthy  of  notice,  and  that  his  Majesty  liad  thought  proper  to 
abolish  the  office  of  superintendant  at  Honduras,  otherwise  he  should  have 
been  reinstated  in  it ;  but  he  was  then,  and  on  every  occasion,  assured, 
that  his  services  should  not  be  forgotten,  but  that  they  should,  in  due 
time,  meet  their  reward. 

Irritated  by  continued  disappointments,  he  began  to  vent  his  indignation 
in  an  unguarded  manner,  and  thus  rendering  himself  liable  to  suspicion,  he 
was  for  a  considerable  time  confined  in  Cold  Bath-fields'  Prison,  under  the 
provisions  of  the  Habeas  Corpus  Suspension  Act,  then  recently  passed. 
On  his  liberation  it  was  found  that  his  passions  were  not  cooled  by  the 
imprisonment  which  he  had  imdergone ;  and  inflamed  against  the  govern- 
ment himself,  he  at  length  succeeded  in  gaining  over  to  his  views  others 
whose  causes  of  complaint  were  even  more  trivial  than  tliose  of  their  leader. 
Their  proceedings  soon  became  so  notorious,  that  it  was  determined  that 
the  existence  of  the  society  which  they  had  formed  was  no  longer  con- 
sistent with  public  safety ;  and  in  consequence  of  representations  which 
were  made,  a  search-warrant  was  issued,  which  was  placed  in  the  hands  of 
the  police  for  execution.  A  strong  body  of  constables  having  assembled, 
they  all  proceeded  to  the  Oakley  Arms,  Oakley-street,  Lambeth,  where 
thev  found  and  apprehended  Colonel  Despard  and  about  forty  other  persons 
assembled  in  a  room  together,  the  greater  part  of  whom  were  men  of  in- 
different character,  and  of  low  station  in  life.  The  prisoners  were  on  the 
following  day  carried  to  Union  Hall,  to  be  examined  by  the  magistrates 
sitting  there ;  and  in  the  end  Colonel  Despard,  and  thirty-two  of  his  com- 
panions, were  committed  to  Horsemonger-lane  Gaol  to  await  the  final  and 
determinate  investigation  of  their  cases  before  a  jury. 

For  the  better  and  more  effectual  trial  of  the  prisoners,  a  special  com- 
mission was  issued,  by  virtue  of  which  they  were  arraigned,  on  indict- 
ments which  had  been  found  against  them,  on  the  7th  February,  1803. 

The  first  case  gone  into  was  that  of  Despard,  and  the  indictment  having 
been  read,  the  case  for  the  prosecution  was  opened  by  the  attorney-general ; 
and  he  stated  that  the  prisoners  had  formed  a  society,  the  object  of  which  was 
to  overturn  the  government.  His  Majesty  having  intended  to  meet  his  Par- 
liament a  week  earlier  than  he  actually  did,  namely,  on  the  16th  January 
instead  of  on  the  23rd,  the  society  proposed  on  that  day  to  carry  out  their 
plan,  which  was  in  the  first  instance  to  lay  a  restraint  upon  the  King's 
person,  and  to  destroy  him.  They  frequently  attempted  to  seduce  soldiers 
into  their  club,  and  on  any  of  them  being  persuaded  to  join  them,  they 
administered  false  oaths  to  them,  and  gave  them  copies  of  the  oath,  in 
order  that  they  might  endeavour  to  make  proselytes  in  their  turn. 
Among  others  thus  gained  over  was  one  Windsor,  but  soon  after  he  had 
joined  he  became  dissatisfied,  and  gave  information  of  the  conspiracy  to  a 
Mr.  Bonus,  to  whom  he  showed  a  copy  of  tlie  oath,  but  by  the  ad%4ce  of 
that  gentleman,  he  remained  a  member  of  the  society  with  the  design  of 
learnino-  whether  there  were  any  persons  of  note  among  its  members.  On 
the  Friday  before  the  intended  assassination  of  the  King,  a  meeting  was 
held,  at  which  Broughton,  the  prisoner,  prevailed  upon  two  of  tlie  associates 
to  go  to  the  Flying  Horse,  Newington,  where  they  would  meet  with  a  "nice 
man,"  and  it  turned  out  that  the  person  so  described  was  Colonel  Despard. 


THE   NEW  NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  391 

The  witnesses  were  then  examined ;  and  after  proof  of  the  appre- 
hension of  the  prisoners,  as  described  already,  had  been  given,  and  the 
printed  papers  which  had  been  found,  and  which  contained  the  form  of  the 
oath,  &c.,  had  been  read,  Thomas  Windsor,  the  chief  witness,  was  called. 

He  deposed  as  to  the  manner  in  which  he  took  the  oath,  the  effect  of 
which  was  to  bind  him  to  support  the  views  of  the  society  in  opposition  to 
the  King  and  his  Government,  and  then  proceeded  to  detail  the  plan 
wliich  was  propoeed  to  be  put  into  execution.  Despard  was  the  leader  and 
director  of  the  whole  proceedings  ;  and  he  recommended  that  the  proposed 
attack  should  be  made  on  that  day  when  his  Majesty  went  to  open  Par- 
liament. The  object  was  to  seize  the  person  of  the  King ;  and  Despard 
declared  that  "  he  had  weighed  the  matter  well,  and  that  his  heart  was 
callous,  and  the  King  must  be  put  to  death."  When  the  murder  of  his 
Majesty  had  been  effected,  the  mail-coaches  were  to  be  stopped,  so  as  to 
convey  information  to  the  agents  of  the  plotters  in  the  country  of  what 
had  occurred  ;  and  then  a  simultaneous  rising  was  to  take  place.  The 
witness  was  to  be  engaged  as  an  active  party  in  the  proceedings  of  the 
conspirators,  and  he  was  desired  by  the  prisoner  to  meet  him  on  Tower- 
hill,  with  some  comrades,  who  were  desirous  of  joining  the  society,  to  con- 
sider the  best  mode  of  surprising  the  Tower  and  securing  the  arms.  Accom- 
panied by  the  prisoner  Wood  therefore,  and  two  other  men,  he  went  to 
the  Tiger  public-house.  Tower-hill,  where  Despard  soon  joined  them.  The 
determination  to  destroy  the  reigning  monarch  was  then  again  mentioned 
by  Despard  ;  and  after  a  long  discussion,  it  was  agreed  that  Wood,  whose 
turn  it  would  be  to  stand  sentry  in  the  Park,  near  the  great  gun,  should 
fire  into  the  King's  carriage.  Before  this  diabolical  design,  however,  could 
be  carried  into  execution,  the  parties  to  the  plot  were  apprehended. 

Mr.  Serjeant  Best  and  Mr.  Gurney,  who  were  retained  as  counsel  foi 
Despard,  severally  addressed  the  jury  on  his  behalf,  contending  that  the 
testimony  of  Windsor  was  of  such  a  character  as  to  be  entitled  to  no  belief ; 
and  they  then  called  Lord  Nelson,  Sir  A.  Clarke,  and  Sir  E.  Nepean,  all 
of  whom  bore  testimony  to  the  character  of  the  prisoner  as  a  zealous  and 
gallant  officer.  Lord  EUenborough,  however,  having  summed  up  the  evi- 
dence, the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  Guilty,  but  earnestly  recommended 
the  prisoner  to  mercy,  on  account  of  his  previous  good  character,  and  the 
services  he  had  rendered  to  his  country. 

The  other  prisoners  were  subsequently  tried,  and  twelve  of  them 
convicted  upon  the  same  evidence,  three  of  whom  were  recommended  to 
mercy. 

On  the  prisoners  being  brought  up  to  receive  judgment.  Colonel  Despard, 
who  had  hitherto  invariably  preserved  a  strict  silence,  declared  his  inno- 
cence of  the  charge  imputed  to  him  of  seducing  the  soldiers,  and  urged 
that  the  jury  ought  not  to  have  convicted  him  upon  such  evidence  as  had 
been  adduced. 

The  sentence  was  then  pronounced  upon  them  as  traitors  in  the  usual 
form  ;  and  on  Saturday  the  19th  of  February,  information  was  received 
that  the  warrant  of  execution,  authorising  their  being  hano-ed  on  the 
Monday  following,  was  made  out,  a  portion  of  their  sentence,  namely,  tlie 
taking  out  and  burning  of  the  bowels,  being  remitted.  It  was  sent  to  the 
keeper  of  the  New  Gaol  in  the  Borough,  at  six  o'clock  on  Saturday  evenino-, 
and  included  the  names  already  given,  three  other  prisoners,  named  Newman, 


392  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Tyndal  and  Lander,  being  respited.  As  soon  as  the  warrant  for  execution 
was  received,  it  was  communicated  to  the  unliappy  persons  by  the  keeper 
of  the  prison  ;  when  Colonel  Despard  observed  that  the  time  was  short,  yet 
h3  had  not  had,  from  the  first,  any  strong  expectation  tliat  the  recommend- 
ation of  the  jury  would  be  effectual.  The  mediation  of  Lord  Nelson,  and 
a  petition  to  the  crown,  were  tried  ;  but  Colonel  Despard  was  convinced, 
according  to  report,  that  they  would  be  unavailing.  Mrs.  Despard,  who 
was  a  native  of  the  Bay  of  Honduras,  was  greatly  affected  when  she  first 
heard  his  fate  was  sealed ;  but  she  afterwards  recovered  her  fortitude,  and 
bore  up  with  great  firmness  at  parting  with  her  husband. 

The  other  prisoners  bore  their  doom  with  equal  fortitude,  but  conducted 
themselves  with  less  solemnity  than  the  colonel.  Their  wives  were 
allowed  to  take  a  farewell  of  them  on  the  same  day,  and  the  scene  was 
truly  distressing. 

At  day-light  on  Sunday  morning,  the  drop,  scaffold,  and  gallows,  on 
which  they  were  to  be  executed,  were  erected  on  the  top  of  the  gaol.  All 
the  Bow-street  patrol,  and  many  other  peace-officers,  were  on  duty  all 
day  and  night ;  and  a  large  body  of  the  military  was  drawn  up  close  to  it. 
On  the  following  morning,  Monday  the  21st  of  February,  1803,  at  half- 
past  six  o'clock,  the  prison  bell  rang — the  signal  for  unlocking  the  cells. 
At  seven,  Broughton,  Francis,  Graham,  Wood,  and  Wratton  went  into 
the  chapel  withthe  Rev.  Mr.  Winkworth.  They  attended  to  the  prayers 
with  great  earnestness,  but  at  the  same  time  without  seeming  to  lose  that 
firmness  which  they  had  displayed  since  their  trial.  Before  they  received 
the  sacrament,  four  of  them  confessed  they  had  done  wrong,  but  not  to  the 
extent  charged  against  them  by  the  evidence.  The  fifth,  Graham,  said 
that  he  was  innocent  of  the  charges  brought  against  him  ;  but  he  admitted 
that  he  had  attended  two  meetings,  the  second  at  the  instigation  of  Francis. 
For  some  time  the  clergyman  refused  to  administer  the  sacrament  to 
Francis,  because  he  persisted  in  declaring  he  had  been  guilty  of  no  crime. 
The  clergyman  said  to  him,  "  You  admit  you  attended  meetings  ?  "  He 
answered,  "  Yes."  "  You  knew  they  w^ere  for  the  purpose  of  overturning 
the  constitution  of  the  country  ?  I  by  no  means  wish  you  to  enter  into  par- 
ticulars. I  only  wish  you  to  acknowledge  generally."  Francis  rejoined, 
"  I  admit  I  have  done  wrong  in  attending  those  meetings  ;"  and  the  sacra- 
ment was  then  administered  to  them. 

Colonel  Despard  and  Macnamara  were  then  brought  down  from  their 
cells,  their  irons  knocked  off,  and  their  arms  bound  with  ropes.  On 
observing  the  sledge  and  apparatus  the  colonel  smilingly  cried  out,  "  Ha ! 
ha  !  what  nonsensical  mummery  is  this  !" 

When  the  awful  procession  began,  which  was  at  half-past  eight  o'clock 
precisely,  l\Lacnamara  was  the  first  that  came  out.  Colonel  Despard  was 
the  last  that  appeared.  He  stept  into  the  hurdle  with  much  fortitude, 
having  an  executioner  on  the  right  and  on  the  left,  on  the  same  seat,  with 
naked  cutlasses.  He  was  thus  conducted  to  the  outer  lodge,  whence  he 
ascended  the  staircase  leading  to  the  place  of  execution.  The  prisoners 
Nere  preceded  by  the  sheriff.  Sir  R.  Ford,  the  clergyman,  Mr.  Winkworth, 
and  the  Roman  Catholic  clergyman,  Mr.  Griffith. 

Coffins,  or  shells,  wliich  had  been  previously  placed  in  a  room  under  the 
scaffold,  were  then  brought  up,  and  placed  on  the  platform,  on  which  the 
drop  was  erected ;  a  bag  of  sawdust,  to  catch  the  blood  when  the  lieads 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  393 

were  severed  from  the  bodies,  was  placed  beside  them.  The  block  was 
near  the  scaffold.  There  were  about  a  hundred  spectators  on  the  platform, 
among  whom  were  some  persons  of  distinction,  but  the  greatest  order  was 
observed. 

Macnamara  was  the  first  on  the  platform  ;  and  when  the  cord  was 
placed  round  his  neck,  he  exclaimed,  "  Lord  Jesus,  have  mercy  upon  me ! 
0  Lord,  look  down  with  pity  upon  me!"  The  populace  were  much  struck 
by  his  appearance.  Graham  came  second  ;  he  looked  pale  and  gliastly, 
but  spoke  not ;  Wratton  was  the  third  ;  he  ascended  the  scaffold  with 
much  firmness.  Broughton,  who  was  the  fourth,  joined  in  prayer  with 
much  earnestness.  Wood  was  the  fifth,  and  Francis  the  sixth.  They 
were  all  equally  composed. 

Colonel  Despard  ascended  the  scaffold  with  great  firmness,  and  his 
countenance  underwent  not  the  slightest  change  while  the  awful  ceremony 
of  fastening  the  rope  round  his  neck,  and  placing  the  cap  on  his  head,  was 
performing  ;  he  even  assisted  the  executioner  in  adjusting  the  rope  ;  and 
looked  at  the  multitude  with  perfect  calmness. 

The  clergyman,  who  ascended  the  scaffold  after  the  prisoners  were  tied 
up,  spoke  to  him  a  few  words  as  he  passed,  and  the  colonel  bowed  and 
thanked  him.  The  ceremony  of  fastening  the  prisoners  being  finished,  the 
colonel  advanced,  as  near  as  he  could,  to  the  edge  of  the  scaffold,  and  made 
the  following  speech  to  the  multitude  : — 

"  Fellow  Citizens,  —  I  come  here,  as  you  see,  after  having  served  my 
country — faithfully,  honourably,  and  usefully  served  it,  for  thirty  years 
and  upwards — to  suffer  death  upon  a  scaffold  for  a  crime  of  which  I  pro- 
test I  am  not  guilty.  I  solemnly  declare  that  I  am  no  more  guilty  of  it 
than  any  of  you  who  may  be  now  hearing  me.  But,  though  his  Majesty's 
ministers  know  as  well  as  I  do  that  I  am  not  guilty,  yet  they  avail  them- 
selves of  a  legal  pretext  to  destroy  a  man,  because  he  has  been  a  friend  to 

truth,  to  liberty,  and  justice "  [[There  was  a  considerable  huzza  from 

part  of  the  populace  the  nearest  to  iiim,  but  who,  from  the  height  of  the 
scaffold  from  the  ground,  could  not,  for  a  certainty,  distinctly  hear  what 

was  said.     The  colonel  proceeded^ "  because  he  has  been  a  friend  to 

the  poor  and  distressed.  But,  citizens,  I  hope  and  trust,  notwithstanding 
my  fate,  and  the  fate  of  those  who  no  doubt  will  soon  follow  me,  that  the 
principles  of  freedom,  of  humanity,  and  of  justice,  will  finally  triumph  over 
falsehood,  tyranny,  and  delusion,  and  every  principle  hostile  to  the  interests 
of  the  human  race.     And  now,  having  said  this,   I  have  little   more  to 

add "     [The  colonel's  voice  seemed  to  falter  a  little  here — he  paused  a 

moment,  as  if  he  had  meant  to  say  something  more,  but  had  forgotten  it 
lie  then  concluded  in  the  following  manner.]  "  I  have  little  more  to  add, 
except  to  wish  you  all  health,  happiness,  and  freedom,  which  I  have  endea 
voured,  as  far  as  was  in  my  power,  to  procure  for  you  and  for  mankind  in 
general." 

The  Colonel  generally  spoke  in  a  firm  and  audible  tone  of  voice,  and  left 
off  sooner  than  was  expected.  There  was  no  public  expression  of  feeling  at 
the  conclusion  of  his  address. 

As  soon  as  he  had  ceased  speaking,  the  clergyman  prayed  with  the  other 
prisoners,  and  after  a  few  minutes  he  shook  each  by  the  hand.  The  execu- 
tioners then  pulled  the  caps  over  the  faces  of  the  unhappy  men,  and  having 
quitk-^d  the  scaffold,  the  signal  was  immediately  afterwards  given,  and  the 

vor,.  I.  ^  E 


394  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

drop  fell.  The  Colonel  had  not  one  struggle  ;  twice  he  opened  and  shut  his 
hands,  convulsively,  and  he  stirred  no  more.  Macnaniara,  Graham,  "Wood, 
and  "Wratton  were  motionless  after  a  few  struggles,  but  Broughton  and 
Francis  were  much  convulsed  for  some  time  atter  their  companions  had 
ceased  to  live. 

After  they  had  hung  for  ahont  half  an  hour,  and  when  they  were  quite 
dead,  the}'-  were  cut  down.  Colonel  Despard  was  the  first  who  was  re- 
moved from  the  gallows ;  his  body  was  placed  upon  sawdust,  and  his  head 
upon  a  block  ;  and  after  his  coat  had  been  taken  oft',  his  head  was  severed 
from  his  body  by  persons  engaged  on  purpose  to  perform  that  ceremony. 
The  executioner  then  took  the  liead  by  the  hair,  and  carrying  it  to  tiie 
edo-e  of  the  parapet  on  the  right  hand,  held  it  up  to  the  view  of  the  popu- 
lace, and  exclaimed  "  This  is  the  head  of  a  traitor,  Edward  Marcus  Des- 
pard." The  same  ceremony  was  performed  on  the  parapet  at  the  left 
hand.  There  was  some  hooting  and  hissing  when  the  colonel's  head  was 
exhibited.  His  remains  were  now  put  into  the  shell  that  had  been  pre- 
pared for  them. 

The  other  prisoners  were  afterwards  successively  cut  down,  their  heads 
severed  from  their  bodies,  and  exhibited  to  the  populace,  with  the  same 
exclamation  of,  "  This  is  the  head  of  another  traitor  :"  and  the  bodies  were 
put  into  their  difterent  shells,  and  delivered  to  their  friends  for  interment. 

The  crowd  at  the  entrance  of  Horsemonger-lane  was  immense  ;  and  as 
the  time  of  execution  drew  near,  the  people  from  ail  parts  came  with  such 
force  as  to  bear  down  all  opposition.  Those  who  had  been  in  dry  situa- 
tions were  pushed  into  the  middle  of  the  road,  where  they  stood  almost 
up  to  the  knees  in  mud,  and  many  lost  theu-  shoes  by  the  continual  push- 
ing and  jostling. 

While  the  heads  were  exhibiting,  the  populace  took  off"  their  hats.  The 
execution  was  over  by  ten  o'clock,  and  the  populace  soon  after  dispersed 
quietly.  There  was  not  the  least  tendency  to  riot  or  disturbance.  The 
precautions,  however,  taken  by  Government,  were  only  such  as  were  highly 
necessary  and  proper.  A  sky-rocket  was  sent  to  the  keeper  of  the  prison 
to  be  let  oft",  as  a  signal  to  the  military,  in  case  of  any  disturbance. 

The  body  of  Colonel  Despard  having  lain  at  JMount-row,  opposite  the 
Asylum,  was  taken  away  on  the  first  of  March,  by  his  friends,  with  a 
hearse  and  three  mourning-coaches,  and  interred  near  the  north  door  of 
St.  Paul's  Cathedral,  St.  Paul's  churchyard.  The  crowd  was  great ;  but 
when  the  grave  was  covered  in,  the  people  immediately  and  quietly  dis- 
persed. The  city  marshal  was  present,  lest  there  should  be  any  disturb- 
ance on  the  occasion. 


JOHN  HATFIELD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY, 


The  variety  of  the  adventures  of  this  man  render  his  name  worthy  to 
be  recorded  in  the  annals  of  crime. 

It  appears  that  he  was  the  son  of  poor  parents,  who  lived  at  Mortram, 
near  Longdale,  in  Clieshire,  and  that  he  was  born  there,  in  the  year  1759. 
Havincr  by  some  means  procured  the  situation  of  rider  or  traveller  to  a 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  395 

linen-draper  in  the  north  of  England,  in  the  course  of  his  travels  he 
became  acquainted  with  a  young  woman,  who  was  under  the  guardianship 
of  a  respectable  farmer,  but  who  was  in  reality  the  natural  daughter  of 
Lord  Robert  Manners.  The  secret  of  her  birth  was  not  generally  known, 
but  it  was  communicated  to  our  hero,  Avith  an  intimation  that  upon  her 
marriage,  provided  it  should  be  with  the  consent  of  her  father,  a  dowry  of 
1000^.  would  be  paid.  He  therefore  lost  no  time  in  securing  the  good 
will  of  the  young  lady,  and  having  then  obtained  the  consent  of  her  noble 
father,  he  was  married  to  her,  and  received  from  his  lordship  the  siim  of 
1500/.  The  money,  however,  was  soon  spent  in  the  gaieties  of  London, 
by  the  bridegroom,  and  with  his  wife  he  was  compelled  to  retreat  into  the 
country,  where  he  continued  until  the  year  1782.  He,  then,  again  visited 
the  metropolis,  having  deserted  his  wife  and  three  children,  and  in  spite  of 
his  fallen  fortunes  he  proceeded  to  live  in  a  style  of  considerable  extrava- 
gance, boasting  of  his  near  connexion  with  the  Rutland  family,  and  of  his 
estates  in  the  country.  In  the  course  of  his  residence  in  London,  his 
unhappy  wife  died,  and  our  hero  wa«  almost  immediately  afterwards  con- 
veyed to  the  King's  Bench  Prison  for  a  debt  of  160/.  By  the  practice  of 
an  imposture  he  succeeded  in  obtaining  the  payment  of  his  debt  by  the 
Duke  of  Rutland,  and  his  consequent  discharge,  and  he  was  then  again 
thrown  upon  town  to  live  upon  his  wits. 

In  the  year  1785,  the  Duke  of  Rutland  was  appointed  lord  lieutenant 
of  Irelaml ;  and  directly  after  his  arrival  in  Dublin,  Hatfield  followed 
him.  and  taking  up  his  abode  at  a  hotel  in  College-green,  acquainted  the 
landlord  with  his  pretended  connexion  witli  the  viceroy,  and  declared  that 
he  was  only  prevented  from  proceeding  at  once  to  the  Castle,  by  the  cir- 
cumstance of  his  carriage,  and  horses,  and  servants,  not  having  yet  aiTived. 
A  month  was  passed  by  the  lodger  in  a  pretended  continued  state  of  dis- 
ai)pointnient  at  the  non-appearance  of  his  equipage,  and  at  the  expiration 
of  that  period  the  landlord  took  the  liberty  of  presenting  his  bill,  which 
amounted  to  upwards  of  sixty  pounds.  Mr.  Hatfield  was  in  nowise  con- 
fused, but  said  that  altliough,  fortunately,  his  agent  was  then  in  Ireland 
holding  a  public  situation,  he  was,  at  that  time,  on  a  visit  in  the  country, 
from  which  he  would  not  return  for  three  days.  The  landlord  was  satis- 
fied ;  but  on  the  fourth  day  he  again  made  his  appearance,  and  having 
been  now  directed  to  a  gentleman  at  the  Castle,  he  forthwith  proceeded 
to  him  with  his  account.  The  answer  was  of  a  nature  most  unsatisfactory 
to  his  wishes ;  for  the  supposed  agent  very  frankly  told  him,  that  he  was 
the  dupe  of  an  impudent  impostor  ;  but  he  received  some  consolation  from 
his  being  informed  that  others  had  suflFered  as  well  as  he.  His  guest, 
however,  was  one  who  was  no  longer  welcome  at  his  table,  but  being 
under  the  necessity  of  driving  liim  from  his  own  house,  he  provided  him 
with  other  lodgings  in  the  Marshalsea,  to  which  he  was  conveyed  by 
virtue  of  a  writ  issued  at  his  instance.  On  his  entering  the  jail,  Hatfield 
whispered  the  keeper  and  his  wife,  "to  be  sure  and  keep  it  a  profound  secret 
that  he  was  a  relation  of  the  viceroy,  as  it  might  not  be  agreeable  to  his 
Excellency,  that  it  should  be  known  that  he  was  in  prison  ;"  and  the 
people,  astonished  at  the  discovery,  which  they  then  made  for  the  first  time, 
conducted  him  to  the  best  apartment,  had  a  table  provided,  and  continued 
to  furnish  him  with  all  the  necessary  commodities  for  his  support  during 
the  ensuing  three  weeks.     In  the  meantime,  however,  he  had  again  peti- 


a96  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

tioned  the  Duke  for  fresh  supplies,  and  his  Grace,  being  apprehensive  that 
he  miffht  continue  his  impositions  in  Dublin,  released  him  on  condition  of 
h's  quitting  IreUxnd  ;  and  in  order  to  be  assured  that  this  stipulation  was 
obeyed,  he  sent  a  servant  to  see  him  on  board  the  next  vessel  sailing  for 
Holyhead. 

He  next  visited  Scarborough,  and  there  practised  similar  impositions ; 
but  his  frauds  being  discovered,  he  was  arrested  and  lodged  in  jail,  wliere 
he  now  continued  for  a  period  of  eight  years  and  a  half.  At  the  ex- 
piration of  that  time,  a  i\Iiss  Nation,  of  Devonshire,  paid  his  debts  and 
procured  his  liberation  ;  and  furthermore  bestowed  her  hand  on  him  in 
marriage.  lie  then  had  the  good  fortune  to  obtain  admission  into  a  re- 
spectable firm  at  Tiverton  as  partner,  and  continued  to  live  during  about 
three  years  in  apparent  respectability  ;  but  then,  having  put  upas  a  candi- 
date for  the  borough  of  Queenborough,  his  real  character  was  discovered, 
and  he  was  made  a  bankrupt.  He  now  retired,  leaving  his  second  wife 
and  two  children  beliind  him ;  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  him  until 
the  year  1802,  when  he  drove  up  in  a  carriage  to  the  Queen's  Head  Inn, 
at  Keswick,  and  assumed  the  name  of  Colonel  the  Hon.  Alexander  Augustus 
Hope,  brother  of  the  Earl  of  Hopetoun,  and  member  for  Linlithgow. 
Unfortunately  some  evil  genius  directed  his  steps  to  the  once  happy  cot- 
taoe  of  poor  jMary,  the  only  daughter  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Robinson,  an  old 
couple,  who  kept  a  small  public-house  at  the  side  of  the  beautiful  lake  of 
Buttermere,  Cumberland  ;  and  who,  by  their  industry,  had  amassed  a 
small  property  ;  and  poor  JMary  of  Buttermere,  whose  cliarms  have  since 
become  so  celebrated  from  Wordsworth's  sweet  poem  in  which  they  are 
described,  was  doomed  to  become  the  victim  of  his  villanous  schemes. 
During  a  short  stay  at  Buttermere,  he  contrived  to  wheedle  himself  into 
the  good  graces  of  poor  Mary ;  but  he  was  not  to  be  satisfied  witli  the 
possession  of  a  country  girl,  when  higher  game  came  in  view.  On  his 
first  arrival  at  Keswick,  he  became  acquainted  with  an  Irish  gentleman 
named  JNIurphy,  a  member  of  the  then  existing  Irish  House  of  Commons, 
who  with  his  family,  and  accompanied  by  a  young  lady,  possessed  of 
a  considerable  fortune,  and  no  less  personal  attractions,  was  on  a  tour 
through  the  justly  admired  lakes  of  England.  The  afiiible  condescension 
with  which  his  advances  were  received,  induced  him  to  suppose,  that  his 
address  and  manners  were  not  displeasing  to  the  young  lady,  or  her 
guardian,  and  he  resolved  to  improve  upon  the  opportunity  wliich  pre- 
sented itself.  Quitting  the  society  of  the  gentle  jNIary,  therefore,  he 
returned  to  Keswick,  and,  ere  long,  he  had  so  far  ingratiated  himself  with 
the  young  lady,  as  to  obtain  from  her  a  promise  of  her  hand  in  marriage. 
Being  known  only  by  liis  assumed  title,  he  was  urged  to  write  to  Lord 
Hopetoun,  to  acquaint  him  with  the  intended  union,  and  he  promised 
instantly  to  comply  with  a  request  which  appeared  so  reasonable.  Writing 
letters,  therefore,  which  by  virtue  of  his  pretended  rank  of  M.P.  he  franked, 
he  despatched  them,  and  until  answers  were  received,  he  proposed  various 
trips  to  while  away  the  time.  The  preparations  for  tlie  marriage, 
however,  occupied  the  time  and  attention  of  the  young  lady  to  too  great 
a  degree  to  permit  her  quitting  Keswick,  and  Hatfield  seized  the  oppor- 
tunity to  continue  his  courtship  to  the  Beauty  of  Buttermere.  In  this 
manner  some  weeks  elapsed,  without  any  communication  being  received 
from  the  Earl  of  Hopetoun ;  and  the  fi-equent,  and  now  prolonged,  ab- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENUAR.  397 

sences  of  the  supposed  colonel  excited  some  degree  of  surprise  among  his 
Irish  friends. 

At  leno-th,  on  the  1st  October  1802,  a  letter  was  received  from  Hat- 
field, dated  Buttermere,  by  Mr.  Murphy,  in  which  a  request  was  con- 
tained that  a  draft  inclosed,  purporting  to  be  drawn  by  Col.  Hope,  on 
Mr.  Cranipt,  a  banker  in  Liverpool,  might  be  cashed ;  and  that  gentle- 
man, still  having  no  good  reason  to  doubt  the  integrity  of  his  corre- 
spondent, immediately  transmitted  to  him  30^.,  the  amount  of  the  check. 
On  tlie  4th  of  the  same  month,  however.  Wood,  the  landlord  of  the 
Queen's  Head,  where  the  whole  party  had  been  stopping,  brought  over 
intelligence  from  the  village  of  Lorton,  in  Buttermere,  that  Colonel  Hope 
had  been  married  on  the  previous  day  to  Mary  Robinson.  On  inquiry  it 
turned  out  that  this  was  perfectly  true,  and  that  the  marriage  having 
taken  place,  the  bride  and  bridegroom  had  gone  into  Scotland  to  spend  tlie 
honeymoon  ;  and  it  being  now  obvious,  that  the  latter,  wlioever  he  might 
be,  had  acted  most  dishonourably  towards  his  ward,  Mr.  Murphy  deter- 
mined to  write  to  Lord  Hopetoun,  for  tlie  purpose  of  ascertaining  how  far 
he  was  entitled  to  the  name  and  rank  which  he  had  assumed.  Circum- 
stances soon  transpired,  which  induced  a  belief  that  he  had  no  pretensions 
to  the  character  which  he  had  taken,  and  a  warrant  was  issued  for  his 
apprehension.  In  the  meantime,  he  had  proceeded  with  his  bride,  as  far 
as  Longtown,  on  their  wedding  trip,  but  on  reaching  that  spot,  he  pre- 
tended surprise  at  not  meeting  some  friends,  whom,  he  said,  lie  had  ex- 
pected, and  returned  to  Buttermere.  He  was  there  charged  with  having 
assumed  a  fictitious  name,  but  he  flatly  deni.^d  the  trutli  of  the  allegation  ; 
but  the  warrant  being  brought,  by  which  he  was  alleged  to  have  forged 
several  franks,  as  M.P.  for  Linlithgow,  he  was  committed  to  the  care  of  a 
constable.  He,  however,  found  means  to  make  his  escape  from  this  cus- 
tody ;  and  having  with  great  boldness  passed  through  several  towns, 
where  his  person  was  known,  he  was  at  length  apprehended  within  six- 
teen miles  of  Swansea,  and  committed  to  Brecon  jail.  Before  the  magis- 
trates, he  declared  that  his  name  was  Tudor  Henry,  but  his  person  being 
identified,  he  was  sent  to  London  to  be  examined.  He  was  then  trans- 
mitted to  Cumberland,  where  he  was  charged  with  forging  several  franks, 
and  also  with  forging  the  bill  for  which  he  had  obtained  cash  at  Keswick, 
and  he  was  committed  for  trial ;  the  charge  for  bigamy,  which  also  stood 
against  him,  not  being  preferred. 

He  was  indicted  at  the  ensuing  assizes  at  Carlisle,  and  tried  before  Sir 
A.  Thompson,  when  the  jury  found  him  guilty,  and  he  was  sentenced  to 
deatli. 

A  notion  very  generally  prevailed  that  he  would  escape  capital  punish- 
ment, and  the  arrival  of  the  mail  was  daily  expected  with  the  greatest 
impatience.  No  pardon  arriving,  however,  September  3,  1803,  (Satur- 
day,) was  at  last  fixed  upon  for  the  execution. 

The  gallows  was  erected  on  the  preceding  night,  between  twelve  and 
three,  in  an  island  formed  by  the  river  Eden,  on  the  north  side  of  the 
town,  between  the  two  bridges.  From  the  hour  when  the  jury  found 
him  guilty,  he  behaved  with  the  utmost  serenity  and  cheerfulness.  He 
received  tlie  visits  of  all  who  wished  to  see  him,  and  talked  upon  the 
Lopics  of  the  day  with  the  greatest  interest  or  indifference.  He  could 
scarcely  ever  be  brought  to  speak  of  his  own  case,  and  he  neither  blamed 


398  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

the  verdict,  nor  made  any  confession  of  his  guilt.  He  said  that  he  had 
no  intention  to  defraud  those  whose  names  he  forged  ;  but  was  never 
heard  to  say  that  he  was  to  die  unjustly.  The  alarming  nature  of  the 
crime  of  forgery,  in  a  commercial  country,  had  taught  him  from  the 
beginning  to  entertain  no  hope  of  mercy. 

By  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  September  3,  his  irons  were  struck 
off ;  and  he  then  appeared  as  usual,  and  no  alteration  or  increased  agita- 
tion, whatever,  was  observed  in  his  manner. 

Soon  after  ten  o'clock  he  sent  for  the  "  Carlisle  Journal,"  and  perused 
It  for  some  time,  and  a  little  after  he  had  laid  aside  the  paper,  two  clergy- 
men attended  him,  and  prayed  with  him.  He  afterwards  wrote  several 
letters  and  shaved  himself,  and  at  three  o'clock  he  ate  a  hearty  dinner 
witli  the  jailor.  Having  afterwards  drunk  two  glasses  of  wine,  he  par- 
took of  some  coffee,  and  then  set  out  for  the  scaffold.  He  was  pinioned 
in  the  turnkey's  lodge,  where  he  sent  for  the  executioner  and  gave  him 
some  silver.  He  afterwards  exhibited  great  composure,  and  when  he 
came  to  the  gallows,  he  asked  whether  that  "  was  the  tree  he  was  to  die 
on  ?"  On  being  answered  in  the  affirmative,  he  exclaimed,  "  Oh  !  a 
happy  sight,  I  see  it  with  pleasure," 

He  then  ascended  the  cart,  which  had  been  placed  under  the  rope,  and 
appeared  perfectly  cool  and  collected.  Having  himself  assisted  in  com- 
pleting the  requisite  preparations,  he  took  leave  of  the  sheriffs,  and  pre- 
pared himself  calmly  for  his  fate. 

On  his  being  turned  off,  great  apprehensions  were  entertained  that  it 
would  be  necessary  to  tie  him  up  a  second  time.  The  noose  slipped  twice, 
and  he  fell  down  above  eighteen  inches,  and  his  feet  at  last  were  almost 
touching  the  ground  ;  but  his  excessive  weight,  which  occasioned  this 
accident,  speedily  relieved  him  from  pain.  He  expired  in  a  moment,  and 
without  any  struggle. 

He  was  cut  down  after  he  had  hung  about  an  hour.  On  the  preceding 
Wednesday  he  had  had  a  carpenter  to  take  his  measure  for  his  coffin,  and 
he  ordered  it  to  be  a  strong  oak  one,  plain  and  neat,  requesting  that,  after 
he  was  taken  down,  he  might  be  put  into  it  immediately,  with  the  apparel 
he  might  have  on,  and  carried  to  the  churchyard  of  Burgh-on-Sands, 
there  to  be  interred  in  the  evening. 

The  conscientious  parishioners  of  Burgh,  however,  objected  to  his  being 
laid  there,  and  the  body  was  consequently  conveyed  in  the  hearse  to  St. 
INIary's,  Carlisle,  where  it  was  interred  in  a  distant  corner  of  the  church- 
yard, far  from  the  other  tombs.  No  priest  attended,  and  the  coffin  was 
lowered  without  any  religious  service.  Notwithstanding  his  various  and 
complicated  enormities,  his  untimely  end  excited  considerable  commisera- 
tion. His  manners  were  extremely  polished  and  insinuating,  and  he  was 
posseOTed  of  qualities  which  might  have  rendered  him  an  ornament  of 
society. 


'.y'A.at^^y^z^  au  QyA-ocP&. 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  399 


FRANCIS  SMITH. 

CONDEMNED    FOR   THE    MURDER    OF    A    SUPPOSED    GHOST. 

The  Hammersmith  Ghost  will  be  in  the  remembrance  of  every  one. 
Itp  vagaries  and  mischievous  pranks  were  in  some  cases  productive  of 
very  serious  consequences,  and  in  no  instance  were  more  melancholy  effects 
produced  than  in  that  of  the  unfortunate  prisoner,  whose  case  is  now 
before  us,  who  shot  a  poor  man,  who  offended  only  in  wearing  the  garb  of 
liis  trade  at  night,  and  who  was  afterwards  tried  and  condemned  to  death 
for  the  offence. 

Among  the  other  evil  effects  produced  by  the  absurd  proceedings  of  the 
ghost,  it  appears  that  one  poor  woman  in  particular,  who  was  far  ad- 
vanced in  her  pregnancy  of  a  second  child,  was  so  much  sliocked  on 
seeing  him,  that  she  took  to  her  bed,  and  survived  only  two  days.  She 
had  been  crossing  near  the  churchyard  about  ten  o'clock  at  niolit,  when 
she  beheld  something,  as  she  described,  rise  from  the  tomb-stones.  The 
figure  was  very  tall,  and  very  white.  She  attempted  to  run,  but  the 
ghost  soon  overtook  her,  and,  pressing  her  in  his  arms,  she  fainted,  and 
fell  to  the  ground.  In  this  situation  ^;he  remained  some  hours,  till  disco- 
vered by  sonit  neighbours,  who  kindly  led  her  home,  when  she  took  to  her 
bed,  from  which  she  never  rose. 

The  ghost  had  so  much  alarmed  a  waggoner,  belonging  to  Mr.  Russel, 
driving  a  team  of  eight  horses,  and  which  had  sixteen  passengers  at  the 
time,  that  the  driver  took  to  his  heels,  and  left  the  waggon  and  horses  so 
precipitately,  that  the  whole  were  greatly  endangered. 

Francis  Smith,  the  subject  of  this  sketch,  doubtless  incensed  at  the 
unknown  person  who  was  in  the  habit  of  assuming  this  supernatural  cha- 
racter, and  thus  frightening  the  superstitious  inhabitants  of  the  village, 
rashly  determined  on  watching  foi',  and  shooting  the  ghost ;  when  unfor- 
tunately he  shot  a  poor  man,  named  Thomas  JNIilwood,  a  bricklaver,  who 
was  in  a  wdiite  dress,  the  usual  habiliment  of  his  occupation.  This  rash 
act  having  been  judged  wilful  murder  by  the  coroner's  inquest,  Smith  was 
committed  to  jail,  and  took  his  trial  at  the  ensuing  sessions  at  the  Old 
Bailey,  on  the  13th  January. 

The  evidence  adduced  was,  that  the  unfortunate  deceased  had  quitted 
the  residence  of  his  father  and  mother  only  five  minutes  before  he  was 
killed  ;  and  that,  as  he  was  passing  along  Black  Lion-lane,  the  prisoner 
saw  hirn  and  called  out,  "  Damn  you,  who  are  you  ?  I'll  shoot  you,  if 
you  don't  speak."  No  answer  was  returned,  and  the  prisoner  then  fired 
and  the  contents  of  his  gun  struck  the  deceased  on  the  jaw,  and  he  fell 
down  dead.  The  prisoner  immediately  went  in  search  of  assistance,  but 
it  was  found  to  be  too  late,  and  he  then  surrendered  himself  into  custody. 
It  afterwards  proved  that  he  had  agreed  with  a  watchman  to  go  in  search 
of  the  ghost ;  and  that  his  only  object  Avas  to  rid  the  neighbourhood  of 
the  visitor,  who  had  occasioned  so  much  mischievous  alarm. 

The  defence  set  up  was  that  no  bad  design  actuated  the  prisoner  in  his 
attack  upon  the  supposed  spirit,  and  many  witnesses  were  called,  who 
proved  the  alarm  which  had  bt^n  occasioned  by  the  visits  of  a  prcttria- 
tural  being. 


400  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Tlie  Lord  Chief  Baron,  ^Mr.  Justice  Rooke,  and  Mr.  Justice  Lawrence, 
wlio  were  on  tlie  Bencli,  severally  expressed  their  opinion,  that  the  case 
proved  amounted  to  murder  ;  and  that  if  a  man  killed  another  by  design, 
without  authority,  but  from  a  sup})osition  that  he  ought  to  be  killed,  the 
oftence  amounted  to  murder.  The  Jury  attempted  to  bring  in  a  verdict  of 
manslaugliter  only,  but  the  opinion  of  the  learned  Judges  being  repealed 
they  returned  a  general  verdict  of  guilty,  and  recommended  the  prisoner  to 
mercy. 

The  Recorder  then  passed  sentence  of  death  on  the  prisoner  in  the  usual 
form  ;  which  was,  that  he  should  be  executed  on  the  following  Monday, 
and  his  body  given  to  the  surgeons  to  be  dissected. 

The  prisoner,  who  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  black  clothes,  was  twenty- 
nine  years  of  age.  a  short  but  well-made  man,  with  dark  hair  and  eye- 
brows ;  and  the  pallid  hue  of  his  countenance,  during  the  whole  trial, 
together  with  all  the  signs  of  contrition  which  he  exhibited,  commanded  the 
sym])athy  of  every  spectator. 

The  case  excited  great  interest,  and  the  Court  and  its  environs  were 
crowded  during  the  trial,  by  persons  anxious  to  learn  his  fate. 

The  Lord  Chief  Baron  having  told  the  jury,  after  they  had  given  their 
verdict,  that  he  would  immediately  report  the  case  to  his  jMajesty,  was  so 
speedy  in  this  humane  office,  that  a  respite  during  pleasure  was  sent  to  the 
Old  Bailey  before  seven  o'clock,  and  on  the  twenty-fifth,  the  prisoner 
received  a  pardon  on  condition  of  his  being  imprisoned  during  one 
year. 

The  ghost  appears  to  have  taken  alarm  at  the  consequences  of  his 
absurd  trifling  with  the  feelings  of  his  fellow  subjects,  and  he  was  not  again 
seen. 

We  cannot  dismiss  this  subject  without  referring  to  other  cases  of  sup- 
posed ghosts,  which  in  their  time  attracted  no  inconsiderable  portion  of 
public  attention,  and  excited  no  small  degree  of  alarm.  The  most  fiimous 
of  these  was  known  by  the  name  of  the  "  Cock  Lane  Ghost,"  and  the  cir- 
cumstances connected  with  the  case  are  so  curious,  and  aftbrd  so  fair  a  spe- 
cimen of  the  easy  credulity  even  of  well-informed  and  otherwise  sensible 
people,  that  we  feel  little  hesitation  in  jilacing  an  account  of  them  before 
our  readers. 

The  Cock  Lane  Ghost  kept  London  in  a  state  of  commotion  for  no  short 
time,  and  was  the  universal  theme  of  conversation  among  the  learned  and 
the  illiterate,  and  in  every  circle  of  society,  "  from  the  prince  to  the  pea- 
sant." It  appears  that  at  the  commencement  of  the  year  1760,  there  re- 
sided in  Cuck  Lane,  near  West  Smithfield,  in  the  house  of  one  Parsons,  the 
parish  clerk  of  St.  Sepulchre's,  a  stockbroker,  named  Kent.  The  wife  of 
this  gentleman  had  died  in  child-bed  during  the  previous  year;  and  his 
sister-in-law,  Miss  Fanny,  had  arrived  from  Norfolk  to  keep  his  house  for 
him.  They  soon  conceived  a  mutual  affection,  and  each  of  them  made  a 
will  in  the  other's  favour.  They  lived  some  months  in  the  house  of  Par- 
sons, who,  being  a  needy  man,  borrowed  money  of  his  lodger.  Some  dif- 
ferences arose  betwixt  them,  and  Mr.  Kent  left  the  house,  and  Instituted 
legal  proceedings  against  the  parish  clerk  for  the  recovery  of  his  money. 

While  this  matter  was  yet  jiending,  Miss  Fanny  was  suddenly  taken  ill 
of  the  small-pox,  and,  notwithstanding  every  care  and  attention,  she  died 
in  a  few  days,  and  was  buried  in  a  vault  under  Clerkenwell  church.    Par- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  401 

8ons  now  began  to  hint  that  the  poor  lady  had  come  unfairly  by  her  death, 
and  tliat  ]Mr.  Kent  was  accessory  to  it,  from  his  too  great  eagerness  to 
enter  into  possession  of  *.he  property  she  had  bequeathed  him.  Nothing 
furtlier  was  said  for  nearly  two  years ;  but  it  would  appear  that  Parsons 
was  of  so  revengeful  a  cliaracter,  that  he  had  never  forgotten  or  forgiven 
his  differences  with  Mr.  Kent,  and  the  indignity  of  having  been  sued  for 
the  burrowed  money.  The  strong  passions  of  pride  and  avarice  were 
silentlv  at  work  during  all  that  interval,  hatching  schemes  of  revenge,  but 
dismissing  them  one  after  the  other  as  impracticable,  until,  at  last,  a  no- 
table one  suET'iested  itself.  About  the  beginning  of  the  year  1762,  the  alarm 
was  spread  over  all  the  neighbourhood  of  Cock  Lane,  that  the  house  of 
Parsons  was  liaunted  by  the  ghost  of  poor  Fanny,  and  that  the  daughter  of 
Parsons,  a  girl  about  twelve  years  of  age,  had  several  times  seen  and  con- 
versed with  the  spirit,  who  had,  moreover,  informed  her,  that  she  had  not 
died  of  the  small-pox,  as  was  currently  reported,  but  of  poison,  adminis 
tered  by  Mr,  Kent.  Parsons,  who  originated,  took  good  care  to  counte- 
nance these  reports ;  and,  in  answer  to  numerous  inquiries,  said  his  house 
was  every  night,  and  had  been  for  two  years — in  fact  ever  since  the  death 
of  Fanny,  troubled  by  a  loud  knocking  at  the  doors  and  in  the  walls. 
Having  thus  prepared  the  ignorant  and  credulous  neighbours  to  believe  or 
exaggerate  for  themselves  what  he  had  told  them,  he  sent  for  a  gentleman 
of  a  higher  class  in  life,  to  come  and  witness  these  extraordinar\-  occur- 
rences. The  gentleman  came  accordingly,  and  found  tlie  daughter  of  Par- 
sons, to  whom  the  spirit  alone  appeared,  and  whom  alone  it  answered,  in 
bed,  trembling  violently,  having  just  seen  the  ghost,  and  been  again  in- 
formed that  she  had  died  from  poison.  A  loud  knocking  was  also  heard 
from  every  part  of  the  chamber,  which  so  mystified  the  not  very  clear  un- 
derstanding of  the  visiter,  that  he  departed,  afraid  to  doubt  and  ashamed 
to  believe,  but  with  a  promise  to  bring  the  clergyman  of  the  parish  and  se- 
veral other  gentlemen  on  the  following  day,  to  report  upon  the  mystery. 

On  the  following  night  he  returned,  bringing  with  him  three  clergymen, 
and  about  twenty  other  persons,  including  two  negroes,  when,  upon  a  con- 
sultation with  Parsons,  they  resolved  to  sit  up  the  whole  night,  and  await 
the  ghost's  arrival.  It  was  then  explained  by  Parsons,  that  although  the 
ghost  would  never  render  itself  visible  to  anybody  but  his  daughter,  it  had 
no  objection  to  answer  the  questions  that  might  be  put  to  it  by  any  person 
present,  and  that  it  expressed  an  afiarmation  by  one  knock,  a  negative  by 
two,  and  its  displeasure  by  a  kind  of  scratching.  The  child  was  then  put 
into  bed  along  with  her  sister,  and  the  clergymen  examined  the  bed  and  bed- 
clothes to  satisfy  themselves  that  no  trick  was  played,  by  knocking  upon 
any  substance  concealed  among  the  clothes,  as,  on  the  previous  night,  the 
bed  was  observed  to  shake  violently. 

After  some  hours,  during  which  they  all  waited  with  exemplary  patience, 
the  mysterious  knocking  was  heard  in  the  wall,  and  the  child  declared  that 
she  saw  the  ghost  of  poor  Fanny.  The  following  questions  were  then 
gravely  put  by  tlie  clergyman,  through  the  medium  of  one  IMary  Frazer, 
the  servant  of  Parsons,  and  to  whom  it  was  said  the  deceased  lady  had 
been  much  attached.  The  answers  were  in  the  usual  fashion,  by  a  knock 
or  knocks: — 

"  Do  you  make  this  disturbance  on  account  of  the  ill  usage  you  received 
from  JMr.  Kentr'— "  Yes." 

VOL.  I.  3  P 


402  THE   NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

"  Were  you  broiiglit  to  an  untimely  end  by  poison?'' — "  Yes." 

"  How  was  tlie  poison  administered,  in  beer  or  in  purl?" — "  In  purl." 

"  How  long  was  that  before  your  death  ? " — "  About  three  hours." 

"  Can  your  former  servant,  Carrots,  give  any  information  about  the 
poison?" — "  Yes." 

"  Are  you  Kent's  wife's  sister?" — "  Yes." 

"  Were  you  married  to  Kent  after  your  sister's  death?" — "  No." 

"  Was  anybody  else,  besides  Kent,  concerned  in  your  murder?" — 
*'No." 

"  Can  you,  if  you  like,  appear  visibly  to  any  one?" — "  Yes." 

«  Will  you  do  so?"—"  Yes." 

"  Can  you  go  out  of  this  house?" — "  Yes." 

"  Is  it  your  intention  to  follow  this  child  about  everywhere?" — ■ 
"  Yes." 

"■  Are  you  pleased  in  being  asked  these  questions?" — "  Yes." 

"  Does  it  ease  your  troubled  soul?" — ^  Yes." 

[^Here  there  was  heard  a  mysterious  noise,  which  some  wiseacre  present 
compared  to  the  fluttering  of  wings.] 

"  How  long  before  your  death  did  you  tell  your  servant.  Carrots,  that 
you  were  poisoned? — An  hour?" — "  Yes." 

QCarrots,  who  was  present,  was  appealed  to;  but  she  stated  positively 
that  such  was  not  the  fact,  as  the  deceased  was  quite  speechless  an  hour 
before  her  death.  This  shook  the  faith  of  some  of  the  spectators,  but  the 
examination  was  allowed  to  continue.] 

"  How  long  did  Carrots  live  with  you?" — "  Three  or  four  days." 

QCarrots  was  again  appealed  to.  and  said  that  this  was  true.] 

'"  If  Mr.  Kent  is  arrested  for  this  murder,  will  he  confess?" — "  Yes." 

"  Would  your  soul  be  at  rest  if  he  were  hanged  for  it?" — "  Yes." 

"  Will  he  be  hanged  for  it?"—"  Yes." 

"  How  long  a  time  first?" — "  Three  years." 

"  How  many  clergymen  are  there  in  this  room?" — "  Three.'' 

"  How  many  negroes?" — "  Two." 

"  Is  this  watch  (held  up  by  one  of  the  clergymen)  white?" — "  No." 

■'  Is  it  yellow?" — "  No." 

"Is  it  blue?"—"  No." 

-<Is  it  black?"—"  Yes." 

I^The  watch  was  in  a  black  shagreen  case.] 

"  At  what  time  this  morning  will  you  take  your  departure?" 

The  answer  to  this  question  was  four  knocks,  very  distinctly  heard  by 
every  person  present;  and  accordingly,  at  four  oclock  precisely,  the  ghost 
took  its  departure  to  the  Wheatsiieaf  public-house,  close  by,  where  it 
frightened  mine  host  and  his  lady  almost  out  of  their  wits  by  knocking 
in  tlie  ceiling  right  above  their  bed. 

The  rumour  of  these  occurrences  very  soon  spread  over  London,  and 
every  day  Cock-lane  was  rendered  impassable  by  the  crowds  of  people 
who  assembled  around  the  house  of  the  parish  clerk,  in  expectation  of 
either  seeing  the  ghost  or  of  hearing  the  mysterious  knocks.  It  was  at 
last  found  necessary,  so  clamorous  were  they  for  admission  within  the 
haunted  precincts,  to  admit  those  only  who  would  pay  a  certain  fee; 
an  arrangement  which  was  very  convenient  to  the  needy  and  money- 
loving  Mr.  Parsons.     Indeed,  things  had  taken  a  turn  greatly  to  h's  satis- 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  403 

faction  ;  he  not  only  had  his  revenge,  but  he  made  a  profit  out  of  it.  The 
ghost,  in  consequence,  played  its  antics  every  night,  to  the  great  amuse- 
ment of  many  hundreds  of  people,  and  the  great  perplexity  of  a  still 
greater  number. 

•  Unhappily,  however,  for  the  parish  clerk,  the  ghost  was  induced  to 
make  some  promises  which  were  the  means  of  utterly  destroying  its  repu- 
tation. It  promised,  in  answer  to  the  questions  of  the  Reverend  Mr. 
Aldritch  of  Clerkenwell,  that  it  would  not  only  follow  the  little  Miss 
Parsons  wherever  she  went,  but  would  also  attend  him,  or  any  other  gen- 
tleman, into  the  vault  under  St.  John's  church,  where  the  body  of  the 
murdered  woman  was  deposited,  and  would  there  give  notice  of  its  pre- 
sence by  a  distinct  knock  upon  the  coffin.  As  a  preliminary,  the  girl 
was  conveyed  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Aldritch  near  the  church,  where  a 
large  party  of  ladies  and  gentlemen,  eminent  for  their  acquirements,  their 
rank,  or  their  wealth,  had  assembled.  About  ten  o'clock  on  the  night  of 
the  1st  of  February,  the  girl,  having  been  brought  from  Cock-lane  in  a 
coach,  was  put  to  bed  by  several  ladies  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Aldritch,  a 
strict  examination  having  been  previously  made  that  nothing  was  hidden 
in  the  bedclothes.  While  tiie  gentlemen,  in  an  adjoining  chamber,  were 
deliberating  whether  they  should  proceed  in  a  body  to  the  vault,  they 
were  summoned  into  tlie  bedroom  by  the  ladies,  who  affirmed,  in  great 
alarm,  that  the  ghost  was  come,  and  that  they  heard  the  knocks  and 
scratches.  The  gentlemen  entered  accordingly,  with  a  determination  to 
suffijr  no  deception.  The  little  girl,  on  being  asked  whether  she  saw  the 
ghost,  replied,  "  No  ;  but  she  felt  it  on  her  back  like  a  mouse."  She  was 
then  required  to  put  her  hands  out  of  bed,  and  they  being  held  by  some 
of  the  ladies,  the  spirit  was  summoned  in  the  usual  manner  to  answer,  if 
it  were  in  the  room.  The  question  was  several  times  put  with  great  so- 
lemnity;  but  the  customary  knock  was  not  heard  in  reply  in  the  walls, 
neither  was  there  any  scratching.  The  ghost  was  then  asked  to  render 
itself  visible,  but  it  did  not  choose  to  grant  the  request.  It  was  next  so- 
licited to  give  some  token  of  its  presence  by  a  sound  of  any  sort,  or  by 
touching  the  hand  or  cheek  of  any  lady  or  gentleman  in  the  room  ;  but 
even  with  this  request  the  ghost  would  not  comply. 

There  was  now  a  considerable  pause,  and  one  of  the  clergymen  went 
down-stairs  to  interrogate  the  father  of  the  girl,  who  was  waiting  the 
result  of  the  experiment.  He  positively  denied  that  there  was  any  decep- 
tion, and  even  went  so  far  as  to  say  that  he  himself,  upon  one  occasion, 
had  seen  and  conversed  with  the  awful  ghost.  This  having  been  commu- 
nicated to  the  company,  it  was  unanimously  resolved  to  give  the  ghost 
another  trial  ;  and  the  clergyman  called  out  in  a  loud  voice  to  the  supposed 
spirit  that  the  gentleman  to  whom  it  had  promised  to  appear  in  the  vault 
was  about  to  repair  to  that  place,  where  he  claimed  the  fulfilment  of  its 
promise.  At  one  hour  after  midnight  they  all  proceeded  to  the  church, 
and  the  gentleman  in  question,  with  another,  entered  the  vault  alone, 
and  took  up  their  position  alongside  of  the  coffin  of  poor  Fanny.  The 
ghost  was  then  summoned  to  appear,  but  it  appeared  not;  it  was 
summoned  to  knock,  but  it  knocked  not ;  it  was  summoned  to  scratch, 
liut  it  scratched  not ;  and  the  two  retired  from  the  vault,  with  the 
firm  belief  that  the  whole  business  was  a  deception  practised  by  Parsons 
and  his  daughter.     There  were  others,  however,  who  did  not  wish  to  jump 


404  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

eo  hastily  to  a  conclusion,  and  who  suggested  tliat  they  v/ere,  perhaps, 
trifling  witli  this  awful  and  siipernatural  being,  which,  being  offended  vHth 
them  for  their  presumption,  would  not  condescend  to  answer  them.  Again, 
after  a  serious  consultation,  it  was  agreed  on  all  hands  that,  if  the  ghost 
answered  anybody  at  all,  it  would  answer  Mr.  Kent,  the  supposed 
murderer ;  and  he  was  accordingly  requested  to  go  down  into  the  vault. 
He  went  with  several  others,  and  summoned  the  ghost  to  answer  whether 
he  had  indeed  poisoned  her.  There  being  no  answer,  the  question  was  put 
by  Mr.  Aldritch,  who  conjured  it,  if  it  were  indeed  a  spirit,  to  end  their 
doubts — make  a  sign  of  its  presence,  and  point  out  the  guilty  person. 
There  being  still  no  answer  for  the  space  of  half  an  hour,  during  which 
time  all  these  boobies  waited  with  the  most  praiseworthy  perseverance,  they 
returned  to  the  house  of  Mr.  Aldritch,  and  ordered  the  girl  to  get  up  and 
dress  herself.  She  was  sti'ictly  examined,  but  persisted  in  her  statement 
that  she  used  no  deception,  and  that  the  ghost  had  really  appeared  to  her. 

So  many  persons  had,  by  their  openly  expressed  belief  of  the  reality  of 
the  visitation,  identified  themselves  with  it,  that  Parsons  and  his  family 
were  far  from  being  the  only  persons  interested  in  the  continuance  of  the 
delusion.  The  result  of  the  experiment  convinced  most  people  ;  but  these 
were  not  to  be  convinced  by  any  evidence,  however  positive,  and  they 
therefore  spread  about  the  rumour,  that  the  ghost  had  not  appeared  in  tlie 
vault,  because  Mr.  Kent  had  taken  care  beforehand  to  have  the  coffin 
removed.  That  gentleman,  whose  position  was  a  very  painful  one,  imme- 
diately procured  competent  witnesses,  in  whose  presence  the  vault  was 
entered,  and  tlie  coffin  of  poor  Fanny  opened.  Their  deposition  was  then 
published  ;  and  j\[r.  Kent  indicted  Parsons  and  his  wife,  his  daughter, 
Mary  Frazer  the  servant,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Moor,  and  a  tradesman,  two  of 
the  most  prominent  patrons  of  the  deception,  for  a  conspiracy.  The  trial 
came  on  in  the  Court  of  King's  Bench,  on  the  10th  of  July,  before  Lord 
Chief-Justice  Mansfield,  when,  after  an  investigation  which  lasted  twelve 
hours,  the  whole  of  the  conspirators  were  found  guilty.  The  Rev.  i\Ir. 
Moor  and  his  friend  were  severely  reprimanded  in  open  court,  and  recom- 
mended to  make  some  pecuniary  compensation  to  the  prosecutor  for  the 
aspersions  they  had  been  instrumental  in  throwing  upon  his  character. 
Parsons  was  sentenced  to  stand  three  times  in  the  pillory,  and  to  be  impri- 
soned for  two  years :  his  wife  to  one  year's,  and  his  servant  to  six  months' 
imprisonment  in  the  Bridewell.  A  printer,  who  had  been  employed  by 
tliem  to  publish  an  account  of  the  proceedings  for  their  profit,  was  also 
fined  fifty  pounds,  and  discharged. 

The  precise  manner  in  which  the  deception  was  carried  on  has  never  been 
explained.  The  knocking  in  the  wall  appears  to  have  been  the  work  of 
Parsons'  wife,  while  the  scratching  part  of  the  business  was  left  to  the 
little  girl.  That  any  contrivance  so  clumsy  could  have  deceived  anybody, 
cannot  fail  to  excite  our  wonder.  But  thus  it  always  is.  If  two  or  three 
persons  can  only  be  found  to  take  the  lead  in  any  absurdity,  however 
great,  there  is  sure  to  be  plenty  of  imitators.  Like  sheep  in  a  field,  if  one 
clears  the  stile,  the  rest  will  follow. 

About  ten  years  afterwards,  London  was  again  alarmed  by  the  story  of 
a  haunted  house.  Stock  well,  near  Vauxhall,  the  scene  of  the  antics  of 
this  new  ghost,  became  almost  as  celebrated  in  the  annals  of  superstition 
as  Cock   Lane.    Mrs.  Golding,  an  elderly  lady,  who  resided   alone  with 


THE    NEW    r-EWGATE    CALENDAR.  405 

Iier  servant,  Anne  Robinson,  was  sorely  surprised  on  the  evening  of 
Iwelftli-day,  1772,  to  observe  a  most  extraordinary  commotion  among  her 
crockery.  Cups  and  saucers  rattled  down  tlie  chimney — pots  and  pans 
were  whirled  down  stairs,  or  through  the  windows  ;  and  hams,  cheeses, 
and  loaves  of  bread  disported  themselves  upon  tlie  floor  as  if  the  devil 
were  in  them.  This,  at  least,  was  the  conclusion  tliat  Mrs.  Golding  came 
to  ;  and  beino;  greatly  alarmed,  she  invited  some  of  her  neiglibours  to  stay 
witli  her,  and  protect  her  from  the  evil  one.  Their  presence,  however, 
did  not  put  a  stop  to  the  insurrection  of  china,  and  every  room  in  the 
house  was  in  a  short  time  strewed  with  the  fragments.  The  chairs  and 
tables  joined,  at  last,  in  the  tumult,  and  things  looked  altogether  so  serious 
and  inexplicable,  that  the  neighbours,  dreading  that  the  house  itself  would 
next  be  seized  with  a  fit  of  motion,  and  tumble  about  their  ears,  left 
poor  Mrs.  Golding  to  bear  the  brunt  of  it  by  herself.  The  ghost  in  this 
case  was  sohmnly  remonstrated  with,  and  urged  to  take  its  departure ; 
but  the  demolition  continuing  as  great  as  before,  Mrs.  Golding  finally 
made  up  her  mind  to  quit  the  house  altogether.  She  took  refuge 
with  Anne  Robinson  in  the  house  of  a  neighbour ;  but  his  glass  and 
crockery  being  immediately  subjected  to  the  same  persecution,  he  was 
reluctantly  compelled  to  give  her  notice  to  quit.  The  old  lady,  thus  forced 
back  to  her  own  house,  endured  the  disturbance  for  some  days  longer, 
when  suspecting  that  Anne  Robinson  was  the  cause  of  all  the  mischief, 
she  dismissed  her  from  her  service.  The  extraordinary  appearances  inmie- 
di.itely  ceased,  and  were  never  afterwards  renewed  ;  a  fact  which  is  of  itself 
sutticient  to  point  out  the  real  disturber.  A  long  time  afterwards,  Anne 
Robinson  confessed  the  whole  matter  to  the  Rev.  Mr.  Brayfield.  This 
gentleman  confided  the  story  to  Mr.  Hone,  who  has  published  an  expla- 
nation of  the  mystery.  Anne,  it  appears,  was  anxious  to  have  a  clear 
house,  to  carry  on  an  intrigue  with  her  lover,  and  resorted  to  this  trick  to 
effect  her  purpose.  She  placed  the  china  on  the  shelves  in  such  a  manner 
that  it  fell  on  the  slightest  motion,  and  attached  horse -hairs  to  other 
articles,  so  that  she  could  jerk  them  down  from  an  adjoining  room  without 
being  perceived  by  any  one.  She  was  exceedingly  dexterous  at  this  sort 
of  work,  and  would  have  proved  a  formidable  rival  to  many  a  juggler  by 
profession. 

In  later  days,  the  alarming  vagaries  of  "  Swing,"  and  "  Spring-heeled 
Jack,"  have  occasioned  scarcely  less  alarm.  Their  claims  to  supernatural 
powers  have  not  been  supported  by  such  plausible  evidence  as  those  of  any 
of  the  ghosts  which  we  have  yet  named,  but  their  proceedings  have  been  no 
less  troublesome  and  mischievous  to  the  well-disposed  of  the  subjects 
of  this  realm. 

One  or  two  anecdotes  with  regard  to  haunted  houses,  though  rather 
beside  the  immediate  object  of  this  work,  may  yet  prove  interesting,  as 
illustrative  of  the  general  subject  of  ghosts,  and  the  degree  of  belief  to  be 
put  in  such  supernatural  visitors. 

One  of  the  best  stories  which  we  recollect  to  h.-vve  heard  of  a  haunted 
house,  is  that  which  is  related  of  the  Royal  Palace  at  Woodstock,  in  the 
year  1649,  when  the  commissioners  sent  from  London  by  the  Long  Parlia- 
ment to  take  possession  of  it,  and  effiice  all  the  emblems  of  royalty  about 
it,  were  fairly  driven  out  by  their  fear  of  the  devil,  and  the  annoyances  they 
suffered  from  a  roguish  cavalier,  who  played  the  imp  to  admiration.     The 


405  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

commissioners,  dreading  at  tliat  time  no  devil,  arrived  at  Woodstock  on 
the  13th  of  October  1649.  They  took  up  tlieir  lodgings  in  the  late  King's 
apartments — turned  the  beautiful  bed-rooms  and  withdrawing-rooms  into 
kitchens  and  sculleries — the  council-hall  into  a  brewhouse.  and  made  the 
dining-room  a  place  to  keep  firewood  in.  They  pulled  down  all  the  insig- 
nia of  royal  state,  and  treated  with  the  utmost  indignity  everything  that 
recalled  to  their  memory  the  name  or  the  majesty  of  Charles  Stuart. 
One  Giles  Sharp  accompanied  them  in  the  capacity  of  clerk,  and  seconded 
their  efforts  apparently  with  the  greatest  zeal.  He  aided  them  to  uproot  a 
noble  old  tree,  merely  because  it  was  called  the  King's  Oak,  and  tossed  the 
fraorments  into  the  diningr-room  to  make  cheerful  fires  for  the  commis- 
sioners.  During  the  first  two  days  they  heard  some  strange  noises  about 
the  house,  but  they  paid  no  great  attention  to  them.  On  the  third,  how- 
ever, they  began  to  suspect  they  had  got  into  bad  company ;  for  they 
neard,  as  they  thought,  a  supernatural  dog  under  their  bed,  which  gnawed 
their  bedclothes.  On  the  next  day  the  chairs  and  tables  began  to  dance, 
apparently  of  their  own  accord.  On  the  fifth  day,  something  came  into 
the  bedchamber  and  walked  up  and  down,  and  fetching  the  warming- 
pan  out  of  the  withdrawing-room,  made  so  much  noise  with  it  that  they 
tliought  five  church-bells  were  ringing  in  their  ears.  On  the  sixth  day, 
the  plates  and  dishes  were  thrown  up  and  down  the  dining-room.  On 
the  seventh,  they  penetrated  into  the  bed-room  in  company  with  several 
logs  of  wood,  and  usurped  the  soft  pillows  intended  for  the  commissioners. 
On  the  eighth  and  ninth  nights,  there  was  a  cessation  of  hostilities  ;  but 
on  the  tenth  the  bricks  in  the  chimneys  became  locomotive,  and  rattled  and 
danced  about  the  floors,  and  round  the  heads  of  the  commissioners  all  the 
niffht  long.  On  the  eleventh,  the  demon  ran  away  with  their  breeches  ; 
and  on  the  twelfth  filled  their  beds  so  full  of  pewter -platters  that  they  could 
not  get  into  them.  On  the  thirteenth  night,  the  glass  became  unaccount- 
ably seized  with  a  fit  of  cracking,  and  fell  into  shivers  in  all  parts  of  the 
house.  On  the  fourteenth,  there  was  a  noise  as  if  forty  pieces  of  artillery 
had  been  fired  off,  and  a  shower  of  pebble-  stones,  which  so  alarmed  the 
commissioners,  that,  "  struck  with  great  horror,  they  cried  out  to  one 
another  for  help." 

They  first  of  all  tried  the  efficacy  of  prayers  to  drive  away  the  evil 
spirits  ;  but  these  proving  unavailing,  they  began  seriously  to  reflect 
whether  it  would  not  be  much  better  to  leave  the  place  altogether  to  the 
devil  that  inhabited  it.  They  ultimately  resolved,  however,  to  try  it  a 
little  longer ;  and  having  craved  forgiveness  of  all  their  sins,  betook  them- 
selves to  bed.  That  night  they  slept  in  tolerable  comfort,  but  it  was- 
merely  a  trick  of  their  tormentor  to  lull  them  into  false  security.  When, 
on  the  succeeding  night,  they  heard  no  noises,  they  began  to  flatter  them- 
selves that  the  devil  was  driven  out,  and  prepared  accordingly  to  take  up 
their  quarters  for  the  whole  winter  in  the  palace.  These  symptoms  on 
their  part  became  the  signal  for  renewed  uproar  among  the  fiends.  On  the 
1st  of  November,  they  heard  something  walking  with  a  slow  and  solemn 
pace  up  and  down  the  withdrawing-room,  and  immediately  afterwards  a 
shower  of  stones,  bricks,  mortar,  and  broken  glass  pelted  about  their  ears. 
On  the  2nd  the  steps  were  again  heard  in  the  withdrawing-room,  sounding 
to  their  fancy  very  much  like  the  treading  of  an  enormous  bear,  which 
sontinued  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour.     This  noise  having  ceased,  a 


..^-.j^Qrti^^-^:^ 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  407 

large  wai'ming- pan  was  thrown  violently  upon  the  table,  followed  by  a 
number  of  stones,  and  the  jawbone  of  a  horse.  Some  of  the  boldest  walked 
valiantly  into  the  withdrawiiig-room,  armed  with  swords  and  pistols,  but 
could  discover  nothing.  They  were  afraid  that  night  to  go  to  sleep,  and 
sat  up,  making  fires  in  every  room,  and  burning  candles  and  lamps  in  great 
abundance  ;  thinking  that,  as  the  fiends  loved  darkness,  they  would  not 
disturb  a  company  surrounded  with  so  much  light.  They  were  deceived, 
however :  buckets  of  water  came  down  the  chimneys  and  extinguished  the 
tires,  and  the  candles  were  blown  out,  they  knew  not  how.  Some  of  the 
servants  who  had  betaken  themselves  to  bed  were  drenched  with  putrid 
ditch-water  as  they  lay  ;  and  arose  in  great  fright,  muttering  incoherent 
prayers,  and  exposing  to  the  wondering  eyes  of  the  commissioners  tlieir 
linen  all  dripping  with  green  moisture,  and  their  knuckles  red  with  the 
blows  they  had  at  the  same  time  received  from  some  invisible  tormentors. 
While  they  were  still  speaking,  there  was  a  noise  like  the  loudej-t  thunder, 
or  the  firing  of  a  whole  ])ark  of  artillery  ;  upon  which  they  all  fell  down 
upon  their  knees  and  implored  the  protection  of  the  Almighty.  One  of 
the  commissioners  then  arose,  the  others  still  kneeling,  and  asked  in  a 
courageous  voice,  and  in  the  name  of  God,  who  was  there,  and  what  they 
had  done  that  they  should  be  troubled  in  that  manner.  No  answer  was 
returned,  and  the  noises  ceased  for  a  while.  At  length,  however,  as  the 
commissioners  said,  "  the  devil  came  again,  and  brought  with  it  seven 
devils  worse  than  itself."  Being  again  in  darkness,  they  lighted  a  candle 
and  placed  it  in  the  doorway  that  it  might  throw  a  light  upon  the  two 
chambers  at  once  ;  but  it  was  suddenly  blown  out,  and  one  commissioner 
said  that  he  had  "  seen  the  similitude  of  a  horse's  hoof  striking  the  candle 
and  candlestick  into  the  middle  of  the  chamber,  and  afterwards  making 
three  escapes  on  the  snuff  to  put  it  out."  Upon  this,  the  same  person  was 
so  bold  as  to  draw  his  sword  ;  but  he  asserted  positively  that  he  had 
hardly  withdrawn  it  from  the  scabbard  before  an  invisible  hand  seized 
hold  of  it  and  tugged  with  him  for  it,  and  prevailing,  struck  him  so  violent 
a  blow  with  the  pommel  that  he  was  quite  stunned.  Then  the  noises 
began  again  ;  upon  which,  with  one  accord,  they  all  retired  into  the 
presence-chamber,  where  they  passed  the  night,  praying  and  singing 
psalms. 

They  were  by  this  time  convinced  that  it  was  useless  to  struggle  any 
longer  with  the  powers  of  evil,  that  seemed  determined  to  make  Wood- 
stock their  own.  These  things  happened  on  the  Saturday  night ;  and, 
being  repeated  on  the  Sunday,  they  determined  to  leave  the  place  imme- 
diately, and  return  to  London.  By  Tuesday  morning  early,  all  their  pre- 
parations were  completed  ;  and  shaking  the  dust  off  their  feet,  and  devoting 
Woodstock  and  all  its  inhabitants  to  the  infernal  gods,  they  finally  took 
their  departure.* 

Many  years  elapsed  before  the  true  cause  of  these  disturbances  was  dis- 
covered. It  was  ascertained,  at  the  Restoration,  that  the  whole  was  the 
work  of  Giles  Sharp,  the  trusty  clerk  of  the  commissioners.  This  man, 
whose  real  name  was  Joseph  Collins,  was  a  concealed  royalist,  and  had 
passed  his  early  life  within  the  bowers  of  Woodstock  ;  so  that  he  knew 
every  hole  and  corner  of  the  place,  and  the  numerous  trap-doors  and  secret 


*  Dr.  H.  Move's  Continuation  of  Glanvil's  Collection  of  Relations  in  proof  of  Witcherat'U 


408  TnE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

passages  that  abounded  in  the  building.  The  commissioners,  never  sus- 
pecting the  true  state  of  his  opinions,  but  believing  him  to  be  revolutionary 
to  the  back -bone,  placed  the  utmost  reliance  upon  him;  a  confidence  which 
he  abused  in  the  manner  above  detailed,  to  his  own  great  amusement,  and 
that  of  the  few  cavaliers  whom  he  let  into  the  secret. 

Quite  as  extraordinary  and  as  cleverly  managed  was  the  trick  played  off 
at  Ted  worth,  in  l6(il,  at  the  house  of  Mr.  Mompesson,  and  which  is  so 
circumstantially  narrated  by  the  Rev.  Joseph  Glanvil,  under  the  title  of 
"TheDemon  of  Tedworth,"  and  appended,  among  other  proofs  of  witchcraft, 
to  his  noted  work,  called  "  Sadducismus  Triumphatus."  About  the  middle 
of  April,  in  the  year  above  mentioned,  ]\Ir.  Mompesson,  having  returned 
to  his  house  at  Tedworth,  from  a  journey  he  had  taken  to  London,  was 
informed  by  his  wife  that  during  his  absence  they  had  been  trouliled  with 
the  most  extraordinary  noises.  Three  nights  afterwards  he  heard  the  noise 
himself;  and  it  appeared  to  him  to  be  that  of  "  a  great  knocking  at  his 
doors,  and  on  the  outside  of  his  walls."  He  immediately  arose,  dressed 
himself,  took  down  a  pair  of  pistols,  and  walked  valiantly  forth  to  disco- 
ver the  disturber,  under  the  impression  that  it  must  be  a  robber ;  but,  as 
he  went,  the  noise  seemed  to  travel  before  or  behind  him ;  and,  when  he 
arrived  at  the  door  from  which  he  thought  it  proceeded,  he  saw  nothing, 
but  still  heard  "  a  strange  hollow  sound."  He  puzzled  his  brains  for  a 
lonof  time,  and  searched  every  comer  of  the  house  ;  but,  discovering  nothing, 
he  went  to  bed  again.  He  was  no  sooner  snug  under  the  clothes,  than  the 
noise  began  again  more  furiously  than  ever,  sounding  very  much  like  a 
"  thumping  and  drumming  on  the  top  of  his  house,  and  then  by  degrees 
going  off  into  the  air." 

These  things  continued  for  several  nights,  when  it  came  to  the  recollec- 
tion of  Mr.  Mompesson  that,  some  time  before,  he  had  given  orders  for 
the  arrest  and  imprisonment  of  a  wandering  drummer,  who  went  about  the 
country  with  a  large  drum,  disturbing  quiet  people  and  soliciting  alms, 
and  that  he  had  detained  the  man's  drum,  and  that,  probably,  the  drum- 
mer was  a  wizard,  and  had  sent  evil  spirits  to  haunt  his  house,  to  be  re- 
venged of  him.  He  became  strengthened  in  his  opinion  every  day,  espe- 
cially when  the  noises  assumed,  to  his  fancy,  a  resemblance  to  the  beating 
of  a  drum,  "  like  that  at  the  breaking  up  of  a  guard."  ]Mrs.  ^lompesson 
beincr  brought  to  bed,  the  devil,  or  the  drummer,  very  kindly  and  consi- 
derately refrained  from  making  the  usual  riot  ;  but,  as  soon  as  slie  reco- 
vered strenrrth,  began  again,  "  in  a  ruder  manner  than  before,  following 
and  vexinci-  the  young  children,  and  beating  their  bedsteads  with  so  much 
violence  that  every  one  expect  d  they  would  fall  in  pieces  "  For  an  hour 
together,  as  the  worthy  Mr.  ]\Iompesson  repeatt  d  to  his  wondering  neigh- 
bours, this  infernal  drummer  '•  would  beat  '  Roundheads  and  Cuckolds,' 
the  ••  Tat-too,'  and  several  other  points  of  war,  as  cleverly  as  any  soldier." 
Wlien  this  had  lasted  long  enough,  he  changed  his  tactics,  and  scratched 
with  his  iron  talons  under  tlie  ciiildren's  bed.  "  On  the  5ih  of  November," 
says  the  Rev.  Joseph  Glanvil,  '•  it  made  a  mighty  noise  ;  and  a  servant, 
observino-  two  boards  in  the  children's  room  seeming  to  move,  he  bid  it 
c'ive  him  one  of  them.  Upon  which  the  board  came  (nothing  moving  it, 
tliat  he  saw)  within  a  yard  of  him.  The  man  added,  '  Nay,  let  me  have 
it  in  mv  hand ;'  upon  which  the  spirit,  devil,  or  drummer,  pushed  it 
towards  him  so  close,  that  he  might  touch  it.     This,"  continues  Glanvil, 


THE  NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  409 

*'  was  in  the  day-time,  and  was  seen  by  a  whole  room-full  of  people.  That 
morninc  it  left  a  sulphurous  smell  behind  it,  which  was  very  offensive.  At 
nii'ht  tile  minister,  one  Mr.  Cragg,  and  several  of  the  neighbours,  came  to 
the  house  on  a  visit.  Mr.  Cragg  went  to  prayers  with  tliem,  kneeling  at 
the  cliiklren's  bedside,  where  it  then  became  very  troublesome  and  loud. 
Durino-  prayer-time,  the  spirit  withdrew  into  the  cock-loft,  but  returned 
as  soon  as  prayers  were  done  ;  and  then,  in  sight  of  the  company,  the  chairs 
walked  al)out  the  room  of  themselves,  the  children's  shoes  were  hurled  over 
their  heads,  and  every  loose  thing  moved  about  the  chamber.  At  the 
same  time,  a  bed-staff  was  thrown  at  the  minister,  which  hit  him  on  the 
leg,  but  so  favourably,  that  a  lock  of  wool  could  not  have  fallen  more 
softly."  On  anotlier  occasion,  the  blacksmith  of  the  village,  a  fellow  who 
cared  neither  for  ghost  nor  devil,  slept  with  John  the  footman,  that  he  also 
might  hear  the  disturbance,  and  be  cured  of  his  incredulity,  wlun  there 
"•  came  a  noise  in  the  room,  as  if  one  had  been  shoeing  a  horse,  and  some- 
what came,  as  it  were,  with  a  pair  of  pinchers,"  snipping  and  snapping  at 
the  poor  blacksmith's  nose  the  greater  part  of  the  night.  Next  day  it 
came,  panting  like  a  dog  out  of  breath  ;  upon  which  some  woman  present 
took  a  bed-staff'  to  knock  at  it,  "  which  was  cauglit  suddenly  out  of  her 
hand,  and  thrown  away;  and  company  coming  up,  the  room  was  presently 
tilled  with  a  hloomy  noisome  smelly  and  was  very  hot,  though  witliout  fire, 
in  a  very  sharp  and  severe  winter.  It  continued  in  the  bed,  panting  and 
scratchino-  for  an  hour  and  a  half,  and  then  went  into  the  next  room,  where 
it  knocked  a  little,  and  seemed  to  rattle  a  chain." 

The  rumour  of  these  wonderful  occurrences  soon  spread  all  over  the 
country,  and  people  from  far  and  near  flocked  to  the  haunted  house  of 
Tedworth,  to  believe  or  doubt,  as  their  natures  led  them,  but  all  filled 
with  intense  curiosity.  It  appears,  too,  that  the  fame  of  these  events 
reached  the  royal  ear,  and  that  some  gentlemen  were  sent  by  the  King  to 
investigate  the  circumstances,  and  draw  up  a  report  rf  what  they  saw  or 
heard.  Whether  the  royal  commissioners  were  more  sensible  men  than 
the  neighbours  of  Mr.  Mompesson,  and  required  more  clear  and  positive 
evidence  than  they,  or  whether  the  powers  with  which  they  were  armed 
to  punish  anybody  who  might  be  found  carrying  on  this  deception  fright- 
ened the  evil-doers,  is  not  certain;  but  Glanvil  himself  confesses,  that  all 
the  time  they  were  in  the  house  the  noises  ceased,  and  nothing  was  heard 
or  seen.  "  However,"  says  he,  "  as  to  the  quiet  of  the  house  when  the 
courtiers  were  there,  the  intermission  may  have  been  accidental,  or  perhaps 
tile  demon  was  not  willing  to  give  so  public  a  testimony  of  those  transac- 
tions which  might  possibly  convince  those  who  he  had  rather  should  con- 
tinue in  unbelief  of  his  existence." 

As  soon  as  the  royal  commissioners  took  their  departure,  the  infernal 
drummer  recommenced  his  antics,  and  hundreds  of  persons  were  daily 
present  to  hear  and  wonder.  ]\Ir.  Mompesson's  servant  was  so  fortunate 
as  not  only  to  hear,  but  to  see  this  pertinacious  demon  ;  for  it  came  and 
stood  iit  the  foot  of  his  bed.  The  exact  shape  and  proportion  of  it  he  could 
not  discover ;  but  "  he  saw  a  great  body,  with  two  red  anfi  glaring  eyes, 
which,  fur  some  time,  were  fixed  steadily  on  him,  and  at  length  disap- 
peareti  "  Innumerable  were  the  antics  it  played.  Once  it  purred  like  a 
f  ac  ;  beat  the  children's  legs  black  and  blue ;  put  a  iono^  s])ike  into  Mr. 
Mompesson's  bed,  and  a  knife  into  his  mother's  ;  filled  the  porringers  with 

VOL.  I.  3  G 


4]0  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

ashes  ;  hid  a  Bible  under  the  grate ;  and  turned  the  money  black  in  pee- 
pie's  pockets.  '■  One  night,"  says  Mr.  Mompesson,  "  there  were  seven  or 
eight  of  tliese  devils  in  the  shape  of  men,  who,  as  soon  as  a  gun  was  fired, 
would  shuffle  away  into  an  arbour  ;"  a  circumstance  which  might  have 
convinced  j\lr.  Mompesson  of  the  mortal  nature  of  liis  persecutors,  if  he  had 
not  been  of  the  number  of  those  worse  than  blind,  who  shut  their  eyes,  and 
refuse  to  see. 

In  the  mean  time,  the  drummer,  the  supposed  cause  of  all  the  mischief, 
passed  his  time  in  Gloucester  gaol,  whither  he  had  been  committed  as  a 
rogue  and  a  vagabond.  Being  visited  one  day  by  some  person  from  the 
neighboui-hood  of  Ted  worth,  he  asked  what  was  the  news  in  "Wiltshire,  and 
whether  people  did  not  talk  a  great  deal  about  a  drumming  in  a  gentle- 
man's house  there  ?  The  visiter  replied,  tliat  he  heard  of  nothing  else  ; 
upon  which  the  drummer  observed,  '•  I  have  done  it ;  I  have  tlius  plagued 
him  !  and  he  shall  never  be  quiet  until  he  hath  made  me  satisfaction  for 
takino-  away  my  drum."  No  doubt  the  fellow,  who  seems  to  have  been  a 
gipsy,  spoke  the  truth,  and  that  the  gang  of  which  he  was  a  member  knew 
more  about  the  noises  at  Mr.  Mompesson's  house  than  anybody  else.  Upon 
these  words,  however,  he  was  brought  to  trial  at  Salisbury  for  witchcraft ; 
and,  beino"  found  guilty,  was  sentenced  to  transportation  ;  a  sentence  wliich, 
for  its  leniency,  excited  no  little  wonder  in  that  age,  when  such  an  accusa- 
tion, whether  proved  or  not,  generally  insured  the  stake  or  the  gibbet. 
Glanvil  says,  that  the  noises  ceased  immediately  the  drummer  was  sent 
beyond  the  seas  :  but  that,  somehow  or  other,  he  managed  to  return  from 
transportation, — "  by  raising  storms  and  affrighting  the  seamen,  it  was 
said  ;"  when  the  disturbances  were  forthwith  renewed,  and  continued  at 
intervals  for  several  years.  It  was  believed  by  many  at  the  time,  tliat  Mr. 
Mompesson  himself  was  privy  to  the  whole  matter,  and  permitted  and 
encouraged  these  tricks  in  his  house  for  the  sake  of  notoriety ;  but  it  seems 
more  probable  that  the  gipsies  were  the  real  delinquents,  and  that  Mr. 
Mompesson  was  as  much  alarmed  and  bewildered  as  his  credulous  neigli- 
bours,  whose  excited  imaginations  conjured  up  no  small  portion  of  these 
stories, — 

"  Whifh  roll'd,  and,  as  tliey  roll'd,  grew  larger  every  hour." 

Many  instances  of  a  similar  kind,  during  the  seventeenth  century,  might 
be  gleaned  from  Glanvil  and  other  writers  of  that  period  ;  but  they  do  not 
differ  sufficiently  from  these  to  justify  a  detail  of  them. 


ROBERT  ASLETT, 

CONDEMNED    TO    DEATH    FOR    EMBEZZLING    PUBLIC    PROPERTY. 

Mr.  Aslett  had  been  in  the  employ  of  the  Governor  and  Company  of 
the  Bank  of  England  for  about  twenty-five  years,  and  had  conducted  him- 
self faithfully  and  meritoriously  until  he  was  induced,  unfortunately,  to 
speculate  in  the  funds  ;  when,  in  dereliction  of  that  duty  and  fidelity  which 
he  owed  to  his  employers,  he  subtracted  immense  sums  from  the  property 
entrusted  to  his  care. 

In  the  year  1799,  having  gone  through  the  necessary  and  regular  grada- 
tions, he  was  appointed  one  of  the  cashiers.    It  was  a  part  of  the  business 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  411 

of  the  Bank  to  purchase  exchequer  bills,  to  supply  the  exigencies  of  go- 
vernment ;  and  the  purchases  were  entrusted  to  the  care  of  3[r.  A.  New- 
land  ;  but  on  account  of  that  gentleman's  growing  infirmities,  he  having 
been  fifty-eight  years  in  the  service  of  the  Bank,  the  management  was  left 
wholly  under  the  care  and  direction  of  Mr.  Aslett.  The  purchases  were 
made  of  jMr.  Goldsmid,  by  the  means  of  jVIr.  Templeman,  a  broker.  It 
was  usual  to  make  out  a  bill  in  the  name  of  the  person  from  whom  they 
were  made,  which  was  delivered  to  Mr.  Aslett,  to  examine  and  enter  in 
what  is  called  the  Bought-book,  and  he  gave  orders  to  the  cashiers  to 
reimburse  the  broker.  The  bills  were  afterwards  deposited  in  a  strong 
chest,  kept  in  JMr.  Newland's  room  ;  and  when  they  had  increased  in  bulk 
by  subsequent  purchases,  they  were  selected  by  Mr.  Aslett,  who  tied  them 
up  in  large  bundles,  and  carried  them  to  the  parlour,  that  is  to  say,  the 
room  in  which  the  Directors  held  their  meetings,  accompanied  by  one  of 
the  clerks,  with  the  original  book  of  entry,  when  the  Directors  in  waiting 
received  the  envelope,  and  deposited  it  in  the  strong  iron  chest,  which  had 
three  keys,  and  to  which  none  but  the  Directors  had  access ;  and  from 
which  it  could  not  be  brought  forth  until  the  time  of  payment,  unless  by 
consent  of  at  least  two  of  the  Directors.  Therefore  it  was  not  possible 
for  them  to  find  their  way  into  the  hands  of  the  public  or  the  monied 
market,  unless  embezzled  for  that  purpose.  On  the  26th  of  February, 
1803,  Mr.  Aslett,  according  to  the  practice,  made  up  three  envelopes  of 
exchequer  bills,  of  1000^.  each  bill ;  the  first  containing  bills  to  the  amount 
of  100,000^.,  the  second  L>00,000^.,  and  the  third  400,'OUOZ.;  making  in  the 
whole  700,000^.  These  were,  or  in  fact  ought  to  have  been,  carried  into 
the  parlour,  and  were  signed  as  being  received  by  two  of  the  Dii-ectors, 
IMessrs.  Paget  and  Smith  ;  but  one  of  the  bundles,  namely,  tliat  contain- 
ing the  200,000/.  worth  of  bills,  was  withdrawn. 

The  confidence  which  the  Governor  and  Company  had  placed  in  Mr. 
Aslett  had  enabled  him  to  conceal  the  transaction  from  the  26th  of  Febru- 
ary to  the  9th  of  April ;  but  on  that  day,  in  consequence  of  an  applica- 
tion made  by  Mr.  Bish,  the  whole  was  discovered.  On  the  1 6th  of  March, 
Mr,  Aslett  went  to  that  gentleman,  and  requested  he  would  purchase 
for  him  50,000/.  Consols,  to  which  request  no  objection  was  made, 
provided  he  deposited  the  requisite  securities.  The  fluctuation  of  the 
market  at  that  time  was  six  per  cent.,  and  Aslett,  in  order  to  cover  any 
deficit,  deposited  with  Mr.  Bish  three  exchequer  bills,  Nos.  34],  1060, 
and  2694,  which  he  knew  had  been  previously  deposited  in  the  Bank. 
From  some  circumstances,  and  from  his  general  knowledge  of  the  whole  of 
the  business  of  the  funds,  jNIr.  Bish  suspected  all  was  not  right,  and  he 
accordingly  went  to  the  Bank,  where  an  investigation  took  place,  at 
which  Mr.  B.  Watson,  one  of  the  Directors,  was  present.  ]\Ir.  Newland 
was  sent  for,  and  asked  whether  any  of  the  exchequer  bills  could,  by 
possibility,  get  into  the  market  again  from  the  Bank  ?  To  which  he  an- 
swered in  the  negative,  observing  that  they  were  a  dormant  security.  The 
same  question  was  put  to  Mr.  Aslett,  and  the  same  answer  given  by  him. 
It  was  found  necessary  to  tell  him  that  the  bills  in  question,  which  could 
be  proved  to  have  been  in  the  Bank,  had  found  their  way  into  the  money- 
market  ;  and  at  the  same  time  it  was  observed,  that  he  had  made  pur- 
chases, to  a  large  amount,  of  stock,  with  the  bills :  this  was  acknowledged 
by  him  ;  but  he  said  he  had  done  so  for  a  friend,  named  Hosier,  residing 


412  THR    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

at  the  west  end  of  the  town ;  and  he  declared  that  they  were  not  Bank 
property,  nor  to  be  found  in  the  Bought-book.  The  Directors,  however, 
were  not  satisfied  on  this  point,  and  he  was  immediately  secured.  His 
trial  was  postponed  to  July,  as  it  occurred  to  those  employed  in  the  prose- 
cution that  the  bills  in  question  had  been  issued  with  an  informality  in 
them,  not  having  the  signature  of  the  Auditor  of  the  Exchequer.  They 
were  aware  of  the  objections  that  might  be  taken,  and  Parliament  not  then 
being  sitting,  it  was  thought  advisable  to  postpone  the  trial,  lest  it  might 
create  an  alarm  in  the  money-market.  The  fact  was  no  sooner  known, 
than  a  bill  was  brought  into  Parliament  for  remedying  those  defects,  and 
to  render  the  bills  valid. 

On  Friday,  July  8,  1804,  Mr.  Aslett's  trial  commenced.  Mr.  Garrow, 
on  the  part  of  the  prosecution,  stated  the  facts  above  mentioned  ;  but  when 
about  to  call  witnesses  to  give  evidence,  Mr.  Erskine  insisted  that  the 
exchequer  bills,  which  the  prisoner  stood  charged  with  having  stolen, 
were  not  good  bills  till  the  act  of  parliament  had  made  them  so,  and  con- 
sequently that  they  were  pieces  of  waste  paper  when  stolen.  The  Chief 
Baron  INIacdonald,  Mr.  Justice  Rooke,  and  Mr.  Justice  LawTence  con- 
curred, that  the  present  indictment  could  not  be  maintained  ;  and  the  jury 
were  accordingly  desired  to  acquit  the  prisoner. 

He  was  afterwards,  however,  tried  on  nine  other  indictments,  the  evi- 
dence being  the  same,  Mr.  Garrow  having  applied  to  the  Court  to  detain 
him  in  custody,  it  being,  he  said,  the  intention  of  the  Bank  Directors  to 
issue  a  civil  process  against  him  for  one  hundred  thousand  pounds,  and 
upwards,  the  moneys  paid  for  the  bills  which  he  had  converted  to  his 
own  use. 

Mr.  Kirby  at  first  hesitated  to  receive  the  prisoner,  understanding  he 
v,as  acquitted  ;  but  was  peremptorily  desired  by  the  Court  to  take  him 
hack. 

Mr.  Aslett  was  dressed  in  a  lightish  brown  coat,  his  hair  bemg  full  pow- 
derf'd.  He  appeared  quite  collected,  but  held  doAvn  his  head,  never  once 
lookinw  up,  except  when  the  application  was  made  to  keep  him  in  custody, 
when  he  expressed  symptoms  of  great  surprise,  and  looked  veiy  steadfastly 
at  the  Court. 

On  Saturday,  Septemer  17,  Mr.  Aslett  was  again  brought  to  the  bar  of 
the  Old  Bailey,  before  Baron  Chambre  and  Mr.  Justice  Le  Blanc.  The 
prisoner  was  attended  by  four  or  five  gentlemen,  who  continued  in  the 
Dock  during  the  whole  time  of  the  trial. 

Three  indictments  were  read,  with  two  counts  in  each,  charging  the 
prisoner  with  secreting  and  embezzling  three  notes.  The  first  indictment 
was,  for  that  he,  being  an  officer  or  servant  of  the  Governor  and  Com- 
pany of  the  Bank  of  England,  had  secreted  and  embezzled  a  certain  piece 
of  paper,  partly  written,  and  partly  printed,  being  No.  835,  purporting  to 
be  of  the  value  of  live  hundred  pounds;  the  second,  2694,  for  one  thou- 
sand pounds ;  and  the  third.  No.  6061,  for  one  thousand  pounds.  One 
count  in  each  stated  them  as  securities,  and  the  other  as  effects  belong- 
ing to  the  said  Governor  and  Company.  There  were  other  counts,  di- 
versifying the  statement  of  the  property  in  other  forms,  such  as  were 
deemed  to  come  within  the  law. 

Mr.  Garrow  stated  the  case  at  considerable  length  to  the  jury.  There 
was  one  point,  to  which  he  called  particular  attention,  and  that  was  that 


THK    NEW    NKWGATE    CAIiKNDAR.  413 

the  prisoner  had  been  tried  before,  and  acquitted  of  tlie  offence  of  pur 
loinino-  exchequer  bills  to  an  immense  amount ;  as  it  was  then  proved  to 
the  satisfaction  of  the  learned  judges  on  the  bench,  for  whom  ne  enter- 
tained the  highest  respect,  that  they  were  not  actually  such  as  might  in 
law  be  termed  exchequer  bills,  in  consequence  of  their  not  having  been 
aifned  as  the  act  directs.  The  present  indictments,  however,  stated  them 
as  papers  purporting  to  be  exchequer  bills,  which  they  evidently  were 
on  the  face  of  them,  and  subdivided  the  charge,  by  stating  them  one  time 
as  securities,  and  at  another  time  as  effects  belonging  to  the  Company. 
This  he  had  no  doubt  that  the  jury  would  be  convinced  of  upon  hear- 
ing them  read ;  and  it  was  an  important  duty  which  the  Bank  owed 
to  the  public,  that  they  should  not  suffer  so  great  a  delinquent  to  escape 
the  justice  of  the  country,  in  consequence  of  any  want  of  exertion  on 
their  part. 

jMr.  Erskine,  in  behalf  of  the  prisoner,  delivered  a  most  animated  address 
to  the  jury.  He  stated,  that  the  former  indictments  against  the  gentleman 
at  the  bar  had  been  objected  to  on  grounds  which  were  approved  of 
by  the  learned  judges  who  then  sat  upon  the  bench. — lie  was  now 
brought  up  again  to  be  tried  for  exactly  the  same  offence,  though  dif- 
ferently stated ;  and  he  thought  that  the  present  proceeding  was  liable  to 
the  same  objections  w^hich  were  then  admitted  to  be  valid  by  the  bench  ; 
but  he  should  oppose  it  on  much  stronger  grounds.  He  then  objected  to 
the  legality  of  Mr.  Jenning's  signature,  in  the  place  of  that  of  Lord  Gren- 
ville,  as  Auditor  of  the  Exchequer.  That  the  same  illegality  in  a  criminal 
sense  existed  with  respect  to  all  bills  issued  at  that  time  from  the  Exche- 
quer, was  manifest  from  the  circumstance  of  the  legislature  having 
found  it  necessary  to  pass  an  act  expressly  for  the  purpose  of  making 
them  legal  in  a  civil  view ;  and  that  act  had  a  most  humane  proviso, 
which  declared,  in  plain  terms,  that  the  act  was  to  be  considei'ed  to 
make  the  exchequer  bills  issued  at  that  time  valid  only  in  a  civil  view,  and 
was  not  to  have  any  retrospective  view  to  any  criminal  offence  committed 
before  the  passing  of  that  act.  The  learned  gentleman  stated,  that  as 
securities,  they  were  notliing  in  law,  for  a  person,  at  the  time  of  their 
being  passed,  could  not  recover  at  law.  As  to  the  idea  of  calling  them 
effects,  he  considered  that,  though  the  legislature  had  thought  proper  to 
pass  an  act  for  the  protection  of  that  company  above  all  others,  by  passing 
what  is  generally  termed  the  Bank  Act,  in  consequence  of  the  immense 
magnitude  of  that  concern,  yet  effects  must  obviously  mean  the  same  as 
in  a  case  of  petty  larceny  would  be  considered  as  effects,  that  is  something 
intrinsically  valuable  in  themselves,  without  taking  in  or  mixing  in  the 
mind  the  idea  of  their  professed  or  avowed  value.  If  that  was  not  tlie 
case,  a  clerk  who  took  away  a  loose  half  sheet  of  paper  lying  about  the 
office,  or  a  pen  that  was  worn  to  the  stump,  came  within  the  limits  of  the 
act,  and  would  be  liable  to  a  prosecution  for  felony.  If  he  did  not  know 
the  higldy  respectable  character  which  that  Company  supported,  and  the 
very  great  ability  by  which  they  were  counselled,  he  should  be  induced  to 
say  that  the  prosecution  of  the  gentleman  at  the  bar  a  second  time,  for 
exactly  the  same  offence  of  which  he  had  been  before  acquitted  by  law, 
was  vexatious ;  and  he  should  declare,  not  only  as  a  lawyer,  but  as  a  man, 
that  thev  were  rather  inclined  to  be  severe  towards  the  ]irisoner,  than  that 
they  should  be  thought  in  the  least  to  relax  from  their  duty,  or  from  an 


U4  THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

idea  of  justice  to  the  public.  The  articks  stated  in  the  indictments  must 
either  be  really  and  londjide  exchequer  bills,  or  else  they  were  no  securi- 
ties;  they  were  no  effects  in  law:  they  were  no  more  than  pieces  of  waste 
paper,  for  the  embezzlement  of  which  he  had  never  known  a  prosecution 
to  be  sustiiined  at  law.  The  generosity  of  government,  or  the  justice  of 
the  country,  could  not  at  that  time  pay  a  single  farthing  {or  them ;  the 
strings  of  the  national  purse  were  only  to  be  drawn  by  the  consent  of 
the  legislature,  and  at  that  time  there  was  no  such  consent  obtained ; 
the  articles  in  the  indictment  were  at  that  time  nothing  but  so  many  pieces 
of  waste,  printed,  and  written  paper,  which  had  not  been  called  into 
existence  as  anything  of  valuable  property,  as  any  effects  belonging  to  the 
Bank  which  had  obtained  the  sanction  of  Parliament ;  they  had  not  been 
animated  by  the  breath  of  the  legislature.  The  learned  gentleman  then 
quoted  several  cases  from  the  Reports,  showing  that  chattels  or  effects  must 
be  something  valuable  intrinsically  in  themselves ;  and  said  that  it  was 
his  firm  belief  that  the  learned  judges  at  present  on  the  bench  would 
deliver  an  opinion  similar  in  effect  to  that  which  had  already  been  deli- 
vered by  the  learned  judges  sitting  on  that  bench  at  the  time  of  INIr.  Aslett's 
former  trial :  he  believed  that  they  would  find  themselves  in  the  same 
situation,  and  instruct  the  jury  to  find  a  verdict  for  the  acquittal  of  that 
gentleman  without  hearing  any  evidence  upon  the  case ;  as  in  his  opinion 
it  was  not  such  as  could  be  supported  in  law. 

Mr.  Serjeant  Best  followed  on  the  same  side,  and  the  Court  determined 
to  reserve  the  point  for  consideration.  Evidence  was  then  given  in  proof 
of  the  facts  stated  at  the  beginning  of  this  article,  and  the  jury  returned 
a  verdict  of  Guilty. 

Mr.  Aslett  betrayed  neither  a  symptom  of  fear,  nor  levity,  but  seemed 
to  pay  the  greatest  attention  to  everything  that  passed,  and  conducted 
himself  with  a  becoming  firmness  throughout  the  whole  of  the  trial. 
When  the  verdict  was  pronoimced,  there  was  a  great  buz  in  the  Court : 
Mr.  Aslett  waited  for  about  two  minutes,  then  bowed  to  the  Court,  and 
withdrew,  accompanied  by  his  friends. 

On  February  16,  1804,  Mr.  Aslett  was  brought  to  the  bar  to  receive 
his  sentence,  when  Mr.  Baron  Hothan  addressed  him  as  follows : — 

"•  Robert  Aslett,  you  were  tried  and  convicted  in  this  Court,  in  the 
September  sessions,  1803,  for  embezzling  effects  belonging  to  the  Governor 
and  Company  of  the  Bank  of  England,  you  being  an  ofl&cer  and  servant  of 
that  Bank,  and,  as  such,  entrusted  with  their  property.  It  was  argued  by 
your  counsel,  that  the  bills  were  not  valid  or  legal  bills,  having  been  signed 
by  a  person  not  properly  authorised  by  Lord  Grenville,  though  they  had 
been  issued  as  good,  and  paid  as  such.  On  this  indictment  you  have  been 
lawfully  convicted  by  a  jury  of  your  countrymen  ;  but  judgment  has  been 
suspended  till  the  opinion  of  the  twelve  judges  of  England  was  taken  on 
this  important  case,  in  order  to  ascertain  wliether  these  bills  were  good, 
according  to  the  statute  13  Geo.  II.  Eleven  of  these  judges  were  of 
opinion  that  some  of  the  objections,  so  ably  argued  by  your  counsel,  should 
be  sustained ;  they  liave  since  held  various  conferences,  which  produced 
various  different  opinions  ;  and  it  is  now  my  duty  to  communicate  to  you 
the  result  of  their  investigation.  Several  points  were  urged  in  your  favour, 
upon  all  of  which,  however  except  one,  the  Judges  have  given  their  deci- 
sion against  you.     The  only  material  question  for  consideration  was,  whd" 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  415 

tlier  or  not  these  bills  fall  witliin  the  meaning  of  the  statute  15  Geo.  II., 
and  can  be  denominated  effects  according  to  that  act.  On  this  point, 
indeed,  the  judges  were  not  unanimous,  but  the  majority  arc  of  opinion 
that  they  are  effects  and  securities  within  the  true  meaning  of  the  act. 
The  great  object  of  the  legislature  was  to  add  security  and  administer  pro 
tection  to  tlie  Bank  of  England.  The  immense  national  concerns  with 
which  it  was  and  still  is  entrusted,  called  upon  the  legislature  for  particular 
provisions  in  its  favour.  The  principles  of  legislation  must  now  be 
applied  to  the  object  under  contemplation  ;  and  the  view  we  take  of  any 
code  of  laws  must  be  moi-e  comprehensive  when  it  concerns  so  materially 
such  a  large  incorporated  body,  than  when  it  only  relates  to  private  indi- 
viduals. Considering  this  law  then  in  the  enlarged  and  liberal  view  on 
which  it  was  framed  by  tlie  legislature  (at  the  same  time  that  all  the 
judges  disclaim  any  wish  to  strain  any  part  of  it  where  it  is  so  penal,)  the 
recollection  of  the  enormous  weight  of  exchequer  bills,  in  which  the  public 
were  so  deeply  and  materially  concerned,  cannot  fail  to  occur  to  every 
mind.  That  these  bills  had  become  the  fair  and  valuable  property  of  the 
Bank  was  allowed  on  all  hands ;  but  still  it  was  argued  that  they  were  not 
such  securities  as  fell  within  the  true  meaning  of  the  Act  of  Parliament, 
because  they  were  not  of  any  positive  or  intrinsic  value.  Now,  whatever 
shall  be  deposited  with  the  Bank,  was  expressly  guarded  by  the  words  of 
the  act ;  and  although  the  bills  in  question  be  of  no  descriptive  legal  value, 
yet  they  carry  about  them  such  a  consequence  at  least  as  may  make  their 
preservation  of  the  utmost  importance  to  the  Bank.  In  that  view,  there- 
fore, they  surely  have  their  value.  They  are  at  least  valuable  papers, 
whatever  they  may  be  called,  and  the  holders  of  them  have  them  as  such, 
having  paid  for  them  the  value  which  they  respectively  import.  They  are 
therefore  to  be  included  in  the  true  meaning  of  the  word  securities,  which 
may  be  in  the  end  available  to  any  person  who  may  be  possessed  of  them. 
The  conviction  was  therefore  determined  to  be  good,  and  on  the  follow- 
ing Monday,  20th  February,  1804,  this  unfortunate  man  received  sentence 
of  death.  This  punishment  was,  however,  subsequently  commuted  to 
transportation. 


SAMUEL  WILD  MITCHELL. 

EXECUTED    FOR   MURDER. 

This  wretched  man  was  hanged  for  the  murder  of  his  daughter,  Sarah 
Mitchell,  a  girl  about  twelve  years  of  age.  He  was  a  spinner  livino-  in 
Spitalfields,  and  he  had  brought  the  girl  up  as  an  apprentice  to  his  trade. 
It  would  appear  that  frequent  disputes  took  place  between  him  and  his 
wife,  in  consequence  of  wliich  he  became  subject  to  frequent  violent  bursts 
of  passion.  It  was  on  the  occasion  of  his  having  excited  himself  to  a  de- 
gree of  rage  amounting  to  madness,  that  he  committed  the  crime  for  which 
he  was  hanged.  The  girl  was  sitting  at  her  work,  when  her  father  came 
into  the  room,  and  suddenly  attacking  her,  cut  her  throat  through  the 
windpipe  with  a  razor,  which  he  held  in  his  hand.  He  immediately  after- 
wards ran  from  the  house,  but  was  apprehended  subsequently  on  the  same 
evening,  when  he  made  a  full  confession  of  his  crime.     On  his  trial,  which 


416  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

took  place  at  the  Old  Bailey  on  the  11th  of  January,  1805,  he  presented 
a  miserable  aspect.  Almost  bereft  of  reason  by  the  dreadful  deed  which 
he  had  committed,  he  seemed  for  some  time  unconscious  of  what  was 
passing  around  him.  His  hair  was  grey,  and  his  head  was  covered  with 
an  old  miserable  nightcap. 

Evidence  as  to  the  fact  of  the  murder  was  adduced,  and  the  prisoner's 
confession  was  also  read.  He  said — "  I  had  a  daughter  named  Sally,  and 
my  wife  had  a  daughter  named  Elizabeth,  who  at  one  time  did  live  with 
me,  but  whom  I  afterwards  took  to  my  apartment,  where  I  instructed  her 
in  tlie  art  of  weaving,  and  we  lived  all  together  :  this  said  daughter  of  my 
wife's  caused  some  uneasiness,  as  I  thouglit ;  and  I  thought  my  wife  was 
more  indulgent  of  her  faults,  and  favoured  her  more  than  slie  ought,  which 
Avas  the  reason  of  our  separation  on  the  17th  of  December  last ;  my  wife 
also  took  with  her  Sarah  Mitchell,  whom  I  loved  with  the  most  ardent 
aifection,  which  vexed  me  a  great  deal,  as  I  saw  there  would  be  a  conti- 
nual dispute.  I  could  not  bear  the  little  girl  coming  to  see  me,  as 
coming  on  a  visit.  I  resolved  that  neither  my  wife  nor  me  should  possess 
her.  I  seized  the  moment  of  the  mother  going  away  ;  the  child  was  sit- 
ting by  the  fire  winding  quills.  I  took  the  razor  from  the  drawer ;  my 
affection  made  me  almost  lay  it  down  again,  but  my  resolution  overcame 
that.  I  turned  round,  and  cut  her  throat.  I  was  too  resolute  to  make  a 
faint  attempt ;  the  child  was  dead  in  a  moment ;  she  neither  made  noise 
nor  resistance.  When  I  had  done  the  deed,  tlie  child  fell.  As  I  went  out, 
I  saw  her  blood ;  then  I  ran  down  stairs.  After  this  act  was  done  to  my 
child,  Sarah  Mitchell,  I  went  to  a  man  named  Bell,  where  I  had  lived,  and 
left  word  for  him  to  run  and  secure  my  master's  work  ;  then  I  went  to  Mr. 
Dellafour,  and  my  friends  at  Wapping." 

The  prisoner,  on  his  being  called  on  for  his  defence,  at  once  admitted 
that  he  was  ouijty  of  the  crime  imputed  to  him,  but  declared  that  he  was 
led  on  to  its  commission  by  a  mind  which  had  been  deranged  by  the  fre- 
quent quarrels  which  he  had  with  his  wife. 

The  jury  having  found  him  guilty,  the  prisoner  w\as  asked  what  he  had 
to  say  for  himself,  whj'  sentence  of  death  should  not  be  passed  according  to 
law  ?     He  distinctly  replied,  "  I  have  nothing  to  say." 

The  awful  sentence,  that  he  was  to  be  hanged  on  the  succeeding  ]\Ion- 
day,  and  his  body  afterwards  dissected  and  anatomized,  was  immediately 
pronounced  by  the  recorder  ;  which  the  prisoner  heard  without  any  visible 
emotion.  The  court  was  crowded  in  almost  every  part,  and  particularly 
w-ith  ladies  ;  and  not  only  the  women,  but  even  the  jury,  the  counsel,  and 
learly  all  present,  were  melted  into  tears.  During  the  whole  trial  the 
prisoner  appeared  calm,  but  not  insensible.  He  was  very  attentive  to  the 
evidence,  and  appeared  frequently  to  utter  a  low  ejaculation. 

On  the  morning  after  his  trial,  this  unhappy  man  expressed  a  desire  to 
see  his  wife,  that  they  might  exchange  forgiveness.  The  day  following 
(Sunday)  she  came  to  visit  him  in  Newgate,  but  was  so  ill  that  she  was 
obliged  to  be  conveyed  in  a  hackney-coach,  supported  between  two  friends. 
As  soon  as  the  distressing  interview  was  over,  he  applied  himself  devoutly 
to  prayer,  in  which  he  continued  nearl}'  the  whole  of  the  day.  On  that 
day  he  was  extremely  solicitous  to  obtain  Dr.  Ford's  promise  to  publish 
to  the  world  that  he  died  in  the  faith  of  the  Church  of  England ;  as  it 
had  been  generally  understood  that  he  belonged  to  the  sect  denominated 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  417 

Methodists.  At  half-past  six  o'clock  on  Monday  morning  Mitchell's 
cell  vvas  unlocked,  and  the  Ordinary  attended  him  to  the  chapel  to 
prayers  ;  which  being  concluded,  he  returned  to  the  Press-yard,  and 
there  walked  for  some  time,  holding  two  friends  by  the  arms ;  meanwhile 
his  mind  was  occupied  with  his  unhappy  situation  ;  and  he  begged  of  all 
around  him  to  pray  with  him.  The  unhappy  man  blessed  the  memory  of 
his  murdered  child,  and  trusted  the  sacrifice  he  was  about  to  make  would, 
in  some  degree,  expiate  his  crime  in  heaven,  which  he  did  not  despair 
to  see. 

His  last  petition  was  to  the  sheriffs,  to  request  that,  after  the  surgeons 
had  practised  upon  his  body,  his  mangled  remains  might  be  given  to  his 
daughter,  for  burial ;  which  request  the  sheriffs  promised  should  be  com- 
plied with. 

The  wretched  being  seemed  to  attend  with  much  earnestness  and  fervoiir 
to  the  clergyman,  and  he  was  seen  to  clasp  his  hands  together  the  instant 
the  rope  Avas  fixed.  After  the  drop  fell  he  appeared  to  feel  great  pain,  as 
he  swung  round  twice,  which  was  occasioned  by  the  violence  of  the  con- 
vulsive struggles  he  sustained. 

He  suffered  before  Newgate,  January  the  14th  1805,  and,  after  hanging 
the  usual  time,  was  taken  to  St.  Bartholomew's  hospital  for  dissection. 


RICHARD  HAYWOOD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBERY. 

The  termination  of  the  career  of  this  criminal  exhibited  him  to  be  a 
man  of  the  most  depraved  and  diabolical  disposition. 

He  was  indicted  for  having  stolen  two  pillows  and  two  bolsters,  value 
10s.,  the  property  of  Richard  Crabtree,  and  also  for  cutting  Benjamin 
Chantrey  with  a  certain  sharp  instrument,  in  order  to  prevent  his  ap- 
prehension. 

It  appears  that  some  suspicions  being  entertained  of  an  intention  to  rob 
Mr.  Crabtree's  house,  which  was  left  imoccvipied,  although  furnished. 
Miss  Jenkins  the  cousin  of  that  gentleman,  and  a  Mrs.  Wilson,  determined 
to  watch  it,  and  they  accordingly  took  their  station  in  the  house  of  a 
Mr.  Wilkinson,  situated  directly  opposite  to  it,  in  Thayer-street,  Man- 
chester-square. They  had  not  been  long  on  the  look-out,  before  they  saw 
two  men  enter  it,  having  opened  tlie  door  with  a  key.  Mrs.  Wilson,  in 
consequence,  went  and  knocked  at  the  door,  on  which  the  two  men  ran 
out,  and  one  running  to  the  left  made  his  escape,  while  the  otiier  (the 
prisoner)  made  a  blow  at  Mrs.  Wilson,  and  ran  to  the  right.  He  was 
afterwards  pursued  by  a  Mr.  Holford,  and  on  Mr.  Chantrey  stepping  out 
from  his  own  house  to  seize  him,  he  struck  him  a  violent  blow  on  the 
head  with  an  iron  crowbar.  He  was  eventually  secured,  and  it  was  then 
found,  that  the  articles  mentioned  in  the  indictment  had  been  removed 
ready  to  be  carried  off. 

After  conviction,  the  prisoner  behaved  with  shocking  depravity,  seeming 
to  exult  in  his  guilt,  and  regretting  he  had  not  done  a  deed  more 
deserving  of  death.  It  was  his  constant  boast  that  he  would,  on  the 
Bcaffold,  surpass  the  notorious  Avershaw  in  evincing  his  contempt  for  life; 

VOL.  I.  3  u 


418  THE   MIW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR. 

and  he  constantly  endeavoured  to  instil  into  the  mind  of  his  fellow-sufferer 
those  diabolical  principles  which  he  had  imbibed  liimseif. 

His  fellow-sufferer  was  John  Tennant,  wlio  had  lived  as  footman  with 
Robert  Shaw,  Esq.  a  solicitor,  in  New  Bridge-street,  Blackfriars ;  but, 
inflated  \\\t\\  the  amhition  of  keeping  a  public-house,  he  quitted  his  service, 
and  obtained  the  command  of  a  tap  in  Little  Suffolk-street,  Dirty-lane, 
behind  tlie  King's  Bench  Prison.  Finding  his  golden  prospects  in  a 
public-house,  in  a  great  measure,  delusive,  he  determined  on  robbing 
his  late  master,  ]\Ir.  Shaw ;  and,  being  well  acquainted  with  his  liouse, 
broke  open  his  money-drawers,  and  stole  to  the  amount  of  more  than  five 
thousand  pounds  in  cash,  bank-notes,  and  other  property.  Witli  such  a 
prize  such  a  man  could  not  long  remain  unsuspected,  and  he  was  soon 
detected  in  passing  some  of  the  stolen  notes.  The  relentless  Haywood 
corrupted  the  mind  of  Tennant,  and,  in  the  condemned  cells,  stimulated 
him  to  follow  his  horrid  example.  Tliey  uttered  the  most  blasphemous 
expressions,  and  sang  lewd  songs  during  the  whole  time  they  ought  to 
have  been  employed  in  making  their  peace  with  offended  Heaven. 

When  the  keeper  went  to  warn  them  of  their  approaching  execution, 
they  behaved  in  so  riotous  a  manner,  that  it  was  necessary  to  secure  them 
witli  irons  to  the  floor.  Haywood,  who  was  supposed  to  have  procured 
a  knife  from  his  wife,  while  she  was  permitted  to  see  him,  rushed  upon 
the  keeper,  and  would  have  stabbed  him  witli  it  if  he  had  not  left  the  cell. 
They  uttered  the  most  horrid  imprecations ;  and,  after  declaring,  in  cant 
terms,  that  they  would  die  game^  threatened  to  murder  the  Ordinary  if  he 
attempted  to  visit  them.  Their  behaviour,  in  other  respects,  was  so  aban- 
doned, that  the  necessary  attendants  were  deterred  from  further  interfe- 
rence, and  left  them  to  the  dreadful  fate  wliich  awaited  them. 

"When  the  time  for  quitting  the  court-yard  arrived,  Haywood  called  to 
a  friend,  who  was  present,  to  deliver  him  a  bundle  he  had  in  his  hand, 
out  of  which  he  took  an  old  jacket,  and  a  pair  of  old  shoes,  and  put  them 
on.  "  Thus,"  said  he,  "  will  I  defeat  the  prophecies  of  my  enemies  :  they 
have  often  said  I  would  die  in  my  coat  and  shoes,  and  I  am  determined  to 
die  in  neither."  Being  told  it  was  time  to  be  conducted  to  the  scaffold, 
lie  cheerfully  attended  the  summons,  having  first  eaten  some  bread  and 
cheese,  and  drunk  a  quantity  of  coffee.  Before,  however,  he  departed,  he  called 
out  in  a  loud  voice  to  the  prisoners,  who  were  looking  through  the  upper 
windows  at  him,  "Farewell,  my  lads ;  I  am  just  going  oft':  God  bless 
you." — "  We  are  sorry  for  you,"  replied  the  prisoners.  "  I  want  none  of 
your  pity,"  rejoined  Haywood ;  "  keep  your  snivelling  till  it  be  your  own 
turn."  Immediately  on  his  arrival  upon  the  scaffold,  in  a  loud  laugh,  he 
gave  the  mob  three  cheers,  introducing  each  with  a  "  Hip,  ho  !"  While 
the  cord  was  preparing,  he  continued  hallooing  to  the  mob,  '•  How  are 
you  ? — Well,  here  goes."  It  was  found  necessary,  before  the  usual  time,  to 
put  the  cap  over  his  eyes,  besides  a  silk  handkerchief,  by  way  of  bandage, 
that  his  attention  miglit  be  entirely  abstracted  from  the  spectators. 

At  the  suggestion  of  Mr.  Iloldsvvorth,  however,  Tennant  made  some 
alteration  in  his  conduct.  This  officer,  finding  his  advice  attended  to  in 
this  instance,  entreated  him  no  longer  to  follow  the  evil  counsel  of  Hay- 
wood, but  to  employ  the  few  moments  he  had  left  in  a  Cliristian-like 
manner.  Tennant  shed  tears,  sliowcd  some  contrition,  and  suffered  the 
Ordinary  to  attend  him  to  the  scaffold.     Dr.  Ford   continued  in  prayer 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  4I9 

with  liim ;  and,  though  he  did  not  join  with,  yet  he  listened  to  him 
attentively.  He  came  on  the  platform  with  great  resolution,  but  did  not 
then  follow  the  daring  and  abandoned  example  of  his  companion :  he  was 
cleanly  dressed,  and  observed  a  suitable  propriety  of  conduct ;  he  shook 
hands  with  Haywood ;  and,  just  as  the  noose  was  placed  round  his  neck, 
he  emphatically  exclaimed,  "  Lord,  have  mercy  upon  me  !"  Haywood 
uttered  some  words  in  reply,  which  were  not  perfectly  understood, 
but  were  supposed  to  be  said  to  Tennant  by  way  of  reproach.  He  then 
gave  another  halloo,  and  kicked  off  his  shoes  among  the  spectators,  many 
of  whom  were  deeply  affected  at  the  obduracy  of  his  conduct.  Soon  after- 
wards the  platform  dropped.    They  suffered  on  the  30th  of  April  1805. 


HENRY  PERFECT. 

TRANSPORTED    FOR    FRAUD. 


Henry  Perfect  was  a  person  who,  by  means  of  the  most  specious 
pretences  and  ingenious  frauds,  succeeded  in  levying  very  large  contribu- 
tions on  the  public.  Instances  of  fellows  devoid  of  principle  pursuing 
similar  plans  of  imposture  have  been  but  too  frequent  of  late  years,  but  the 
system,  which  was  for  a  long  time  so  successful,  of  writing  begging  letters, 
has  been  now  almost  entirely  put  an  end  to,  by  the  praiseworthy  exertions 
of  the  officers  of  that  very  respectable  institution  the  Mendicity  Society, 
the  object  of  which  is  at  once  to  relieve  tlie  necessitous,  and  to  protect  the 
public  from  imposition. 

The  case  of  this  person  may  be  taken  as  a  very  fair  instance  of  the 
degree  of  ingenuity  exercised  by  individuals  resorting  to  similar  artifices  as 
the  means  of  gulling  the  humane. 

Perfect  was  a  man  of  respectable  parentage,  and  of  excellent  abilities. 
His  father  was  a  clergyman  living  in  Leicestershire,  and  our  hero,  at  the 
completion  of  his  education,  entered  the  army  as  a  lieutenant  in  the  69tli 
regiment  of  foot.  He  was  twice  married,  and  received  a  handsome  pro- 
perty with  each  of  his  wives ;  but  their  estates  being  held  during  life 
only,  upon  the  demise  of  his  second  helpmate  he  was  thrown  upon  his 
own  resources.  His  commission  had  long  since  been  disposed  of,  and  he 
determined  to  endeavour  to  procure  contributions  by  writing  letters  to 
persons  of  known  charitable  dispositions,  setting  forth  fictitious  details  of 
distress.  In  the  course  of  his  numerous  impositions,  he  assumed  the 
various  and  imaginary  characters  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Paul,  the  Rev.  Daniel 
Bennett,  Mrs.  Grant,  Mrs.  Smith,  and  others,  but  at  last  he  was  detected 
in  an  attempt  to  procure  money  from  the  Earl  of  Clarendon,  whom  he 
addressed  in  a  letter  signed  "  H.  Grant." 

He  was  indicted  at  the  Middlesex  sessions  for  this  offence  ;  and  his 
trial,  which  came  on  at  Hicks'  Hall,  on  the  27th  of  October  1804,  occupied 
the  whole  day. 

It  then  appeared  that  the  Earl  of  Clarendon  being  at  his  seat  at  Wade's 
Mill,  Hertfordshire,  in  the  previous  month  of  July,  he  received  a  letter, 
purporting  to  be  from  Mrs.  Grant,  which  stated  in  substance : — 

That  the  writer  having  heard  from  a  lady,  whose  name  she  was  not  at 
liberty  to  reveal,  the  most  charming  character  of  his  lordship  for  kindness 


420  THE    MEW    NEWGATE    CALEMUAK. 

and  beni-volence,  she  was  induced  to  lay  before  him  a  statement  of  her 
distressed  circumstances.  The  supposed  lady  then  detailed  her  case,  whicii 
was,  tliat  she  was  a  native  of  Jamaica,  of  affluent  and  respectable  family: 
that  a  young  man,  a  Scotchman,  and  surgeon's  mate  to  a  man-of-war,  was 
introduced  at  her  father's  house,  who  so  far  ingratiated  himself  with  her 
father,  that  he  seriously  recommended  him  to  her  for  her  husband.  She 
did  not  like  him,  because  he  was  proud,  and  for  ever  vaunting  of  his  higli 
family  ;  but  as  her  father's  will  had  always  been  a  law,  she  acquiesced  on 
condition  that  he  would  live  at  Jamaica.  They  were  accordingly  married, 
and  her  father  gave  him  one  thousand  pounds.  He,  however,  soon  became 
discontented  with  remaining  at  .Jamaica,  and  continually  importuned  her 
to  go  with  him  to  Scotland  ;  and  as  her  friends  joined  in  tl)e  solicitation, 
she  consented.  She  had  now  been  six  months  in  England;  but  her  hus- 
band had  always  evaded  going  to  Scotland,  and  had  left  her  whenever  she 
spoke  upon  the  subject.  In  short  he  had  gamed,  drunk,  and  committed 
every  excess  ;  and  within  the  last  six  weeks  he  had  died  in  a  rapid  decline, 
leaving  her  a  widow,  with  two  children,  and  hourly  expecting  to  be  deli- 
vered of  a  third.  She  was  not  twenty-three  years  of  age,  and  never  knew 
want  till  now ;  but  she  was  left  without  a  shilling  to  support  herself  and 
miserable  children:  she  owed  for  her  husband's  funeral,  and  the  apothe- 
cary's bill,  for  which  she  was  afraid  of  being  arrested.  To  avoid  this  she 
was  going  to  seek  shelter  with  a  poor  widow  in  Essex  ;  and  if  his  lordship 
would  write  to  her  at  the  post-office  at  Harlow,  she  would,  if  brought  to 
bed  in  the  meanwhile,  get  some  safe  person  to  go  for  the  letter. 

His  lordship's  answer  evinced  the  benevolence  of  his  heart.  He  expressed 
his  readiness  to  alleviate  her  distress,  but  justly  observed  that  her  tale 
ought  to  be  authenticated  by  something  more  than  the  recital  of  a  perfect 
stranger.  He  desired  to  know  who  the  lady  was  who  had  recommended 
the  application  to  him,  and  assured  the  writer  she  need  not  conceal  her, 
for  that  he  considered  it  was  doing  him  a  great  kindness  to  aflFord  him  the 
means  of  rendering  service  to  the  necessitous.  On  the  14th  of  July  his 
lord!^hip  received  a  note  nearly  as  follows  : — 

j\Irs.  Smith,  widow  of  Captain  Smith,  begged  leave  to  inform  Lord 
Clarendon  that  Mrs.  Grant  was  brought  to  bed.  It  was  she  who  recom- 
mended Mrs.  Grant  to  Lord  Clarendon  :  while  her  husband  was  living,  she 
had  frequently  been  with  him  on  the  recruiting  service  in  Hertfordshire, 
where  she  had  heard  of  the  benevolent  character  of  his  lordship.  She  added, 
that  Captain  Smith,  when  in  Jamaica,  had  frequently  visited  i\Irs.  Grant's 
father,  who  was  a  person  of  great  wealth  ;  that  she  had  herself  done  more 
than  she  could  afiurd  for  an  amiable  and  unfortunate  young  woman.  She 
had  no  doubt  but  that  as  soon  as  her  letter  should  reach  Jamaica,  Mrs. 
Grant's  father  would  send  her  abundant  relief ;  but  till  then  she  might, 
without  the  friendship  of  some  individual,  be  totally  lost. 

In  consequence  ol  this  last  note,  his  lordship  returned  an  answer,  and 
enclosed  a  draft  for  five  guineas,  oftering  at  tlie  same  time  to  write  to  any 
person  at  Harlow  who  might  be  of  assistance  to  her,  particularly  to  any 
medical  person.  On  .July  the  2-'3rd  the  supposed  Mrs.  Grant  wrote  again  to 
his  lordship,  acknowledging  the  receipt  of  the  five  guineas,  and  stating  that 
she  had  the  offer  of  a  passage  home  :  but  she  said  that  she  wislied  to  see 
his  lordship,  to  return  her  grateful  thanks  for  his  kindness.  At  the  same 
time  she  was  extremely  delicate,  lest  their  meeting  shoi'W  ^j  misconstrutd 


THli;    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  421 

liy  a  malignant  world,  and  entreated  that  it  might  take  place  a  little 
distance  from  town.  Tlie  answer  to  this  letter  she  begged  mio^ht  be 
addressed  to  A.  B.  C.  at  George's  Coffee-house,  to  which  place  she  would 
send  for  it.  His  lordsliip  at  her  request,  wrote  an  answer,  and  appointed 
the  Bell  Inn,  at  Kilburn.  Before  the  arrival  of  the  day  of  meeting, 
however,  his  lordship  received  another  letter  from  Mrs.  Grant,  statino-  that 
ever  since  she  came  to  town,  she  had  met  nothing  but  trouble.  Her  last 
child  had  died,  and  she  was  seized  with  a  milk-fever ;  that  she  had  twelve 
shillings  left  of  his  lordship's,  and  Mrs.  Smith's  bounty,  when  she  came  to 
tov\Ti ;  that  she  was  afraid  of  coming  further  than  Whitechapel,  lest  her 
creditors  might  arrest  her  ;  and  she  concluded  with  the  request  of  the  loan 
of  five  pounds,  to  be  inclosed  in  a  note  addressed  to  Mr.  Paul,  to  be  left  at 
the  Saracen's  Head  Inn,  Aldgate.  His  lordsliip,  in  reply  to  this  note,  sent 
the  money  requested,  and  with  great  humanity  condoled  on  her  supposed 
situation.  He  then  proposed  to  take  her  into  the  country,  where  she 
might  live  quiet,  and  free  of  expense,  until  she  heard  from  her  friends. 
The  next  letter  introduced  another  actor  on  the  stage.  It  came  from  the 
Rev.  H.  Paul.  Mr.  Paul,  at  the  desire  of  Mrs.  Grant,  (then  said  to  be 
delirious,)  acknowledged  the  receipt  of-  the  five  pounds,  tie  would  write 
again,  and  say  anything  JMrs.  Grant  might  dictate  in  a  lucid  interval.  He 
begged  his  answer  might  be  left  at  the  Chapter  Coffee-house.  His  lord- 
ship accordingly  wrote  to  the  Rev.  H.  Paul,  with  particular  inquiries  after 
the  state  of  Mrs.  Grant,  and  proposed  to  send  the  proper  medical  assist- 
ance. The  Rev.  Mr.  Paul  replied  to  this  letter,  and  stated  the  description 
of  Mrs.  Grant's  complaint,  which  was  of  a  delicate  nature.  He  then  stated 
the  high  notions  of  !Mrs.  Grant,  who  would  not  condescend  to  see  any 
person  from  his  lordship  in  her  present  wretched  state;  and  added  that  she 
thought  her  situation  such,  that  it  was  not  delicate  to  admit  any  one  to  see 
her  but  tliose  absolutely  necessary.  Mr.  Paul  therefore  had  promised,  he  said, 
not  to  divulge  her  residence;  but  declared  that  in  her  lucid  intervals,  Mrs. 
Grant  expressed  the  utmost  anxiety  to  be  enabled  to  thank  her  benefactor. 
This  correspondence  produced  a  meeting  between  the  supposed  Rev.  H. 
Paul  and  his  lordship,  which  took  place  at  the  Bell  Inn,  at  Kilburn,  on 
the  8th  of  August.  The  prisoner  then  introduced  himself  to  his  lordship 
as  the  Rev.  Henry  Paul.  They  entered  into  conversation  on  the  subject  of 
Mrs.  Grant,  when  his  lordship  asked  every  question  as  to  her  situation, 
with  a  view  to  alleviate  it.  Mr.  Paul  said  he  had  not  seen  her  distinctly, 
for  the  curtains  were  closed  round  her ;  but  the  opium  had  had  an  effect 
which  he  had  known  it  frequently  to  produce :  it  had  given  her  eyes  more 
than  usual  brilliancy  :  with  respect  to  her  lodging,  it  was  a  very  small 
room.  The  woman  who  attended  her  seemed  a  good  sort  of  a  woman 
enough,  and  she  was  also  attended  by  a  surgeon  or  apothecary.  As  Mr. 
Paul  seemed  to  be  a  man  of  respectability,  his  lordship  asked  him  at  what 
seminary  he  had  been  brought  up  :  the  prisoner  replied  he  had  been  edu- 
cated at  Westminster  and  Oxford,  and  had  the  living  of  St.  Kitt's,  in  Ja- 
maica, worth  about  700/.  per  annum  ;  that  he  had  property  in  Ireland, 
and  was  going  to  America  on  private  business.  To  his  lordship's  question 
how  he  was  so  fortunate  as  to  meet  this  young  woman,  he  said  it  was  by 
au  accident,  that  quite  looked  like  a  romance. — He  was  coming  to  town  in 
the  Ongar  stage,  in  which  Avere  a  young  woman,  two  children,  and  a  lady, 
all  in  mourniuff.     He  entered  into  conversation  with  the  ladv,  and  waa 


422  TEE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

surprised  to  find  her  the  daughter  of  a  person  at  whose  hoiise,  in  Jamaica. 
he  had  himself  been  frequently  received  with  kindness.  -Although  his 
business  pressed,  he  determined  to  stay  and  afford  her  some  assistance.  He 
then  stated  that  he  had  that  day  given  l>er  a  2/.  note,  which  his  lordship, 
at  this  interview,  returned  (being  the  note  on  which  the  indictment  was 
founded).  He  added,  that  Sirs.  Grant's  fatlier  was  extremely  affluent, 
and  he  should  not  wonder  if  he  was  to  remit  500^.  at  the  first  intelligence 
of  his  daughter's  situation.  His  lordship  in  his  evidence  said,  that  he 
seemed  to  express  himself  in  language  of  the  purest  truth  and  benevolence  ; 
and  as  he  appeared  a  well-educated  gentleman,  who  had  seen  the  world,  he 
had  no  suspicion  of  any  fraud. 

After  this  interview  a  correspondence  took  place  between  the  pretended 
clergyman  and  his  lordship,  in  which  the  former  stated  the  progression  of 
the  patient,  Mrs.  Grant,  towards  convalescence,  and  at  her  desire  requested 
that  linen,  poultry,  fruit,  and  wine,  might  be  forwarded,  all  of  which  were 
supplied  by  the  bounty  of  the  noble  lord.  . 

At  length  Mrs.  Grant  was  sufiiciently  recovered  to  be  able  to  write  to 
his  lordship,  and  in  her  letter  she  expressed  her  unbounded  thanks  for  the 
benevolence  which  she  had  experienced  at  his  hands,  and  remarked  that  but 
for  the  friendly  introduction  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Paul,  she  believed  that  she 
would  have  been  lost.  She  then  went  on  to  say,  that  although  she  had 
been  ordered  by  her  medical  attendant  to  keep  herself  perfectly  quiet,  yet 
she  could  not  resist  the  temptation  of  sitting  up  in  bed  to  write  to  her  bene- 
factor, whom  she  hoped  to  be  able  shortly  to  thank  personally  for  his 
numerous  kindnesses. 

The  last  letter  from  Mr.  Paul  was  dated  August  23.  He  acknowledged 
the  receipt  of  %l.  2s.  which  had  been  expended  for  Mrs.  Grant ;  and  in- 
formed his  lordship  that  the  sheets  which  had  been  last  sent,  had,  by  some 
accident,  been  near  brimstone,  which  affected  ]\Irs.  Grant  very  much ;  that 
her  situation  required  fine  old  linen,  if  liis  lordship  had  any  such.  He 
apologized,  if  there  should  be  any  inaccuracy  in  his  letter,  because  he  had 
a  head-ache  and  some  degree  offerer. 

The  farce  now  began  to  draw  to  its  conclusion.  His  lordship  received 
another  letter  from  Mrs.  Grant,  dated  Saturday,  September  1st,  in  which 
the  supposed  lady  said  :  — 

"  Last  Saturday,  her  father's  sister  came  to  town,  and  found  her  out. 
She  was  a  sour  old  lady,  a  man-hater,  and  snarled  at  the  whole  sex.  She 
had  taken  ]\Irs.  G.  into  the  country  with  her,  although  she  was  removed 
at  the  peril  of  her  life.  The  lady  she  was  with  was  nearly  as  bad  as  her 
aunt ;  but,  as  the  latter  was  going  out  for  a  few  days,  her  Argus  would 
let  her  come  to  town,  which  would  enable  her  to  meet  his  lordship.  As 
her  ill-tempered  aunt  had  given  her  neither  money  nor  clothes,  she  begged 
Al.  of  his  lordship.  If  this  opportunity  was  lost,  she  should  never  be  able 
to  see  him,  as  her  aunt  was  a  vigilant  woman,  and  hated  the  men  so  much, 
that  at  the  first  entrance  into  her  room,  finding  the  Rev.  ]\Ir.  Paul  there, 
she  most  grossly  affronted  him.  She  could  not  have  any  letter  addressed 
in  her  own  name  lest  it  should  fall  into  the  liands  of  her  aunt,  and  there- 
fore begged  his  lordship  to  direct  to  Mrs.  Harriet,  Post-ofiice,  Waltham." 

His  lordship,  in  his  answer  to  this  letter,  expressed  some  suspicions  that 
he  had  been  duped ;  in  answer  to  which  Mrs.  Grant  thanked  Lord  Claren- 
don for  his  favours,  and  declared  that  she  was  sorry  to  think  he  should 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAP.  423 

conceive  himself  duped,  but  he  would  find  his  mistake  wlien  she  got  home 
to  the  West  Indies.  In  a  postscript,  she  added — "  Tliat  best  of  men,  Mr. 
Paul,  died  suddenly  on  Saturday  last." 

This  closed  the  intercourse  between  his  lordship  and  his  correspondents, 
Mrs.  Grant  and  Mr.  Paul.  Soon  afterwards,  however,  he  received  another 
letter  from  a  Rev.  Mr.  Bennett,  setting  forth  a  deplorable  tale  of  mi- 
sery ;  but  his  suspicions  being  awakened,  he  employed  his  steward  to 
trace  the  supposed  Rev.  Mr.  Bennett,  when  it  turned  out  to  be  the  prisoner 
at  the  bar,  who  had  imposed  himself  on  his  lordship  as  the  Rev.  Mr.  Paul, 
that  "  best  of  men,"  whom  Mrs.  Grant  stated  to  have  "•  died  suddenly."  His 
lodgings  being  searched,  a  book  was  found  in  his  o\\ti  handwriting,  givino- 
an  account  of  money  received,  (by  which  it  appeared  that  he  had  plun- 
dered the  public  to  the  amount  of  four  hundred  and  eighty-eight  pounds 
within  two  years,)  with  a  list  of  the  donors'  names,  among  whom  were,  the 
Duchess  of  Beaufort,  Lord  Willoughby  de  Broke,  Lord  Lyttleton,  Lady 
Howard,  Lady  Mary  Duncan,  Bishops  of  London,  Salisbury,  and  Durham, 
Earls  of  Kingston  and  Radnor,  Lord  C.  Spencer,  Hon.  Mrs.  Fox,  &c.  &c. 

Other  memoranda  were  also  found,  which  showed  that  the  prisoner  had 
reduced  his  mode  of  proceeding  to  a  perfect  system,  notes  beincT  taken  of 
the  style  of  handwriting  which  he  assumed,  under  his  different  names,  and 
of  the  description  of  sealing-wax,  wafer,  and  paper,  used  in  his  letters. 

The  jury  found  the  prisoner  guilty,  and  the  Court  inmiediately  sentenced 
him  to  seven  years'  transportation.  He  was  sent  to  Botany  Bay  in 
April  1805. 

Frequent  convictions  of  a  similar  character  have  taken  place,  but  it  is 
to  be  hoped,  that  if  the  exertions  of  the  police  have  not  been  fully  suc- 
cessful in  putting  a  stop  to  the  system,  the  public,  at  least,  have  been  so 
far  put  upon  their  guard,  as  that  they  will  not  submit  to  be  duped,  but 
that  they  will  first  inquire  into  and  ascertain  the  real  claims  of  the  appli- 
cants before  they  extend  their  charity  to  them. 


THOMAS  PICTON,  ESQ. 

INDICTED    FOR    APPLYING    THE    TORTURE    TO    LOUISA    CALUERON,    TO    EXTORT   A 

CONFESSION. 

The  cruelty  of  the  application  of  the  torture  to  extort  confession,  cannot 
but  be  universally  admitted  in  the  present  enlightened  age.  The  following 
remarks  of  the  French  philosopher  Voltaire  admirably  illustrate  this 
feeling,  and  serve  well  to  introduce  the  case  of  Governor  Picton : 

"  All  mankind  being  exposed  to  the  attempts  of  violence  and  perfidy," 
says  he,  "  detest  the  crimes  of  which  they  may  possibly  be  the  victims'; 
all  desire  that  the  principal  offender  and  his  accomplices  may  be  punished; 
aevertheless,  there  is  a  natural  compassion  in  the  human  heart,  which 
makes  all  men  detest  the  cruelty  of  torturing  the  accused  into  confession. 
The  law  has  not  condemned  them;  and  yet,  though  uncertain  of  the  crime^ 
you  inflict  a  punishment  more  horrible  than  that  which  they  are  to  suffer- 
when  their  guilt  is  confirmed.  '  Possibly  thou  mayest  be  innocent ;  but  I 
will  torture  thee  that  I  may  be  satisfied ;  not  that  I  intend  to  make  the*- 
any  recompense  for  the  thousand  deaths  which  I  have  made  thee  suffer  in 


424  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

lieu  of  that  which  is  preparing  for  thee.'  Who  does  not  shudder  at  the 
idea  ?  St.  Augustin  opposed  such  cruelty.  The  Romans  tortured  their 
slaves  only  ;  and  Quintilian,  recollecting  that  they  were  men,  reproved 
the  Romans  for  such  want  of  humanity." 

The  defendant,  Thomas  Picton,  Esq.  was  indicted  for  putting  to  the 
torture  a  female,  Louisa  Calderon,  one  of  his  majesty's  subjects  in  the 
island  of  Trinidad  in  the  West  Indies,  in  order  to  extort  confession. 

Mr.  Garrow  stated  the  case  for  the  prosecution  ;  and,  whilst  he  expressed 
the  strongest  desire  to  bring  to  condign  punishment  the  perpetrator  of  an 
offence  so  flagrant  as  that  charged  upon  the  defendant,  yet  much  more 
happy  would  he  be  to  find  that  there  was  no  ground  upon  which  the 
charge  could  be  supported,  and  that  the  British  character  was  not  stained 
by  the  adoption  of  so  cruel  a  measure.  The  island  of  Trinidad,  he  said, 
surrendered  to  Sir  Ralph  Abercrombie  in  the  year  1797;  and  he  entered 
into  a  stipulation,  by  which  he  conceded  to  the  inhabitants  the  continuance 
of  their  laws,  and  appointed  a  new  governor,  imtil  his  majesty's  pleasure 
should  be  known,  or,  in  other  words,  until  the  king  should  extend  to  this 
new  acquisition  to  his  empire  all  the  sacred  privileges  of  the  laws  of  Eng- 
land. He  had  the  authority  of  the  defendant  himself  for  stating,  that  the 
system  of  jurisprudence  adopted  under  the  Spanish  monarch,  for  his 
colonial  establishments,  was  benignant,  and  adapted  to  the  protection  of 
the  subject,  previous  to  the  surrender  of  this  island  to  the  British  arms. 

In  December  1801,  when  this  crime  was  perpetrated,  Louisa  Calderon 
was  of  the  tender  age  of  ten  or  eleven  years.  At  that  early  period  she 
had  been  induced  to  live  with  a  person  named  Pedro  Ruiz,  as  his  mistress  ; 
and  although  it  appeared  to  them  very  singular  that  she  should  sustain 
such  a  situation  at  that  time  of  life,  yet  it  was  a  fact,  that  in  that  climate, 
women  often  became  mothers  at  twelve  years  old,  and  were  in  a  state  of 
concubinage,  if,  from  their  condition,  they  could  not  form  a  more  honour- 
able connexion.  While  she  lived  with  Ruiz,  she  was  engaged  in  an 
intrigue  with  Carlos  Gonzalez,  the  pretended  friend  of  the  former,  who 
robbed  him  of  a  quantity  of  dollars.  Gonzalez  was  apprehended,  and  she 
also,  as  some  suspicion  fell  upon  her,  in  consequence  of  the  affair,  was 
taken  into  custody.  She  was  taken  before  the  justice,  and,  in  his  presence, 
she  denied  having  any  concern  in  the  business.  The  magistrate  felt  that 
his  powers  were  at  an  end  ;  and  whether  the  object  of  her  denial  were  to 
protect  herself,  or  her  friend,  was  not  material.  The  extent  of  his  autho- 
rity being  thus  limited,  the  ofl&cer  of  justice  resorted  to  General  Picton  ; 
and  he  had  now  to  produce,  in  the  handwriting  of  the  defendant,  this 
bloody  sentence : — "  Inflict  the  torture  upon  Louisa  Calderon."  There 
was  no  delay  in  proceeding  to  its  execution.  The  girl  was  informed  in  the 
jail,  that,  if  she  did  not  confess,  she  would  be  subjected  to  the  torture; 
that  under  this  process  she  might  probably  lose  her  limbs  or  her  life  ;  but 
the  calamity  would  be  on  her  own  head,  for,  if  she  would  confess,  she 
would  not  be  required  to  endure  it.  While  her  mind  was  in  the  state  of 
agitation  this  notice  produced,  her  fears  were  aggravated  by  the  intro- 
duction of  two  or  three  negresses  into  her  prison,  who  were  to  suffer 
under  the  same  experiment  for  witchcraft,  and  as  a  means  of  extorting  con- 
fession. In  this  situation  of  alarm  and  horror,  the  yoimg  woman  persisted 
in  lier  innocence  :  and  a  punishment  was  inflicted,  improperly  called  pick- 
eting. That  was  a  military  punishment,  perfectly  distinct  in  its  nature.  This 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  425 

■was  not  picketing,  but  the  torture.  It  was  true,  the  soldier,  exposed  to  this, 
iid  stand  with  his  foot  on  a  picket,  or  sharp  piece  of  wood;  but,  in  mercy 
to  him,  a  means  of  reposing  was  aflforded,  on  the  rotundus  major,  or  inte- 
rior of  the  arm.  Her  position  miglit  be  easily  described.  The  great  toe 
was  lodged  upon  a  sharp  piece  of  wood,  while  the  opposite  wrist  was  sus- 
pended in  a  pulley,  and  the  other  hand  and  foot  were  lashed  together. 
Another  time  the  liorrid  ceremony  was  repeated,  with  this  difterence, 
that  her  feet  were  changed. 

[[Tlie  learned  counsel  here  produced  a  drawing  in  water-colours,  in  which 
tlie  situation  of  the  sufferer,  and  the  magistrate,  executioner,  and  secretary, 
was  described.     He  then  proceeded^  ^ — 

"  It  appeared  to  him,  that  the  case,  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution,  would 
be  complete  when  these  facts  were  established  in  evidence ;  but  he  was  to 
be  told,  that  though  the  highest  authority  in  this  country  could  not  prac- 
tise tliis  on  the  humblest  individual,  yet  that,  by  the  laws  of  Spain,  it 
could  be  perpetrated  in  the  island  of  Trinidad.  He  would  venture  to 
assert,  that  if  it  were  written  in  characters  impossible  to  be  misunderstood, 
that  if  it  were  the  acknowledged  law  of  Trinidad,  it  could  be  no  justifica- 
tion of  a  British  governor.  Nothing  could  vindicate  such  a  person,  but 
the  law  of  imperious  necessity,  to  which  all  must  submit.  It  was  his  duty 
to  impress  upon  the  minds  of  the  people  of  that  colony,  the  great  advan- 
tages they  would  derive  from  the  benign  influence  of  British  jurisprudence  ; 
and  that  in  consequence  of  being  received  within  the  pale  of  this  govern- 
ment, torture  would  be  for  ever  banished  from  the  island.  It  was  not 
suificient  for  him,  therefore,  to  establish  this  sort  of  apology ;  it  was 
required  of  him  to  show,  tliat  he  complied  with  the  institutions,  under 
circumstances  of  irresistible  necessity.  This  governor  ought  to  have  been 
aware  tliat  the  torture  was  not  known  in  England;  and  that  it  never  would 
be,  never  could  be  tolerated  in  this  country. 

"  The  trial  by  rack  was  utterly  unknown  to  the  law  of  England,  though 
once,  when  the  Dukes  of  Exeter  and  Suffolk,  and  other  ministers  of  Henry 
VI.  had  laid  a  design  to  introduce  the  civil  law  into  this  kingdom,  as  the 
rule  of  government,  for  a  beginning  thereof  they  erected  a  rack  for  torture, 
wliicli  was  called  in  derision  the  Duke  of  Exeter's  daughter,  and  still  re- 
mained in  the  Tower  of  London,  where  it  was  occasionally  used  as  an 
engine  of  state,  not  of  law,  more  than  once  in  the  reign  of  Queen  Elizabetli. 
But  when,  upon  the  assassination  of  Villiers,  Duke  of  Buckingham,  by 
Felton,  it  was  proposed  in  the  Privy  Council  to  put  the  assassin  to  the 
rack,  in  order  to  discover  his  accomplices,  the  judges,  being  consulted, 
declared  unanimously,  to  their  own  honour,  and  tlie  honour  of  the  English 
law,  that  no  such  proceeding  was  allowable  by  the  laws  of  England. 

"  Such  was  the  effect  of  the  observations  of  the  elegant  and  learned 
author  of  the  Commentaries  of  the  Law  of  England  on  this  subject ;  and  as 
the  strongest  method  of  showing  the  horror  of  the  practice,  he  gave  this 
question  in  the  form  of  an  arithmetical  problem  : — '  The  strength  of  the 
muscles  and  the  sensibility  of  the  nerves  being  given,  it  was  required  to 
know  what  degree  of  pain  would  be  necessary  to  make  any  particular 
individual  confess  his  guilt.' 

"  But  what  were  they  to  say  to  this  man,  who,  so  far  from  having 
found  torture  in  practice  under  the  former  governors,  had  attached  to 
himself  all  the  infamy  of  having  invented  this  instrument  of  cruelty  ? 

VOL.  I.  3  I 


4-26  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Like  the  Duke  of  Exeter's  Daughter,  it  never  had  existence  until  the  de- 
fendant cursed  the  island  with  its  production.  He  had  incontestible  evi- 
dence to  show  this  ingenuity  of  tyranny  in  a  British  governor ;  and  the 
moment  he  produced  the  sanguinary  order,  the  man  was  left  absolutely 
without  defence.  The  date  of  this  transaction  was  removed  at  some  dis- 
tance. It  was  directed  that  a  commission  should  conduct  the  affairs  of  the 
government,  and  among  the  persons  appointed  to  this  important  situation 
was  Colonel  FuUarton.  In  the  exercise  of  his  duties  in  that  situation,  he 
attained  the  knowledge  of  these  facts ;  and  with  this  information  he 
thought  it  incumbent  on  him  to  bring  this  defendant  before  the  jury ;  and 
with  the  defendant  the  victim  of  this  enormity  would  also  be  produced." 

Louisa  Calderon  was  then  called.  She  appeared  about  eighteen  years 
of  age,  of  a  very  interesting  countenance,  being  a  Mulatto  or  Creole,  and 
of  a  very  genteel  appearance.  She  was  dressed  in  white,  with  a  turban  of 
white  muslin,  tied  on  in  the  custom  of  the  country.  Her  person  was 
slender  and  graceful.  She  spoke  English  but  very  indifferently  ;  and  was 
examined  by  Mr.  Adam,  through  the  medium  of  a  Spanish  interpreter. 

She  deposed  that  she  resided  in  the  island  of  Trinidad  in  the  year  1798  ; 
and  lived  in  the  house  of  Don  Pedro  Ruiz,  and  remembered  the  robbery. 
She  and  her  mother  were  taken  up  on  suspicion,  and  brought  before  Go- 
vernor Picton,  who  committed  them  to  prison,  under  the  escort  of  three 
soldiers.  She  was  put  into  close  confinement ;  and  before  she  was  taken 
there  the  governor  said,  "  If  she  did  not  confess  who  had  stolen  the  money, 
the  hangman  would  have  to  deal  with  her." 

She  was  afterwards  carried  to  the  room  where  the  torture  was  prepared. 
Her  left  hand  was  tied  up  to  the  ceiling  by  a  rope,  with  a  pulley ;  her 
right  hand  was  tied  behind,  so  that  her  right  foot  and  hand  came  in  con- 
tact, while  the  extremity  of  her  left  foot  rested  on  the  wooden  spike.  A 
drawinor  representing  the  exact  situation,  with  the  negro  holding  the  rope 
by  which  she  was  suspended,  was  then  shown  to  her  ;  when  she  gave  a 
shudder,  expressive  of  horror,  which  nothing  but  the  most  painful  recol- 
lection of  her  situation  could  have  excited ;  on  which  Mr.  Garrow  expressed 
his  concern  that  his  Lordship  was  not  in  a  position  to  witness  this  acci- 
dental, but  conclusive,  evidence  of  the  fact. 

The  remainder  of  the  witness's  evidence  corroborated  the  statement  of 
Mr.  Garrow.  She  remained  upon  the  spike  three  quarters  of  an  hour,  and 
the  next  day  twenty- two  minutes.  Slie  swooned  away  each  time  before 
she  was  taken  down,  and  was  then  put  into  irons,  called  the  "  grilles," 
which  were  loner  pieces  of  iron,  with  two  rings  for  the  feet,  fastened  to  the 
wall,  and  in  this  situation  she  remained  during  eight  months.  The  effect 
produced  by  the  torture  was  excruciating  pain  ;  her  wrists  and  ankles 
were  much  swollen,  and  the  former  bore  the  marks  of  the  barbarity  em- 
ployed towards  her  to  the  present  day. 

Don  Rafael  Shandoz,  an  alguazil  in  the  island,  bore  testimony  to  his 
having  seen  the  girl  immediately  after  the  application  of  the  torture.  The 
apartment,  in  which  she  was  afterwards  confined,  was  like  a  garret,  with 
slopincf  sides,  and  the  grillos  were  so  placed  tliat,  by  the  lowness  of  the 
room,  she  could  by  no  means  raise  herself  up,  during  the  eigiit  months  of 
her  confinement.  There  was  no  advocate  appointed  to  attend  on  her  be- 
half, and  no  surgeon  to  assist  her.  No  one  but  a  negro,  belonging  to 
Uailot,  the  gaoler,  to  pull  the  rope.     The  witness  had  been  four  or  five 


•^.^^A-ey  '^(yi.^c{A^< 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  427 

years  in  the  post  of  alguazil.  He  never  knew  the  torture  inflicted  in  the 
island,  until  the  arrival  of  the  defendant.  There  had  heen  hefore  no  instru- 
ment for  the  purpose.  The  first  he  saw  was  in  tlie  barracks  among  the 
soldiers.  Before  Louisa  Calderon,  the  instrument  had  been  introduced 
into  the  gaol  perhaps  about  six  months.  The  first  person  he  saw  tortured 
in  Trinidad  was  by  direction  of  the  defendant,  who  said  to  the  gaoler, 
"  Go  and  fetch  the  black  man  to  the  picket-guard,  and  put  him  to  the  tor- 
ture." After  the  eight  months'  confinement,  both  Carlos  and  Louisa  were 
discharged. 

The  order  for  the  application  of  the  torture,  in  the  following  words 
— "  Applicase  la  question  a  Louisa  Calderon" — (Apply  the  torture  to 
Louisa  Calderon) — was  then  proved  to  be  in  the  handwriting  of  the  defend- 
ant ;  and  the  suggestion  of  the  alcade  Beggerat,  before  whom  the  girl  had 
been  examined,  that  slight  torture  should  be  applied,  was  read. 

Don  Juan  Monies  then  said  that  he  had  known  the  island  of  Trinidad 
since  the  year  1793.  That  the  torture  was  never  introduced  until  after  the 
conquest  of  the  island,  and  was  then  practised  by  order  of  the  defendant. 
It  was  first  used  with  the  military  in  1799,  and  two  years  afterwards  in 
the  gaol. 

Mr.  Dallas,  for  the  defendant,  rested  his  defence  upon  the  following 
statements :  — • 

First, — By  the  law  of  Spain,  in  the  present  instance,  torture  was  di 
rected ;  and,  being  bound  to  administer  that  law,  he  was  vindicated  in  its 
application. 

Secondly, — The  order  for  the  torture,  if  not  unlawfully,  was  not  mali- 
ciously issued. 

Thirdly, — If  it  were  unlawful,  yet,  if  the  order  were  erroneously  or 
mistakenly  issued,  it  was  a  complete  answer  to  a  criminal  charge. 

The  learned  counsel  entered  at  considerable  length  into  these  positions, 
during  which  he  compared  the  law  of  Spain,  as  it  prevailed  in  Trinidad,  to 
the  law  of  England,  as  it  subsisted  in  some  of  our  own  islands  ;  and  he 
contended  that  the  conduct  of  General  Picton  was  gentleness  and  humanity, 
compared  to  what  might  be  practised  with  impunity  under  the  authority 
of  the  British  government. 

Mr.  Gloucester,  the  Attorney-General  of  his  Majesty  in  the  island,  was 
then  called,  and  he  deposed  to  the  authenticity  of  several  books  on  the  laws 
of  the  island,  among  wliich  were  the  Elisondo,  the  Curia  Philippica,  the 
Bobadilla,  the  Colom,  and  the  Recopilacion  de  Leyes. 

Various  passages  in  these  books  were  referred  to,  and  translated,  for 
the  purpose  of  showing  that  torture  was  not  only  permitted  in  certain 
cases,  but  in  the  particular  instance  before  the  jury. 

Mr.  Garrow  was  then  allowed  to  call  a  witness,  to  show  tliat,  however 
such  a  law  might  at  any  time  have  existed,  or  might  still  exist,  in  Spain, 
it  did  not  prevail  in  the  West  Indian  colonies  of  that  power.  To  this  end, 
Don  Pedro  de  Vargass  was  sworn.  He  deposed  that,  during  the  early 
part  of  his  life,  he  had  been  regularly  initiated  and  admitted  to  the  ofl&cb 
of  an  advocate  of  the  Spanish  law-courts  in  the  colonies ;  that  he  had 
practised  after  his  admission,  in  the  regular  course,  for  two  years,  and  had 
resided  at  five  or  six  of  the  West  India  islands,  in  tlie  pursuit  of  his  pro- 
fession ;  and  that,  according  to  his  knowledge  of  tlie  Book  of  Recapitula- 
tion, by  which  the  laws  were  administered,  there  was  nothing  contained  in 
it  to  justify  the  infliction  of  torture,  nor  was  torture,  to  his  knowledge, 


428  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

evLT  resorted  to.  There  was  a  law  of  Old  Castile,  of  the  year  1260,  which 
justified  the  torture  in  certain  cases,  but  he  never  understood  that  it 
extended  to  the  West  Indies,  and  it  was  so  much  abhorred  in  Spain,  that 
it  was  either  repealed,  or  had  fallen  entirely  into  disuse. 

I\Ir.  Dallas  and  Mr.  Garrow  then  severally  addressed  the  jury  ;  and  Lord 
EUenborouoh  in  summing  up,  recommended  them  to  divest  their  minds  of 
every  feeling  which  they  might  have  contracted  in  the  course  of  the  present 
trial,  and  to  throw  every  part  of  the  case  out  of  their  consideration,  except 
that  which  related  to  this  simple  point : — What  was  the  law  by  which  the 
island  of  Trinidad  was  governed  at  the  period  of  its  capture  by  the  British  ? 
It  was  for  the  consideration  of  the  jury  whether  the  law  then  subsisting  au- 
thorised personal  torture  to  be  inflicted.  By  the  indulgence  of  the  govern- 
ment of  this  country,  the  subsisting  law  was  to  continue ;  the  question  was, 
What  was  that  subsisting  law  ?  The  jury  would  observe,  that  it  did  not 
necessarily  follow,  because  Trinidad  was  a  colony  of  Old  Spain,  that  it  must 
therefore,' in  every  part,  have  the  laws  of  Old  Spain.  It  did  not  origi- 
nally form  any  part  of  that  country,  but  had  been  annexed  to  it ;  and  on 
what  terms  there  was  no  positive  evidence.  It  did  not  appear  that  either 
the  schedule  peculiar  to  this  island,  or  the  recapitulation,  embraced  the  cri- 
minal law,  or  made  any  mention  of  torture.  So,  if  torture  did  subsist  in 
this  island,  it  must  be  on  the  authority  of  law  books  read  to  the  jury;  and  it 
■was  ascertained  by  several  persons,  apparently  of  competent  knowledge,  that 
torture  had  not,  within  their  recollection,  ever  been  practised  in  the  island. 
It  was,  therefore,  for  the  jury  to  say,  in  the  absence  of  all  positive  proof  on 
the  subject,  and  in  the  face  of  so  much  negative  evidence,  wliether  the  law 
of  Spain  was  so  fully  and  completely  established  in  Trinidad  as  to  make  tor- 
ture a  part  of  the  law  of  that  island.  Without  going  through  the  authorities, 
he  thought  the  jury  might  take  it  to  be  the  existing  law  of  Old  Spahi, 
that  torture  might  be  inflicted.  It  was  too  much  to  say,  that  a  disconti- 
nuance of  a  practice  could  repeal  a  law ;  but  they  had  to  determine  whe- 
ther they  were  convinced  that  torture  had  ever  been  part  of  the  law  of 
Trinidad  ;  and  also  whether  they  were  convinced  that  it  was  part  of  the  law 
of  Trinidad  at  the  time  of  its  capture.  If  so,  they  would  enter  a  special 
verdict;  if  otherwise  they  would  find  the  defendant  guilty. 

The  jury  found — There  was  no  such  law  existing  in  the  island  of  Tri- 
nidad, as  that  of  torture,  at  the  time  of  the  surrender  of  that  island  to  the 
British. 

Lord  Ellenborough — "  Then,  gentlemen.  General  Picton  cannot  derive 
any  protection  from  a  supposed  law,  after  you  have  found  that  no  such  law 
remained  in  that  island  at  the  surrender  of  it,  and  when  he  became  its 
governor ;  and  therefore  your  verdict  should  be,  that  he  is  guilty." 

By  the  direction  of  Lord  Ellenborough  they  therefore  found  the  defen- 
dant "  Guilty." 

The  trial  lasted  from  nine  in  the  morning  till  seven  at  night. 

Governor  Picton  walked  the  hall  of  the  courts  during  the  whole  of  the 
trial.  He  was  a  tall  man,  of  a  very  sallow  complexion,  apparently  about 
fifty  years  of  age,  and  was  dressed  in  black.  He  was  accompanied  by 
several  of  the  civil  ofiicers  of  the  island. 

Mr.  Dallas  moved  on  the  25th  of  April  for  a  new  trial,  upon  the  follow- 
ing grounds : — 

First,— The  infamous  character  of  the  girl,  who  lived  in  open  prostitu- 
tion with  Pedro   Ruiz,  and  who  had  been  privy  to  a  robbery  comimtted 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  429 

upon  her  paramour  by  Carlos  Gonzalez ;  and  that  when  a  complaint  laid 
against  her  had  been  brought  before  a  magistrate,  she,  refusing  to  confess, 
had  been  ordered  to  be  tortured. 

Secondly, — That  Governor  Picton,  who  condemned  her  to  this  torture, 
did  not  proceed  from  any  motives  of  malice,  but  from  a  conviction  that  tlio 
right  of  toi'ture  was  sanctioned  by  the  laws  of  Trinidad  ;  and  that  lie  was 
rooted  in  this  opinion  by  a  reference  to  the  legal  written  authorities  in  that 
island. 

Thirdly, — That  whatever  his  conduct  might  be,  it  was  certainly  neitlur 
personal  malice,  nor  disposition  to  tyranny,  but  resulted,  if  it  should  prove 
to  be  wrong,  from  a  misapprehension  of  the  laws  of  Trinidad. 

Fourtlily, — That  one  of  the  principal  witnesses  in  this  trial,  M.  Yargass, 
had  brought  forward  a  book,  entitled  "  Recopilacion  des  Leyes  des 
Indes,"  expressly  compiled  for  the  Spanish  colonies,  which  did  not  autho- 
rise torture  ;  and  tliat  the  defendant  had  no  opportunity  of  ever  seeing  that 
book  ;  but  it  had  been  purchased  by  the  British  Institution  at  the  sale  of 
the  lyiarquis  of  Lansdowne's  library,  subsequent  to  his  indictment,  and 
that  having  consulted  it,  it  appeared  that  when  that  code  was  silent  upon 
criminal  cases,  recourse  was  always  to  be  had  to  the  laws  of  Old  Spain, 
and  that  those  laws  sanctioned  the  torture. 

The  Court,  after  some  consideration,  granted  the  rule  to  show  cause  why 
a  new  trial  should  not  be  had,  and  as  the  second  trial,  which  was  eventu- 
ally allowed,  was  attended  with  a  different  result  from  that  of  the  first, 
we  think  it  no  more  than  just  to  the  memory  of  Governor  Picton  to  con- 
clude our  notice  of  this  affair  with  the  following  apology  for  his  conduct, 
which  is  extracted  from  a  respectable  montldy  publication : — 

"  In  an  evil  hour  the  British  Colonel  associated  with  him,  in  the  govern- 
ment of  the  island,  the  British  naval  commander  on  the  station,  and 
Colonel  Fullarton.  This  was,  as  might  naturally  have  been  expected,  and 
as  certainly  was  designed  by  one  of  the  parties,  the  origin  of  disputes 
and  the  source  of  anarchy.  It  is  well  known  that  Fullarton,  on  his 
return  to  England,  preferred  charges  against  Picton,  which  were  taken 
into  consideration  by  the  Privy  Council,  and  gave  rise  to  a  prosecution  that 
lasted  for  several  years.  No  pains  were  spared  to  sully  his  character,  to 
ruin  his  fortunes,  and  to  render  him  an  object  of  public  indignation.  A 
little  strumpet,  by  name  Louisa  Calderon,  who  cohabited  with  a  petty 
tradesman  in  the  capital  of  Trinidad,  let  another  paramour  into  his  house  (of 
which  she  had  the  charge)  during  his  absence,  who  robbed  him,  witli  her 
knowledge  and  privity,  of  all  he  was  worth  in  the  world.  The  girl  was 
taken  before  the  regular  judges  of  the  place ;  who,  in  the  course  of  their 
investigation,  ascertained  the  fact  that  she  was  privy  to  the  robbery,  and 
therefore  sentenced  her,  in  conformity  with  the  laws  of  Spain,  then  pre- 
valent in  the  island,  to  undergo  the  punishment  of  the  picket  (the  same  as 
is  adopted  in  our  own  regiments  of  horse) ;  but,  as  it  was  necessary  that 
this  sentence  should  receive  the  governor's  confirmation  before  it  could  be 
carried  into  effect,  a  paper,  stating  the  necessity  of  it,  was  sent  to  the 
government-house,  and  the  governor,  by  his  signature,  conveyed  his  assent 
to  the  judges.  The  girl  was  accordingly  picketed,  when  she  acknowledged 
the  facts  above  stated,  and  discovered  her  accomplice.  That  the  life  of 
this  girl  was  forfeited  by  the  laws  of  every  civilised  country  is  a  fact  that 
will  not  admit  of  dispute ;   yet  clemency  was  here  extended  to  her,  and 


430  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

she  was  released,  having  suffered  only  the  punishment  above  stated;  which 
was  so  slight,  that  she  walked  a  considerable  distance  to  the  prison,  witli- 
out  the  least  appearance  of  suffering,  immediately  after  it  was  inflicted. 
But  wliat  was  the  return  for  the  lenity  of  the  governor  ?  He  was  accused 
by  Colonel  Fullarton  of  having  put  this  girl  (whom  he  had  never  even 
seen)  to  the  torture,  contrary  to  law ;  and  the  caricaturists  of  Eno-land 
were  enlisted  in  the  service  of  persecution.  After  a  trial  which  seemed  to 
liave  no  end,  after  an  expense  of  seven  thousand  pounds,  which  must  have 
completed  his  ruin,  had  not  his  venerable  uncle,  General  Picton,  defrayed 
the  whole  costs  of  the  suit,  while  the  expenses  of  his  prosecutor  were  all 
paid  by  the  government,  his  honour  and  justice  were  established  on  the 
firmest  basis,  and  to  the  perfect  satisfaction  of  every  upright  mind." 


RICHARD  PATCH. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    MR.  BLIGHT. 

The  case  of  this  offender  is  one  of  those  which  fully  prove,  that  the 
most  wicked  caution,  the  most  deliberately  planned  sclieme,  or  the  most 
artful  preparatory  measures  to  attach  suspicion  to  some  other  than  the  real 
cause,  or  to  make  it  fall  upon  the  guiltless,  will  never  conceal  murder. 

Richard  Patch  was  born  in  the  year  1770,  at  the  village  of  Heavytree, 
Devonshire,  within  two  miles  of  Exeter,  and  his  family  had  a  name  some- 
what respectable  among  the  yeomen  of  the  county.  The  grandfather  of 
Patch  had  a  freehold  estate  in  land,  of  the  value  of  fifty  pounds  per  annum, 
in  a  neighbouring  village.  His  father,  according  to  the  custom  of  many  of 
the  petty  farmers  who  reside  on  the  sea-coast  in  the  distant  counties,  was 
a  smuggler,  and  he  was  noted  for  a  fierceness  and  an  unusual  degree  of 
intrepidity ;  but  as  the  life  of  a  smuggler  is  variable  in  its  scenes,  so  he 
was  doomed  to  change  his  bold  deeds  and  his  unlawful  proceedings  for  a 
quiet  sojourn  in  the  New  Gaol  at  Exeter,  where  he  was  sentenced  to  be 
imprisoned  for  twelve  months,  on  a  conviction  obtained  at  the  instance  of 
the  officers  of  Excise.  At  the  termination  of  the  ^Jeriod  of  his  imprison- 
ment, he  was  engaged  by  the  keeper  of  the  prison  as  a  gaoler,  and  he  con- 
tinued to  occupy  that  post  until  the  period  of  his  death.  He  left  several 
children,  of  whom  our  hero  was  the  eldest.  He  had  been  bound  apprentice 
to  a  butcher  at  Ebmere,  a  small  village,  the  most  notorious  in  the  county 
for  the  immorality  of  its  inhabitants,  and  it  is  exceedingly  probable  that 
his  mind  was  early  inured  to  thoughts  of  evil  deeds.  Upon  his  father's 
decease,  he  quitted  his  service  as  a  butcher,  and  taking  possession  of  the 
property,  to  which,  as  tlie  eldest  son,  he  was  entitled,  he  became  a  farmer. 
His  efforts,  however,  in  this  line  were  attended  with  no  success,  and  he 
was  soon  obliged  to  mortgage  the  property  which  he  possessed  for  more 
than  one -half  its  value. 

Some  years  were  afterwards  passed  at  Ebmere,  when  an  accident  drove 
him  from  his  home.  From  motives  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  examine, 
he  had  quarrelled  with  tlie  rector  of  his  parish,  and,  in  order  to  be 
revenged,  he  removed  the  produce  of  his  farm  from  his  land,  without  set- 
ting out  the  tenths  for  the  rector;  or,  in  other  words,  he  refused  to  pay 
the  titiies.     The  consequence  was  a  lawsuit,  and  an  immediate  action  in 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  431 

the  Exchequer.  Patch,  shuddering  at  the  expense  of  the  litigation,  and 
the  certain  result  which  awaited  him,  and  already  somewhat  emhar- 
rasscd  in  liis  circumstances,  quitted  Devonshire,  in  the  spring  of  the 
year  1803. 

Upon  liis  coming  to  London,  he  immediately  presented  himself  at  IMr. 
Blight's,  with  whom  his  sister,  at  that  time,  lived  as  a  menial  servant ; 
together  with  a  brother  of  his  who  was  brought  up  a  baker,  but,  for  some 
reasons  which  it  is  unnecessary  to  enter  into,  was  now  in  the  service  of 
Mr.  Blight,  as  a  kind  of  overseer  or  superintendant  in  tlie  shipping  business. 

]Mr.  Blight,  it  appears,  liad  formerly  been  a  "West  India  mercliant,  and 
nad  failed;  upon  which  he  engaged  in  the  ship-breaking  business,  and  was 
at  this  time  carrying  it  on  with  great  success. 

Patch  had  not  long  entered  the  service  of  Mr.  Blight,  when,  from  jea- 
lousy or  some  uneasiness,  his  brother  quitted  it.  He  had  been  disappointed 
in  endeavouring  to  set  up  for  himself  in  the  business  of  a  baker  to 
which  he  was  bred ;  and  this  mortification,  aggravated  by  the  conduct 
of  his  brother  Richard,  excited  such  a  disgust  in  his  mind,  that  he  imme- 
diately went  to  sea,  sailed  to  the  West  Indies,  where  he  soon  died  a  victim 
to  the  yellow  fever. 

The  thoughts  of  a  partnership  with  his  employer  ere  long  struck  our 
hero,  and  he  was  induced  to  look  upon  the  scheme  with  some  anticipations 
of  its  realisation,  hoping  to  be  able  to  purchase  a  share  of  the  business 
with  the  proceeds  of  his  estate  in  Devonshire.  He,  in  consequence,  pro- 
ceeded into  that  county,  and  having  disposed  of  his  land,  he  cleared  off  all 
its  encumbrances,  and  received  a  sum  of  350^.  as  the  surplus,  after  the 
payment  of  all  expenses.  On  his  return  to  London  at  the  close  of  the 
year  1804,  he  made  his  desire  known  to  his  employer,  and  he  paid  over  to 
him  a  sum  of  250^.  as  a  portion  of  the  purchase-money,  and  deposited  the 
remainder  in  the  hands  of  a  banker. 

The  exact  nature  of  the  agreement  made  does  not  appear,  but  whatever 
the  negotiations  may  have  been,  they  were  suddenly  stopped  by  the  murder 
of  Mr.  Blight,  who  was  mortally  wounded,  while  sitting  in  his  own  house, 
by  a  pistol  discharged  by  an  unseen  hand,  on  the  23rd  September  1805. 
The  extraordinary  nature  of  the  murder,  and  the  still  more  singular  method 
of  its  perpetration  attracted  universal  attention,  and  a  minute  investigation 
of  all  the  circumstances  having  taken  place  before  Mr.  Graham  a  magis- 
trate, suspicion  fell  upon  Patch,  and  he  was  committed  to  prison. 

His  trial  came  on  at  the  Surrey  assizes,  continued  by  adjournment  to 
Horsemonger-lane,  in  the  Borough,  on  Saturday,  5th  April  1806.  In  the 
mean  time  the  interest  produced  in  reference  to  the  case  was  of  the  most 
extraordinary  nature. 

By  five  o'clock  in  the  morning  of  the  trial,  a  vast  concourse  of  the  popu- 
lace had  assembled,  and  on  the  opening  of  the  Court  it  was  with  the  utmost 
difficulty  that  the  law-officers  and  others  could  obtain  an  entrance.  The 
Dukes  of  Sussex,  Cumberland,  and  Orleans  ;  Lords  Portsmouth,  Grantley, 
Cranley,  jMontford,  William  Russel,  Deerluirst,  and  G.  Seymour;  Sir 
John  Frederick,  Sir  John  Shelley,  Sir  Thomas  Turton,  Sir  William  Clayton, 
Sir  J.i\Iawby;  Count Woronzow,  the  Russian  ambassador,  and  his  secretary, 
were  present.  The  magistrates  had  made  every  accommodation  that  the 
Ccurt  would  admit  of:  and  a  box  was  fitted  up  for  the  royal  family. 

The  prisoner  was  conducted  into  court  soon  after  nine  o'clock,  and  took 


432  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

liis  station  at  the  jar,  attended  by  two  or  three  friends.  He  w.is  genteelly 
dressed  in  bLick,  and  perfect  composure  marked  his  countenance  and  man- 
ner. Precisely  at  ten  o'clock,  the  Lord  Chief  Baron  IVIacdonald  took  his 
seat  on  the  bench  ;  and  to  the  indictment  the  prisoner  pleaded,  in  an 
audible  voice,  "  Not  guilty." 

He  peremptorily  challenged  three  jurors ;  after  which  a  jury  was 
sworn,  and  the  indictment  read. 

The  first  witness  called  was  INIr.  Richard  Frost,  a  publican,  who  kept  the 
Dog  and  Duck.  The  first  part  of  liis  testimony  related  merely  to  the  fact  of 
the  death  of  ]\Ir.  Blight.  He  stated,  tliat  on  the  morning  of  the  23rd  of 
September  last,  he  was  sent  for  by  the  prisoner,  in  consequence  of  the 
deceased  having  been  killed  by  a  pistol-shot :  he  went,  and  found  him 
leaning  on  his  hands  and  wounded. 

Mr.  Astley  Cooper  said  he  was  called  in  to  the  assistance  of  Mr.  Blight. 
Upon  examining  him  he  found  he  had  received  a  wound  near  the  navel, 
and  anotlier  in  tlie  groin.  He  observed  that  they  were  gun-shot  wounds  ; 
and  as  the  body  of  the  deceased  was  considerably  inflated,  he  pronounced 
them  mortal  :  he  observed  the  bowels  coming  through  the  wounds.  The 
next  morning,  at  seven  o'clock,  Patch  came  to  him,  said  the  deceased  was 
in  extreme  pain,  and  wished  to  know  whether  anything  could  be  done  for 
him.  The  witness  told  him  he  feared  there  could  not ;  but  he  rose  and 
went  to  him,  and  found  him  in  a  very  swollen  state.  He  promised  to  return 
in  the  afternoon  with  a  physician.  He  went  to  town,  and  came  back  with 
Dr.  Barrington  ;  but  Mr.  Blight  had  been  dead  about  three  quarters  of  an 
hour.  He  had  not  the  smallest  doubt  that  the  wounds  were  the  occasion 
of  his  death. 

Richard  Frost  was  again  called  up  to  speak  to  the  firing  of  the  gun. 
He  stated  that  on  Thursday,  the  19th,  "  there  was  a  report  of  the  firing  of 
a  gun  at  jNIr.  Blight's  house  ;"  he  went  out  to  ascertain  the  cause,  but  did 
not  perceive  any  person  coming  from  the  premises  ;  and  he  was  in  a  situa- 
tion in  which,  had  the  person  who  fired  it  attempted  to  make  his  escape, 
he  must  have  observed  him  ;  it  was  about  eight  o'clock  in  the  evening,  and 
it  was  dark  ;  but  he  was  near  enough  to  have  seen  any  one  run  away,  or 
climb  the  wall. 

]\Iiss  Ann  Davis  and  I\Iiss  JVIartha  Davis,  sisters,  who  happened  to  be 
walking  by  the  premises  in  a  different  direction  from  the  last  witness, 
stated,  tliat  they  also  saw  the  flash,  and  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  and 
must  liave  seen  any  person  attempting  to  escape ;  but  all  was  quiet,  and 
they  concluded  tliat  the  gun  was  fired  by  some  one  on  the  premises. 

After  this  head  of  evidence,  to  establish  that  the  gun  fired  on  the  Thurs- 
day preceding  the  death  of  Mr.  Blight,  was  not  by  any  stranger,  but  by 
the  prisoner,  witnesses  were  called  to  relate  the  circumstances  which 
occurred  on  the  23rd. 

Mr.  ]\Iichael  Wright  .stated  that  he  was  going  past  I\Ir.  Bliglit's  house 
a  little  after  eight,  when  he  heard  the  report  of  a  pistol  in  the  house ;  and 
haviiig  become  acquainted  by  the  rumour  of  the  farmer  attempt,  he  was 
induced  to  go  up  to  the  house  with  a  view  to  offer  his  assistance.  He 
knocked  for  some  time  and  was  not  admitted  ;  but  insisting  on  having  the 
door  opened,  Patch  made  his  appearance,  and  began  informing  him  what 
a  dreadful  accident  had  happened.  The  witness  was  impatient  at  hearing 
this  story ;  he  thought  that  some  means  should  be  rather  adopted  to  pursue 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  433 

the  uiurderer,  and  recommended  Patch  to  commission  him  to  apply  tc 
Bow-street,  as  an  inquiry  taking  place  instantly  after  the  assassination 
would  most  probably  be  attended  with  success.  Patch  seemed  reluctant, 
and  thought  that  no  good  effect  could  result  from  it.  The  witness  there- 
fore went  away. 

Hester  Kitchener  s  evidence  applied  to  the  two  days.  She  stated  that 
on  the  19th  she  had  been  ordered  by  the  prisoner  to  shut  up  the  shuttei'S 
of  the  house  earlier  than  usual.  Her  master  and  mistress  were  then  at 
Margate.  At  eight  o'clock  the  prisoner  sent  her  out  for  some  oysters ; 
and  as  she  returned,  she  heard  the  report  of  a  gun,  but  she  did  not  see  any 
one.  "When  she  saw  Patch,  he  cried,  "  Oh,  Hester,  I  have  been  shot  at ! " 
She  rejoined,  "  Lord  forbid  !  "  They  then  looked  for  the  ball,  which  she 
found.  The  witness  continued  to  state  that  her  master  returned  to  town 
on  the  Monday  morning ;  that  in  the  evening  he  and  the  prisoner  drank 
tea  together  in  the  back  parlour,  and  afterwards  had  some  grog.  Her 
master  was  fatigued,  heavy,  and  sleepy  with  his  journey  and  the  liquor  ; 
and  Patch  came  down  in  a  hurry  to  her  in  the  kitchen,  and  complaininof 
of  a  pain  in  his  bowels,  wanted  a  light  to  go  into  the  yard.  She  gave  it  to 
him,  as  also  a  key  of  the  counting-house,  through  which  it  was  necessary 
he  should  pass.  She  heard  him  enter  the  back  place  and  slam  the  door 
after  him,  and  immediately  after,  she  heard  the  report  of  a  pistol.  Her 
master  ran  down  into  the  kitchen,  exclaiming,  "  Oh,  Hester,  I  am  a  dead 
man  !  "  and  supported  himself  upon  the  dresser.  She  ran  up  to  shut  the 
door  ;  and  as  she  was  half-way  down  the  passage,  on  her  return,  she 
heard  Patch  knocking  violently  for  admittance.  He  asked  what  was  the 
matter  ;  she  told  him  ;  on  which  he  went  down  and  oflfered  his  assistance. 
He  asked  the  deceased  if  he  knew  of  any  one  who  could  owe  him  a  grudge  ? 
Mr.  Blight  answered,  "  No,  as  he  was  not  at  enmity  with  any  man  in  the 
world." 

Mr.  Christopher  Morgan  said  that  he  was  passing  by  when  the  fatal 
shot  was  fired  ;  he  went  to  the  house,  and  saw  Mr.  Blight  lying  in  a 
wounded  situation,  and  recommended  Mr.  Patch,  in  the  first  instance,  to 
search  the  premises  all  over.  Patch  told  him  to  go  and  search  an  old  ship 
that  was  off  the  wharf,  as  he  had  reason  to  think  that  the  perpetrator 
might  have  escaped  there ;  for  he  heard  a  noise  in  that  direction  on  the 
night  when  the  gun  was  previously  fired  ;  and  he  went,  but  found  that  the 
ship  was  lying  at  the  distance  of  sixteen  feet  from  the  wharf ;  that  it  was 
low  water  :  that  from  the  top  of  the  wharf  to  the  mud  was  ten  feet ;  that 
the  soil  was  soft  mud,  and  that  any  one  who  might  attempt  to  escape  that 
way  must  have  been  up  to  his  middle.  Besides,  the  mud  did  not  bear  the 
appearance  of  any  one  having  passed  through  it ;  and  he  was,  therefore, 
perfectly  convinced  that  no  one  escaped  over  the  wharf  towards  tlie  water. 

Six  other  persons,  who  happened  to  be  in  different  directions  leading 
from  Mr.  Blight's  house  to  the  public  roads,  most  distinctly  proved,  that 
when  the  shot  was  fired  which  killed  Mr.  Blight,  everything  was  quiet 
on  the  outside  of  the  premises  ;  that  there  was  no  appearance  of  any  person 
attempting  to  escape ;  and  if  there  had  been,  that  there  was  no  possi- 
bility of  his  eluding  observation. 

The  next  series  of  evidence  went  to  show  that  the  prisoner  was  carrying 
on  a  system  of  delusion  and  fraud  against  the  deceased,  in  respect  to  certain 
pecuniary  transactions  between  them.     It  was  proved  by  Mrs.  Blight,  tha 

VOL.  1,  3  k 


434  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

deceased's  widow,  that  her  husband,  who  had  fallen  into  some  embarrass- 
mtnts,  had,  in  order  to  mask  his  property,  made  a  nominal  assignment  of 
it  to  Patch  ;  but  the  assignment  was  not  to  be  carried  into  eiFect,  unless 
the  trustees  of  his  creditors  should,  as  he  apprehended,  become  importu- 
nate. This  confidential  assignment  Patch  wished  to  convert  into  an  abso- 
lute sale,  for  consideration  given  on  his  part  ;  but  ]\Irs.  Blight  declared 
that  he  had  never  paid  her  husband  any  money,  excepting  two  liundred  and 
fifty  pounds,  part  of  one  thousand  two  hundred  and  fifty  pounds,  the  con- 
sideration for  a  share  of  his  business. 

The  next  branch  of  evidence  referred  to  the  stockings  which  the  prisoner 
had  on  the  night  that  Mr.  Blight  lost  his  life.  It  was  proved  that  he 
generally  wore  boots ;  but  the  witnesses'  memory  enabled  them  to  say  that 
he  had  white  stockings  on  during  the  evening  of  the  23rd.  Mr.  Stafford, 
of  the  police-oiSce,  stated  that,  on  examining  the  bed-room  of  Mr.  Patch, 
they  were  folded  up  like  a  clean  pair,  but  that,  on  opening  them,  the  soles 
appeared  dirty,  as  if  a  person  had  walked  in  them  without  shoes  :  the  in- 
ference from  this  was,  that  the  prisoner  had  taken  off  his  shoes  in  order 
that  lie  might  walk  out  of  the  necessary  without  being  heard  by  the  maid. 

The  last  important  fact  was  the  discovery  of  the  ramrod  of  a  pistol  in 
the  privy,  and  the  proof  that  that  place  had  not  recently  been  visited  by 
any  person  suffering  under  a  bowel  complaint.  This,  and  a  vast  variety 
of  circumstantial  evidence,  concluded  the  case  on  the  part  of  the  crown. 

The  prisoner  being  called  upon  for  his  defence,  delivered  in  a  long  and 
elaborate  address,  supposed  to  have  been  written  by  his  counsel,  which  he 
requested  might  be  read  by  the  officer  of  the  court :  it  began  by  thanking 
the  learned  judge  for  moving  his  trial  from  a  place  where  prejudice  might 
have  operated  against  him  ;  complained  much  of  that  prejudice  having  been 
excited  against  him  by  premature  reports  in  the  public  journals  ;  and  then 
entered  into  a  general  train  of  argument,  inferring,  that  in  a  case  of  life  and 
death,  a  jury  ought  not  to  convict  upon  circumstantial  evidence ;  the  more 
especially  where  the  proof  appeared,  as  in  the  present  case,  so  dubious.  He 
stated  that  whatever  might  be  the  result  of  their  judgment  upon  the  evidence, 
it  was  almost  a  matter  of  indifference  to  him  on  his  own  account ;  for  he 
was  borne  down  and  subdued  by  the  unjust  prejudices  of  the  public,  by  the 
long  imprisonment  he  had  endured,  and  by  the  enormous  expenses  to 
which  he  had  been  subjected ;  but  he  had  those  relations  who  made  life 
dear  to  him :  he  had  children  who  looked  to  him  for  support,  and  who 
would  not  only  be  dishonoured,  but  ruined  by  his  death.  The  only 
evidence  which  he  adduced  was  that  of  three  persons  who  spoke  to  his 
general  character. 

The  Lord  Chief  Baron  summed  up  the  evidence  in  the  most  perspicuous 
manner,  occupying  nearly  two  hours  in  commenting  upon  every  part  of  it ; 
when  the  jury  retired  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  and  on  their  return 
pronounced  a  verdict  of  Guilty. 

His  lordship  then  proceeded  to  pronounce  the  awful  sentence  of  the  law. 
He  observed,  that  the  prisoner  had  begun  his  career  of  guilt  in  a  system 
of  fraud  towards  his  friend ;  he  had  continued  it  in  ingratitude,  and  had 
terminated  it  in  blood.  He  then  directed  that  he  should  be  executed  on 
Monday,  and  that  his  body  should  be  delivered  for  dissection. 

Patch,  who  had  the  appearance  of  a  decent  yeoman,  and  was  about 
thirty-eight  years  of  age,  during  the  whole  of  the  trial  never  betrayed  the 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALEIVDAK  43.'> 

slightest  symptom  of  embarrassment :  his  appearance  evinced  a  seeming 
composure,  which  innocence  alone  could  manifest,  or  the  most  consummate 
villany  could  counterfeit.  He  heard  the  dreadful  sentence  with  a  degree 
of  apathy,  as  if  he  had  previously  made  up  his  mind  to  the  event.  The 
execution  was  eventually  deferred  till  the  next  Tuesdaj'^,  it  being  deemed 
advisable  that  he  should  suffer  with  a  man  and  his  wife,  Benjamin  and 
Sarah  Herring,  who  had  been  convicted  at  Kingston,  March  28,  of  coining, 
in  order  to  obviate  the  inconvenience  of  having  two  public  executions  fol- 
lowing each  other  so  closely.  It  was  in  consequence  of  this  suggestion  of 
Mr.  Ives,  the  keeper,  to  the  Chief  Baron  (who,  with  the  Dukes  of  Sussex 
and  Gloucester,  retired  to  his  house  after  the  trial),  that  his  lordship  was 
induced  to  order  the  respite,  which  he  wrote  thus  on  the  margin  of  the 
first  order  for  execution  :  — 

"  Let  the  execution  be  respited  till  Tuesday,  the  8tli  day  of  April,  1806. 

"•  A.  Macdonald." 

It  seems  that  Herring  and  his  wife  had  carried  on  the  trade  of  coining 
to  a  great  extent,  at  their  own  house  in  St.  George's  Fields.  On  searcliing 
their  premises,  a  complete  set  of  coining  implements,  punches,  aquafortis, 
&c.,  were  found,  besides  upwards  of  seventy  shillings,  a  quantity  of  dol- 
lars, half-crowns,  and  sixpences,  all  ready  for  circulation. 

But  to  return  to  Patch. — This  criminal,  after  condemnation,  remained 
perfectly  calm  and  unembarrassed.  He  slept  well  during  the  greater  part 
of  the  Saturday  night,  rose  at  nine  o'clock  on  the  next  morning,  and  attended 
divine  service  at  half-past  ten.  About  a  quarter  before  eleven,  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Mann,  the  ordinary,  preached  tlie  condemned  sermon,  in  a  style  the 
most  impressive  and  affecting ;  to  which  Mr.  Patch  paid  becoming  atten- 
tion. On  his  return,  he  looked  the  gaoler  steadfastly  in  the  face  for  about 
two  minutes,  and  then  ejaculated,  "I  am  innocent;"  but  he  appeared 
composed  as  usual  during  the  remainder  of  the  day.  He  continued  to 
preserve  a  sullen  silence  until  Monday  afternoon,  when  that  composure  which 
had  marked  his  countenance  left  him.  He  was  informed  by  the  ordinary 
of  the  gaol,  that  his  friends  approached  to  take  their  last  farewell  of  him 
for  ever,  when  he  gave  up  all  hope  of  a  reprieve,  and  exclaimed,  "  Is  no 
mercy  to  be  expected  ?"  His  relations,  viz.,  his  sister,  who  had  lived  with 
Mr.  Blight,  a  younger  brother,  who  bore  a  strong  resemblance  in  person 
to  the  unfortunate  man,  and  a  brother-in-law,  with  his  wife,  a  nephew, 
and  another  distant  relation,  were  admitted  to  him,  and  remained  with 
him  until  three  o'clock,  when  they  took  their  last  farewell.  Patch  was 
now  most  sensibly  affected,  and  the  scene  was  truly  distressing.  He  em- 
braced each  of  his  relatives,  and  wept  bitterly,  clinging  to  them  until  the 
moment  had  arrived  when  their  absence  was  required.  After  this  affecting 
scene,  Mr.  Ives,  the  governor  of  the  prison,  went  to  his  cell,  and  Patch 
here  utterred  an  expression  adequate  to  a  confession  of  his  guilt.  He  said, 
"  I  have  confessed  my  sins  to  God ;  man  can  give  me  no  relief."  He 
was  also  visited  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mann,  and  three  dissenting  ministers. 
In  their  interviews  with  him  he  evinced  the  strongest  proofs  of  a  penitent 
sinner  ;  but  invariably  declined  to  give  any  answer  to  tlie  urgent  entreaties 
of  the  clergymen  to  acknowledge  the  crime  for  which  he  was  to  die.  Mr 
Graham,  the  magistrate  who  committed  him  to  prison,  was  the  last  person 
admitted  to  see  him  on  this  night.  Before  they  parted  Mr.  Patch  took 
him  by  the  hand,  and  said,  emphatically,  "  We  shall,  I  trust,  meet  iu 
Heaven." 


43f>  THE    NEW   NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

The  three  dissenting  ministers  remained  with  him  during  the  night,  and 
ne  appeared  extremely  penitent  and  devout. 

At  about  half-past  six  o'clock  on  Tuesday  morning,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mann, 
and  the  curate  of  the  Rev.  Mr.  Rowland  Hill,  came  to  the  prison,  and 
after  a  short  interview  Patch  and  Herring  received  the  sacrament,  Mrs. 
Herring,  who  was  a  Catholic,  being  left  with  a  priest,  the  Rev.  Mr 
Griffiths. 

About  five  minutes  before  nine  o'clock  the  high-sheriff  demanded  the 
bodies  of  the  unfortunate  sufferers ;  and  immediately  after,  they  began  to 
move  in  the  usual  order,  followed  by  Mr.  Ives,  the  keeper  of  the  prison. 
When  they  got  to  the  open  yard.  Herring  and  his  wife  were  placed  on  a 
sledge,  and  drawn  to  the  entrance  of  the  stair  -case  leading  to  the  apparatus 
for  the  execution,  from  which  they  ascended  the  stairs  with  as  much  firm- 
ness as  could  be  expected.     Patch  displayed  his  usual  intrepidity. 

While  Jack  Ketch  was  fastening  the  ropes,  the  Rev.  Mr.  Mann  attended 
Patch,  and,  for  the  last  time,  attempted  to  draw  from  him  a  confession,  but 
with  no  better  success.  The  sheriff  then  went  to  him,  and  entreated  him 
to  confess  ;  but  he  steadfastly  refused.  At  this  time  the  cap  was  drawn 
upon  his  face,  and  everything  prepared  to  launch  him  into  eternity.  Ap- 
parently displeased  at  being  pressed  so  much  upon  the  subject,  he  now  threw 
himself  considerably  back  with  impatience.  From  the  violent  motion  of  his 
body,  some  of  the  spectators  supposed  that  he  meant  to  break  his  neck,  as 
Avershaw  did  on  Kennington-common  ;  Mr.  Ives  immediately  went  to  him 
and  said,  "  My  good  friend,  what  are  you  about  ?"  and  they  conversed  to- 
gether for  about  a  minute  and  a  half.  The  unfortunate  prisoners  were  then 
immediately  put  to  death  by  the  falling  of  the  drop. 

The  execution  took  place  on  the  8th  of  April,  1806. 

The  body  of  Patch,  after  hanging  the  usual  time,  was  taken  to  the  hos- 
pital of  the  prison,  in  order  to  be  anatomised  by  the  county  surgeon.  He 
was  an  athletic,  broad-shouldered  man,  about  five  feet  seven  inches  high, 
and  to  the  last  maintained  his  florid  looks,  which,  however,  were  constitu- 
tional, and  not  the  effect  of  any  extraordinary  degree  of  determination. 


WILLIAM  DUNCAN, 

20NVICTED    OF    THE    MORDER    OF    HIS    MASTER. 

This  case  is  worthy  of  remark  from  the  singular  mode  in  which  the 
murder  of  the  unfortunate  gentleman,  the  employer  of  the  prisoner,  was 
committed.  It  appears  that  Duncan  was  in  the  service  of  3Ir.  Chivers,  a 
gentleman  between  seventy  and  eighty  years  of  age,  and  much  troubled 
with  tlie  gout,  who  resided  at  Clapham-common,  as  gardener.  On  the 
morning  of  the  24th  of  January,  1807,  he  was  at  work  as  usual  in  the 
warden,  when  his  master,  according  to  his  custom,  went  out  to  him  to 
supermtend  his  proceedings.  At  about  half-past  1 1  o'clock,  the  gardener 
suddenly  ran  in  doors,  exclaiming,  "  Lord,  what  have  I  done  ;  I  have 
struck  my  master,  and  he  has  fallen,"  and  immediately  left  the  house.  The 
footman  proceeded  into  the  garden  to  discover  what  had  happened,  and 
found  his  master  lying  on  the  ground,  with  his  face  most  frightfully  cut. 
He  directly  procured  surgical  aid,  when  it  was  found  that  Mr.  Chiver* 


THE    XEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  437 

nad  received  a  wound  with  a  spade,  the  end  of  which  had  entered  the  lower 
])art  of  his  nose,  had  broken  both  his  jaw-bones,  and  had  penetrated  nearly 
to  a  line  with  his  ear?,  so  that  liis  head  was  almost  divided.  The  unfor- 
tunate gentleman  died  immediately  afterwards,  and  the  prisoner  was  sub- 
sequently secured,  and  committed  to  Horsemonger-lane  gaol. 

The  prisoner  was  indicted  at  the  ensuing  assizes,  when  the  offence  hav- 
ing been  brought  home  to  him  by  the  witnesses  for  the  prosecution,  he  was 
called  on  for  his  defence.     He  then  addressed  the  Court  as  follows  : — 

"  I  beg  leave  to  assure  your  lordship  that  I  never  bore  Mr.  Chivers  any 
malice  whatever.  On  Saturday  morning  I  had  been  employed  in  digging 
some  ground,  and  with  my  spade  in  my  hand  I  went  to  the  green-house 
to  give  it  some  air,  and  there  I  left  my  spade.  I  then  went  for  some 
refreshment,  at  eleven  o'clock  in  the  morning,  as  was  usual,  and,  on  going 
into  the  kitchen,  I  saw  the  footman,  of  Avhom  I  asked  how  long  it  was 
since  Mr.  Chivers  went  out.  I  went  into  the  garden,  and  to  the  green- 
house, into  which  I  let  a  little  more  air,  and,  with  my  spade  in  my  hand, 
I  looked  at  a  vine.  I  saw  j\Ir.  Chivers,  told  him  that  I  had  finished  my 
digging,  and  said  I  was  very  sorry  to  have  left  so  good  a  place,  and  now 
to  be  turned  off.  A  few  words  passed  between  Mr.  Chivers  and  me;  and 
tlie  last  expression  he  used  was,  '  You  scoundrel,  I  will  break  your  skull.' 
He  shook  his  cane  over  me;  lie  made  an  attempt  to  strike  at  me,  when  I, 
turning  aside,  escaped;  he  again  endeavoured  to  strike,  and  I  avoided  the 
blow.  After  this  he  followed  me  up  with  his  cane,  and  I  then  had,  as  I 
before  said,  a  spade  in  my  hand.  I  raised  the  spade,  and  to  my  surprise 
struck  him. 

"  Immediately  afterwards  I  went  into  the  green-house,  with  the  full  in- 
tention of  taking  away  my  own  life,  but  I  had  not  sufficient  courage  to  do 
it.  I  then  went  into  the  kitchen,  and  called  Henry,  who  said  '  What  is 
the  matter?'  and  I  replied,  '  Good  Lord,  I  have  struck  my  master,  and 
lie  fell!'  I  went  out  towards  Clapham,  and  the  first  persons  I  saw  were 
a  butler  and  a  gardener.  I  went  to  the  garden  of  JMr.  Robert  Tliornton, 
and  asked  for  Mr.  Dixon,  who  is  one  of  the  gardeners.  They  said  he  was 
cutting  a  vine;  but  they  went  to  him,  and  Mr.  Dixon  sent  me  word  that 
I  might  come  to  him.  I  then  informed  Mr.  Dixon  of  what  had  happened, 
and  upon  his  advice  surrendered  myself  into  custody." 

Witnesses  having  been  called,  who  gave  the  prisoner  an  excellent  cha- 
racter, the  jury  found  him  guilty,  and  he  was  sentenced  to  be  executed 
on  the  following  Monday  in  the  usual  form.  He  was,  however,  twice 
respited,  and  eventually  ordered  to  be  transported  for  life. 


JOHN  HOLLOWAY  AND  OWEN  HAGGERTY, 


EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 


The  fatal  accident  which  happened  on  the  spot  and  at  the  moment  of 
the  execution  of  these  men,  by  which  more  than  forty  people  lost  their 
lives,  and  many  more  were  terribly  bruised,  will  cause  their  memory,  aa 
well  as  their  crimes,  to  remain  a  dreadful  warning  to  many  generations. 
Their  whole  case  was  attended  with  singular  and  awful  circumstances.    Of 


438  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

their  guilt  many  entertained  doubts,  which  are  not  yet  entirely  removed, 
although  no  further  discovery  has  been  made  respecting  the  horrid  deed ;  and 
as  lately  as  the  year  1813,  a  man  named  Ward  was  indicted  for  the  same 
murder,  but  acquitted.  Their  conviction  rested,  certainly,  upon  the  evi- 
dence of  a  wretch  as  base  as  themselves,  who  stated  himself  to  have  been 
their  accomplice;  but  the  public  indignation  against  them  was  excited  to 
such  a  pitch,  that  it  is  scarcely  to  be  wondei'ed  at  that  a  jury  pronounced 
them  guilty. 

On  the  6th  of  November,  1802,  Mr.  John  Cole  Steele,  who  kept  the 
Lavender  Warehouse  in  Catliarine-street,  Strand,  was  murdered,  with 
much  barbarity,  on  Hounslow  Heath,  and  his  pockets  rifled  of  their  con- 
tents. Tlie  murderers  escaped;  and,  though  rewards  were  offered  for  their 
apprehension,  no  discovery  was  made. 

Every  searcli  had  been  made  by  the  officers  of  the  police  after  them; 
several  loose  characters  had  been  apprehended  on  suspicion,  but  discharged 
on  examination;  and  all  hopes  had  been  given  up  of  tracing  the  murderers, 
when  a  circumstance  occurred,  about  four  years  afterwards,  which  led  to 
the  apprehension  of  John  Holloway  and  Owen  Haggerty. — A  man  of  the 
name  of  Benjamin  Hanfield,  who  had  been  convicted,  at  the  Old  Bailey, 
of  grand  larceny,  in  stealing  a  pair  of  shoes,  was  sentenced  to  seven  years' 
transportation,  and  was  conveyed  on  board  a  hulk  at  Portsmouth,  to  await 
his  departure  for  New  South  Wales ;  but  having  been  taken  with  a  severe 
illness,  and  being  tortured  in  his  mind  by  the  apparent  recollection  of  a 
murder,  about  which  he  constantly  raved,  he  said  he  wished  to  make  a 
discovery  before  he  died.  A  messenger  was  immediately  despatched  to  the 
police  magistrates  at  Bow-street,  to  communicate  the  circumstance,  and 
an  officer  was  sent  to  bring  him  before  them.  When  he  was  brought  on 
shore,  they  were  obliged  to  wait  several  days,  during  which  his  illness 
would  not  permit  his  removal.  On  his  arrival  in  town,  he  made  a  full 
disclosure  of  the  circumstances  attending  the  murder  of  Mr.  Steele,  and  the 
magistrates  having  sent  him,  in  custody  of  an  officer,  to  Hounslow  Heath, 
he  there  pointed  out  the  fatal  spot  where  the  murder  was  perpetrated.  As 
his  evidence  implicated  Haggerty  and  Holloway,  measures  were  taken  to 
apprehend  them,  and,  after  a  long  search,  they  were  taken  into  custody. 
Several  private  examinations  of  all  the  parties  took  place.  Hanfield  was 
admitted  king's  evidence,  and  the  public  once  more  cherished  a  hope  that 
the  murderers  would  meet  the  punishment  they  deserved. 

Monday,  February  9,  I8O7,  being  the  day  appointed  for  the  final 
examination  of  the  prisoners,  they  were  brought  before  Mr.  Moser,  at 
Worship-street  Police-office. 

There  was  a  great  body  of  evidence  adduced,  none  of  which  tended  ma- 
terially to  criminate  tlie  prisoners,  except  that  of  Hanfield,  the  accomplice, 
who,  under  the  promise  of  pardon,  had  turned  king's  evidence.  The  pri- 
soners denied  having  any  knowledge  whatever  of  the  crime  laid  to  their 
charge,  and  heartily  hoped  that  punishment  would  come  to  the  guilty;  but, 
the  magistrates,  after  maturely  considering  the  whole  of  the  proofs  ad- 
duced, thought  proper  to  commit  them  for  trial  at  the  next  sessions  at  the 
Old  Bailey,  and  bound  over  no  less  than  twenty-four  persons  to  appear  and 
give  evidence  on  the  trial. 

Such  was  the  eager  curiosity  of  the  public  to  know  the  issue  of  this  triol, 
which  came  on  February  20,  before  Sir  Simon  Le  Blanc,  knight,  that  the 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  439 

whole  Court  and  area  of  the  Old  Bailey  were  greatly  crowded. — "When  put 
to  the  bar,  Holloway  appeared  to  be  about  forty  years  of  age,  of  great  mus- 
cular streno-th,  tall,  and  of  savage,  brutal,  and  ferocious  countenance,  with 
large  thick  lips,  depressed  nose,  and  high  cheek  bones.  Haggerty  was  a 
small  man,  twenty-four  years  of  age. 

Evidence  was  then  adduced  to  show,  that  Mr.  Steele,  besides  his  resi- 
dence in  Catherine-street,  had  a  house  and  grounds  at  Feltham,  where  he 
cultivated  lavender  and  distilled  it  for  sale  in  London.  On  the  5th  of 
November,  1802,  he  left  Catherine-street,  giving  his  family  to  understand 
that  he  should  return  on  the  following  evening,  and  on  the  same  night  he 
arrived  at  Feltham.  On  the  next  afternoon  (Saturday)  he  quitted  Felt- 
ham  at  about  seven  o'clock,  on  his  way  back  to  London,  but  he  was 
never  seen  alive  by  any  member  of  his  family  afterwards.  His  continued 
absence  creating  alarm,  some  persons  were  employed  to  search  for  him,  and 
at  length  his  body  was  found  lying  at  the  bottom  of  a  ditch,  near  a  clump 
of  trees,  at  a  short  distance  from  the  barracks  on  Hounslow  Heath.  From 
the  wounds  which  appeared  about  his  person,  it  was  evident  that  his  death 
had  been  caused  by  violence,  and  Mr.  Frogley,  a  surgeon,  being  called  in, 
it  was  found  that  liis  skull  was  severely  fractured,  and  that  he  was  other- 
wise wounded  in  a  most  dreadful  manner.  It  was  found  also  that  he  had 
been  robbed  of  any  money  which  he  might  have  had  about  him,  as  well  as 
of  his  hat  and  boots:  an  old  pair  of  shoes  and  a  common  felt  hat  being  left 
in  their  stead,  close  to  the  spot  where  the  body  was  found.  Notwithstand- 
ing the  most  strenuous  exertions  were  subsequently  made  by  the  police  to 
discover  the  perpetrators  of  this  most  barbarous  murder,  no  trace  was 
found  until  the  confession  of  the  accomplice  Hanfield,  when  Vickery,  the 
officer,  was  despatched  to  Portsmouth  to  bring  that  person  to  London.  On 
his  way  over  Hounslow  Heath,  he  pointed  out  the  exact  spot  where  the 
body  was  found,  as  that  at  which  the  murder  was  perpetrated,  and  in  con- 
sequence of  his  information  Holloway  was  apprehended  at  Brentford, 
during  the  election,  and  Haggerty  was  taken  into  custody  on  board  the  Shan- 
non frigate,  in  the  Channel,  where  he  was  serving  as  a  marine.  They  were 
both  taken  to  the  police-office  and  confronted,  but  they  denied  all  know- 
ledge of  each  other,  and  of  Hanfield,  and  they  both  gave  accounts  of  them- 
selves as  to  their  condition  and  situation  at  the  time  of  the  murder,  which, 
however,  turned  out  to  be  untrue.  While  confined  in  the  lock-up,  attached 
to  the  office,  Bisliop,  the  officer,  secreted  himself  in  the  privy  adjoining, 
where  he  could  hear  all  their  conversation,  and  he  heard  them  make 
use  of  expressions,  which  left  no  doubt  of  their  being  acquainted,  or  of 
their  having  been  at  Hounslow  on  the  night  of  the  murder. 

The  king's  pardon,  under  the  great  seal,  to  Hanfield  alias  Enfield,  remitting 
his  sentence  of  transportation  for  seven  years,  for  a  larceny  of  which  he  had 
been  convicted,  and  restoring  him  to  his  competency  as  a  witness,  having 
then  been  read,  that  witness  was  called,  and  made  the  following  statement 
on  oath : — "  I  have  known  Haggerty  eight  or  nine  years,  and  Holloway 
six  or  seven.  We  were  accustomed  to  meet  at  the  Black  Horse,  and 
Turk's  Head,  public -houses,  in  Dyot-street.  I  was  in  their  company 
in  the  month  of  November  1802.  Holloway,  just  before  the  murder, 
called  me  out  from  the  Turk's  Head,  and  asked  me  if  I  had  any  objection 
to  be  in  a  good  thing  ?  I  replied  I  had  not.  He  said  it  was  a  '  Low 
Tsbi^,'  meaning  it  was  a  footpad  robbery.     I  asked  when  and  where,  and 


440  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAli. 

he  said  he  would  let  me  know.     We  parted,  and  two  days  aftiT  we  met 
again,  and  Saturday,  the  6th  of  November,  was  appointed.     I  asked  who 
was  to  go  with  us  ?     He  replied  tliat  Haggerty  had  agreed  to  make  one. 
We  all  three  met  on  the  Saturday  at  the  Black  Horse,  when  Holloway 
said,  '  Our  business  is  to  sai've  a  gentleman  on  Hounslow  Heath,  who,  I 
I  understand,  travels  that  road  with  property.'     We  then  drank  for  about 
three  or  four  hours,  and  about  the  middle  of  the  day  we  set  off  for  Houns- 
low.    We  stopped  at  the  Bell  public-house,  and  took  some  porter.     We 
proceeded  from  thence  upon  the  road  towards  Belfont,  and  expressed  our 
hope  that  we  should  get  a  good  booty.     We  stopped  near  the  eleventh 
mile-stone,  and  secreted  ourselves  in  a  clump  of  trees.      While  there,  the 
moon  got  up,  and  Holloway  said  we  had  come  too  soon.     After  loitering 
about  a  considerable  time,  Holloway  said  lie  heard  a  footstep,  and  we  pro- 
ceeded towards  Belfont.     We  presently  saw  a  man  coming  towards  us, 
and,  on  approaching  him,  we  ordered  him  to  stop,  which  he  immediately 
did.     Holloway  went  round  him,  and   told  him  to  deliver.     He  said  we 
should  have  his  money,  and  hoped  we  would  not  ill-use  him.     The  de- 
ceased put  his  hand  in  his  pocket,  and  gave  Haggerty  his  money.     I 
demanded  his  pocket-book.     He  replied  that  he   had   none. — Holloway 
insisted  that  he  had  a  book,  and  if  he  did  not  deliver  it  he  would  knock 
him  down.     I  then  laid  hold  of  his  legs.     Holloway  stood  at  his  head, 
and   said  if  he  cried  out   he  would    knock    out    his    brains.       The    de- 
ceased  again   said  he  hoped  we  would  not  ill-use  him.     Haggerty  pro- 
ceeded to  search  him,  when  the  deceased  made  some  resistance,  and  strug- 
gled so  much,  that  we  got  across  the  road.     He  cried  out  severely  ;  and, 
as  a  carriage  was  coming  up,  Holloway  said,  with  a  terrible  oatli,  '  Take 
care,   I   will   silence  him  ;'  and  immediately  struck   him   several  violent 
blows  on  the  head  and  body.     The  deceased  heaved  a  deep  groan,  and 
stretched  himself  out  lifeless.     I  felt  alarmed,  and  said,  '  John,  you  have 
killed  the  man.'     Holloway  replied  that  it  was  a  lie,  for  he  was   only 
stunned.     I  said  I  would  stay  no  longer,  and  immediately  set  off  towards 
London,   leaving  Holloway  and   Haggerty   with   the   body.     I   came   to 
Hounslow,  and  stopped  at  the  end  of  the  town  for  near  an  hour.  Holloway 
and  Haggerty  then  came  up,  and  said  they  had  done  the  trick,  and  as  a 
token,  put  the   deceased's  hat   into  my  hand  — The  hat  Holloway  went 
down  in  was  like  a  soldier's  hat.     I  told  Holloway  it  was  a  cruel  piece  of 
business,  and  that  I  was  sorry  I  had  any  hand  in  it.    We  all  turned  down 
a  lane,  and  returned  to  London.     As  we  came  along  I  asked  Holloway  il 
he  had  got  the  pocket-book.     He  replied  it  was  no  matter,  for,  as  I  had 
refused  to  share  the  danger,  I  should  not  share  the  booty.     We  came  to 
the   Black  Horse  in   Dyot-street,   had   half   a  pint   of  gin,   and  parted. 
Haggerty  went  down  in  shoes,  but  I  don't  know  if  he  came  back  in  them. 
The  next  day  I  observed  Holloway  had  a  hat  upon  his  head  which  was 
too  small  for  him.     I  asked  him  if  it  was  the  same  he  got  the  preceding 
night.     He  said   it  was.     We  met  again  on  the   Monday,  when  I  told 
Holloway  that  he  acted  imprudently  in  wearing  the  hat,  as  it  might  lead 
to  a  discovery.     He  put  the  hat  into  my  hand,  and  I  observed  the  name 
of  Steele  in  it.  I  repeated  my  fears.  — At  night  Holloway  brought  the  hat 
in  a  handkerchief,   and  we  went  to  Westminster-bridge,  filled  the  hat  with 
stones,  and,  having  tied  the  lining  over  it,  threw  it  into  the  Thames." 
The  witness,  being  cross-examined  by  the  counsel  for  the  prisoners,  said 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  441 

he  had  made  no  other  minutes  of  the  transactions  he  had  been  detaihng 
than  what  his  conscience  took  cognisance  of.  It  was  accident  that  led  to 
this  disclosure.  He  was  talking  with  other  prisoners  in  Newgate  of  par- 
ticular robberies  that  had  taken  place ;  and  the  Hounslow  robbery  and 
murder  being  stated  amongst  others,  he  inadvertently  said,  that  there  were 
only  three  persons  who  knew  of  that  transaction.  The  remark  was  circu- 
lated and  observed  upon,  and  a  rumour  ran  through  the  prison  that  he  was 
about  to  turn  "  nose"  and  he  was  obliged  to  hold  his  tongue,  lest  he  should 
be  ill-used. — When  at  Portsmouth,  on  board  the  hulks,  the  com- 
punctions of  conscience  came  upon  him,  and  he  was  obliged  to  dissipate 
his  thoughts  by  drinking,  to  prevent  him  from  divulging  all  he  knew. 
He  admitted  that  he  had  led  a  vicious  life,  that  he  had  been  concerned 
in  several  robberies,  and  had  entered  and  deserted  from  several  regiments. 
He  had  served  in  the  East  and  West  London  militias,  had  enlisted  into 
the  ninth  and  fourteenth  light  dragoons,  and  had  been  in  the  army  of 
reserve.  He  added  that  he  was  ashamed  and  sorry  at  what  he  had  been, 
and  would  endeavour  to  mend  his  life  in  future. 

Evidence,  in  corroboration  of  his  statement,  with  regard  to  the  hat  and 
boots  fitting  Holloway,  was  also  given  by  Mr.  Steele's  tradespeople,  and 
the  prosecution  being  closed,  the  prisoners  were  called  upon  to  make 
their  defence. 

Haggerty  protested  that  he  was  completely  innocent  of  the  charge,  and 
was  totally  unacquainted  with  the  witness,  Hanfield.  He  denied  ever 
having  been  at  Hounslow,  and  endeavoured  to  point  out  some  inconsist- 
encies in  the  evidence  which  had  been  adduced. 

Holloway  declared  that  he  was  equally  innocent ;  but  admitted  that  he 
had  been  at  Hounslow  more  than  once ;  and  that  he  might  have  been  in 
the  company  of  the  prisoner  Haggerty  and  Hanfield,  although  he  said  that 
he  was  not  acquainted  with  either  of  them 

Mr.  Justice  Le  Blanc  summed  up  the  evidence  in  a  very  clear  and  per- 
spicuous manner,  and  the  jury  having  retired  for  about  a  quarter  of  an 
hour,  returned  with  a  verdict  of  Guilty  against  both  the  prisoners. 

The  recorder  immediately  passed  sentence  in  the  most  solemn  and 
impressive  manner,  and  the  unhappy  men  were  ordered  for  execution  on 
the  following  Monday  morning,  February  the  23rd,  1807, 

Tliey  went  from  tlie  bar  reiterating  protestations  of  their  innocence,  and 
apparently  careless  of  the  miserable  and  ignominious  fate  that  awaited 
them. 

After  conviction  Haggerty  and  Holloway  conducted  themselves  with 
the  most  decided  indifference.  On  Saturday,  February  21,  the  cell-door, 
No.  1,  in  which  they  were  both  confined,  was  opened  about  half-past  two. 
They  were  reading  in  two  prayer-books  by  candle-light,  as  the  cell  was 
very  dark.  On  Sunday,  neither  of  them  attended  the  condemned  sermon, 
and  several  magistrates  interrogated  them  ;  but  they  still  persisted  in  their 
innocence. 

During  the  whole  of  Sunday  night  the  convicts  were  engaged  in  prayer. 
They  never  slept,  but  broke  the  awful  stillness  of  midnight  by  frequent 
reciprocal  protestations  of  innocence.  At  five  they  were  called,  dressed, 
and  shaved,  and  about  seven  were  brought  into  the  press-yard.  There 
was  some  difficulty  in  knocking  off  the  irons  of  Haggerty,  and  he  voiim- 
lariiy  assisted,  though  he  seemed  much  dejected.     A  messnge  was  ^tieu 

VOL.  I.  3  L 


442  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

delivered  to  the  sheriffs,  that  Holloway  wanted  to  speak  with  them  in 
private.  This  excited  very  sanguine  expectations  of  confession ;  but  the 
sheriffs,  on  their  return,  intimated  to  the  gentlemen  in  the  press-yard,  that 
Holloway  wanted  to  address  tliem  publicly ;  and  therefore  requested  they 
would  form  themselves  into  a  circle,  from  the  centre  of  which  Holloway 
delivered,  in  the  most  solemn  manner,  the  following  energetic  address  :  — 
"  Gentlemen,  I  am  quite  innocent  of  this  affair.  I  never  was  with  Han- 
field,  nor  do  I  know  the  spot.  I  will  kneel  and  swear  it."  He  then 
knelt  down  and  imprecated  curses  on  his  head  if  he  were  guilty,  and  he 
concluded  by  saying,  "  By  God,  I  am  innocent." 

Owen  Haggerty  first  ascended  the  scaffold.  His  arms  were  pinioned, 
and  the  halter  had  been  already  placed  round  his  neck  :  he  wore  a  white 
cap,  and  a  light  olive  shag  great-coat :  he  looked  downwards,  and  was 
silent.  He  was  attended  by  a  Roman  Catholic  clergyman,  who  read  to 
him,  and  to  whom  the  unfortunate  culprit  seemed  to  pay  great  attention  ; 
he  made  no  public  acknowledgment  of  guilt.  After  the  executioner  had 
tied  the  fatal  noose,  he  brought  up  Holloway,  who  wore  a  smock  frock  and 
jacket,  as  it  had  been  stated  by  the  approver  that  he  did  at  the  time  of  the 
murder  :  he  had  also  a  white  cap  on,  was  pinioned,  and  had  a  halter 
round  his  neck  :  he  had  his  hat  in  his  hand  ;  and  mounting  the  scaffold, 
he  jumped  and  made  an  awkward  bow,  and  said,  "  I  am  innocent,  inno- 
cent, by  God!"  He  then  turned  round,  and,  bowing,  made  use  of  the 
same  expressions,  "  Innocent,  innocent,  innocent !  Gentlemen  ! — No  ver- 
dict !  No  verdict!  No  verdict!  Gentlemen.  Innocent!  innocent!" 
At  this  moment,  and  while  in  the  act  of  saying  something  more,  the  exe- 
cutioner proceeded  to  do  his  office,  by  placing  the  cap  over  his  face ;  to 
which  he,  with  apparent  reluctance,  complied ;  at  the  same  time  uttering 
some  words  which  were  not  heard.  As  soon  as  the  rope  was  fixed  round 
his  neck,  he  continued  quiet.  He  was  attended  in  his  devotions  by  an 
assistant  at  Rowland  Hill's  Chapel. 

The  last  that  mounted  the  scaffold  was  Elizabeth  Godfrey.  She  had 
been  a  woman  of  the  town,  aged  34,  and  had  been  capitally  convicted  of 
the  wilful  murder  of  Richard  Prince,  in  Mary-le-bone  parish,  on  the  25th 
of  December  1806,  by  giving  him  a  mortal  wound  with  a  pocket-knife  in 
the  left  eye,  of  which  wound  he  languished  and  died.  Immediately  on  re- 
ceiving sentence,  this  woman's  firmness  and  recollection  seemed  to  fail  her, 
and  she  appeared  bordering  upon  a  state  of  frenzy.  At  the  place  of  execu 
tion  she  was  dressed  in  white,  with  a  close  cap,  and  long  sleeves,  and  was 
attended  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Ford,  the  Ordinary  of  Newgate ;  but  her  feel- 
ings appeared  to  be  so  much  overpowered,  that  notwithstanding  she  bore 
the  appearance  of  resignation  in  her  countenance,  her  whole  frame  was  so 
shaken  by  the  terror  of  her  situation,  that  she  was  incapable  of  any  actual 
devotion. 

They  were  all  launched  off  together,  at  about  a  quarter  after  eight.  It 
was  a  long  time  before  the  body  of  the  poor  female  seemed  to  have  gone 
through  its  last  suffering. 

The  crowd  which  assembled  to  witness  this  execution  was  unparalleled, 
being,  according  to  the  best  calculation,  near  40,000  ;  and  the  fatal  cata- 
strophe, which  happened  in  consequence,  will  cause  the  day  long  to  be 
remembered  By  eight  o'clock,  not  an  inch  of  ground  was  unoccupied  in 
view  of  the  platform,  and  the  pressure  of  the  crowd  was  so  great,  that  be- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR  443 

fore  the  malefactors  appeared,  numbers  of  persons  were  crying  out  in  vain 
to  escape  from  it.  The  attempt  only  tended  to  increase  the  confusion,  and 
several  females  of  low  stature,  who  had  been  so  imprudent  as  to  venture 
amono-  tlie  mob,  were  in  a  dismal  situation  :  their  cries  were  dreadful. 
Some,  who  could  be  no  longer  supported  by  the  men,  were  suffered  to 
fall,  and  were  trampled  to  death,  and  this  was  also  the  case  with  several 
boys.  In  all  parts  there  were  continual  cries  of  "  Murder  !  murder  !"  par- 
ticularly from  the  female  part  of  the  spectators  and  children,  some  of  whom 
were  seen  expiring  without  the  possibility  of  obtaining  the  least  assistance, 
every  one  being  employed  in  endeavours  to  preserve  his  own  life.  The 
most  affecting  scene  of  distress  was  seen  at  Green  Arbour  Lane,  nearly 
opposite  the  Debtor' s-door.  The  terrible  occurrence  which  took  place  near 
this  spot  was  attributed  to  the  circumstance  of  two  pie-men  attending 
there  to  dispose  of  tlieir  pies,  and  it  appears  that  one  of  them  having 
his  basket  overthrown,  which  stood  upon  a  sort  of  stool  upon  four  legs, 
some  of  the  mob,  not  being  aware  of  wliat  had  happened,  and  at  the  same 
time  being  severely  pressed,  fell  over  the  basket  and  the  man,  at  the  mo- 
ment he  was  picking  it  up,  together  with  its  contents.  Those  who  fell 
were  never  more  suffered  to  rise,  and  were  soon  numbered  with  the  dead. 

At  this  fatal  place  a  man  of  the  name  of  Herrington  was  thrown  down, 
who  had  in  his  hand  his  youngest  son,  a  fine  boy,  about  twelve  years  of 
age.  The  youth  was  soon  trampled  to  death  ;  but  the  father  recovered, 
though  much  bruised,  and  was  amongst  the  wounded  in  St.  Bartholomew's 
Hospital.  A  woman,  who  was  so  imprudent  as  to  bring  with  her  a  child 
at  the  breast,  was  one  of  the  number  killed  :  whilst  in  the  act  of  falling, 
she  forced  the  child  into  the  arms  of  the  man  nearest  to  her,  requesting  him, 
for  God's  sake,  to  save  its  life ;  but  the  man,  finding  it  required  all  his  ex- 
ertions to  preserve  himself,  threw  the  infant  from  him.  It  was  fortunately 
caught  at  a  distance  by  another  man,  who,  finding  it  difficult  to  ensure  its 
safety  or  his  own,  got  rid  of  it  in  a  similar  way.  The  child  was  then  again 
caught  by  a  person,  who  contrived  to  struggle  with  it  to  a  cart,  under 
which  he  deposited  it  until  the  danger  was  over,  and  the  mob  had  dis- 
persed. 

In  other  parts,  the  pressure  was  so  great  that  a  horrible  scene  of  confu- 
sion ensued,  and  seven  persons  lost  their  lives  by  suffocation  alone.  A  cart 
which  was  overloaded  with  spectators  broke  down,  and  some  of  the  persons 
falling  from  the  vehicle,  were  trampled  under  foot  and  never  recovered. 

During  the  hour  for  which  the  malefactors  hung,  little  assistance  could 
be  afforded  to  the  unhappy  sufferers ;  but  after  the  bodies  were  cut  down, 
and  the  gallows  removed  to  the  Old  Bailey  yard,  the  marshals  and  consta- 
bles cleared  the  street,  and  then,  shocking  to  relate,  there  lay  near  one 
hundred  persons  dead,  or  in  a  state  of  insensibility,  strewed  round  the 
street.  Twenty-seven  dead  bodies  were  taken  to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hos- 
pital ;  four  to  St.  Sepulchre's  church  ;  one  to  the  Swan  on  Snow-hill,  one 
to  a  public-house  opposite  St.  Andrew's  church,  Holborn  ;  one,  an  appren- 
tice, to  his  master's,  Mr.  Broadwood,  pianoforte  maker.  Golden- square  ;  a 
mother  was  seen  carrying  away  the  body  of  her  dead  boy  ;  and  the  body  of 
Mr,  Harrison,  a  respectable  gentleman,  was  taken  to  his  house  at  HoUoway. 
There  was  a  sailor-boy  killed  opposite  Newgate  by  suffocation :  he  carried 
a  small  bag,  in  which  he  had  some  bread  and  cheese,  from  which  it  was 
concluded  that  lie  iiad  come  some  distance  to  witness  the  execution. 


>44  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

After  the  dead,  dying,  and  wounded,  were  carried  away,  there  was  a 
cart-load  of  shoes,  hats,  petticoats,  and  other  articles  of  wearing  apparel, 
picked  up.  Until  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  most  of  the  surrounding 
liouses  contained  some  persons  in  a  wounded  state,  who  were  afterwards 
taken  away  by  their  friends  on  shutters,  or  in  hackney-coaches.  The 
doors  of  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital  were  closed  against  the  populace,  until 
after  the  bodies  of  the  dead  were  stripped  and  washed.  They  were  ranged 
round  a  ward  on  the  first  floor,  on  the  women's  side,  and  were  placed  on 
the  floor  with  sheets  over  them,  and  their  clothes  put  as  pillows  under  their 
heads  :  their  faces  were  uncovered  :  and  a  rail  was  placed  along  the  centre 
of  the  room.  The  persons  who  were  admitted  to  see  the  shocking  spec- 
tacle went  up  on  one  side,  and  returned  on  the  other.  Until  two  o'clock  in 
the  morning,  the  entrances  to  the  hospital  were  beset  with  persons  anxiously 
seeking  for  their  lost  relatives  and  friends. 

Seldom  had  such  a  scene  of  distress  and  misery  presented  itself  in  this 
metropolis.  When  the  gates  were  opened,  a  great  concourse  was  admitted  ; 
and  when  the  yard  was  full,  the  gates  were  again  closed,  until  the  first 
visitors  returned  from  the  scene  of  woe :  as  soon  as  any  of  the  deceased 
were  recognised,  the  body  was  either  put  into  a  shell  or  the  face  covered 
over,  with  the  name  of  the  party  written  on  a  paper,  and  pinned  over  the 
body. 

The  next  day  (Tuesday)  a  coroner's  inquest  sat  in  St.  Bartholomew's 
Hospital,  and  other  places  where  the  bodies  were,  on  the  remains  of  the 
suflTerers.  Several  witnesses  were  examined  with  respect  to  the  circum- 
stances of  the  accident ;  and  on  Friday,  wlien  the  inquest  terminated,  the 
verdict  was,  "  Tiiat  the  several  persons  came  by  their  death  from  compres- 
sion and  suffocation." 


GEORGE  ALLEN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HIS    THREE    CHILDREN. 

There  can  be  little  doubt  that  the  horrid  off'ence  committed  by  this 
wretched  man  was  prompted  by  insanity  ;  and  it  is  surprising  that  a  jury 
should  have  found  him  guilty  of  the  crime  imputed  to  him,  without 
declaring  this  to  be  their  opinion. 

It  appeared  on  his  trial,  which  took  place  at  Stafford  in  the  month  of 
March  1807,  that  on  the  evening  of  the  12th  of  January,  he  retired  to  rest 
with  his  wife,  and  that  in  about  an  hour  the  latter  was  awoke  by  her 
finding  her  husband  sitting  upright  in  bed,  smoking  a  pipe.  In 
another  bed  in  the  same  room  lay  three  of  his  infant  children  asleep,  the 
eldest  boy  about  ten  years  old,  the  second,  a  girl,  about  six,  and  another 
boy  about  three,  and  Mrs.  Allen  also  had  an  infant  at  her  breast.  On  his 
perceiving  his  wife  to  be  awake,  the  prisoner  demanded  to  know  "  what 
other  man  she  had  in  the  house  with  her  ;  "  to  which  she  answered  "  that 
there  was  no  man  there  but  himself."  He,  however,  insisted  to  the  con- 
trary, and  jumped  out  of  bed,  and  ran  down  stairs.  His  wife  followed 
him  ;  but  he  returned,  and  meeting  her  on  the  stairs,  bade  her  go  back. 
He  then  went  to  the  bed  where  his  children  were,  and  turned  down  the 
clothes.     On  her  endeavouring  to  hold  him,  he  told  her  "to  let  him  alone. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  445 

or  he  would  serve  her  the  same  sauce,"  and  immediately  attempted  to 
cut  her  throat,  in  which  he  partly  succeeded,  and  also  wounded  her  right 
breast ;  but  a  handkerchief  she  wore  about  her  head  and  neck  prevented 
the  wound  from  being  fatal.  She  then  extricated  herself  (having  the  babe 
in  her  arms  all  the  time,  which  she  preserved  unhurt),  and  jumped,  or 
rather  fell,  down  stairs ;  but  before  she  could  well  rise  from  the  ground, 
one  of  the  children  (the  girl)  fell  at  her  feet,  with  its  head  nearly  cut  otf", 
which  her  wretched  husband  had  murdered  and  thrown  after  her.  The 
woman  opened  the  door,  and  screamed  out  "  that  her  husband  was  cutting 
off  their  children's  heads  ;"  and  a  neighbour  shortly  came  to  her  assistance  ; 
and  a  light  having  been  procured,  the  monster  was  found  standing  in  the 
middle  of  the  house-place,  with  a  razor  in  his  hand.  He  was  asked  what 
he  had  been  doing  ;  when  he  replied  coolly,  "  Nothing  yet ;  I  have  only 
killed  three  of  them."  On  their  going  up  stairs,  a  most  dreadful  spectacle 
presented  itself :  the  head  of  one  of  the  boys  was  very  nearly  severed  from 
his  body,  and  the  bellies  of  both  were  partly  cut  and  partly  ripped  open, 
and  the  bowels  torn  completely  out  and  thrown  on  the  floor.  Allen  made 
no  attempt  to  escape,  and  was  taken  without  resistance.  He  said  that  it 
was  his  intention  to  murder  his  wife  and  all  her  children,  and  then  to  have 
put  an  end  to  himself.  He  also  declared  that  lie  meant  to  have  murdered 
an  old  woman  who  lay  bed  -ridden  in  the  same  house. 

An  inquest  was  subsequently  held  on  the  bodies  of  the  three  children, 
before  Mr.  Hand,  coroner,  of  Uttoxeter,  when  the  miserable  man  confessed 
his  guilt,  but  without  expressing  any  contrition.  He  promised  also  to 
confess  something  that  had  lain  heavily  on  his  mind  ;  and  Mr.  Hand,  sup- 
posing it  might  relate  to  a  crime  he  had  before  committed,  caused  him  to 
be  examined  in  the  presence  of  other  gentlemen,  when  he  told  an  incoherent 
story  of  a  ghost,  in  the  shape  of  a  horse,  having  about  four  years  before 
enticed  him  into  a  stable,  where  it  drew  blood  from  hiin,  and  then  flew 
into  the  sky.  With  respect  to  the  murder  of  his  children,  he  observed 
to  the  coroner,  with  apparent  unconcern,  that  he  supposed  "  it  was  as  bad 
a  case  as  ever  he  heard  of." 

The  horrid  circumstances  of  these  murders  having  been  fully  proved,  he 
was  convicted,  and  suffered  the  final  sentence  of  the  law  at  Stafford,  March 
;30th  1807. 


MARTHA  ALDEN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    THE    MURDER    OF    HER    HUSBAND. 

Of  the  numerous  instances  which  we  have  already  adduced,  wherein 
women  have  committed  that  very  worst  of  all  crimes,  the  murder  of  their 
husbands,  perhaps  no  case  has  been  attended  with  more  malice,  art,  and 
cruelty,  than  that  of  Martha  Alden. 

Her  trial  for  this  offence  came  on  at  the  Summer  Assizes  for  the  county 
of  Norfolk,  in  the  year  1807 

From  the  evidence  adduced,  it  appeared  that  the  deceased  was  a  labour- 
ing man  of  rather  diminutive  stature,  and  lived  with  the  prisoner  in  a 
small  cottage  near  Attleburgh,  in  Norfolk.  On  the  night  of  Saturday  the 
lJ3th  of  July,  the  deceased  and  his  wife  were  in  company  with  a  man 
named  Draper  at  the  White   Horse  public -house,  Attleburgh,  drinking 


446  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

together,  and  about  ten  o'clock  the  prisoner  went  away,  saying  she 
should  go  home.  At  twelve  o'clock  Draper  conducted  Alden.  who  was 
slightly  intoxicated,  to  his  own  door,  and  left  him  there  with  the  prisoner. 
In  the  morning,  at  about  three  o'clock,  a  man  named  Hill  was  passing  the 
prisoner's  house  on  his  way  to  see  a  relation  at  about  ten  miles  off,  when 
the  prisoner  accosted  him,  saying  that  "  She  could  not  think  what  smart 
young  man  it  was  going  down  the  common."  A  short  conversation  ensued, 
in  which  the  prisoner  said  that  "  she  had  not  returned  long  from  the  town, 
where  she  had  been  drinking  with  her  husband  and  Draper,  and  that  her 
husband  had  then  gone,  she  did  not  know  where,  but  that  she  thought  he 
had  gone  to  a  brother  of  his,  who  lived  in  Essex."  It  was  remarked  by 
Hill,  "  that  he  knew  that  Alden  had  let  himself  to  Mr.  Parson  for  the 
harvest,"  to  which  the  prisoner  assented,  but  said  that  she  knew  he  would 
never  come  back,  and  that  if  he  got  a  job  he  would  never  settle  to  it. 
Between  six  and  seven  o'clock  the  prisoner  was  met  in  the  road  by  Mr. 
Parson,  a  farmer,  accompanied  by  a  young  woman  named  Orrice,  when  she 
said  that  she  had  lost  her  husband,  and  expressing  herself  very  unhappy 
about  him,  declared  her  belief  that  he  was  either  murdered  or  drowned, 
and  on  the  following  morning  she  was  again  seen  by  the  same  person,  when 
she  said  that  she  had  walked  above  thirty  miles  in  search  of  him,  but  could 
not  find  him.  On  the  Monday  evening  the  prisoner  borrowed  a  spade 
from  a  neighbour  named  Leeder,  with  an  alleged  intention  of  mending  her 
hedge,  which  had  been  destroyed  by  pigs,  which  had  got  in  and  rooted  up 
her  potatoes;  and  one  having  been  lent  to  her,  she  went  away,  and  was 
afterwards  seen  at  work  in  the  ditch  surrounding  her  garden.  Up  to  this 
time  no  traces  of  her  husband  had  been  discovered;  but  on  Tuesday  night 
Mrs.  Leeder  went  to  a  pond  on  the  common  to  look  for  some  ducks,  which 
she  had  missed,  and  having  found  them,  she  was  on  her  way  home,  when 
she  remarked  something  in  a  large  pit  or  pond,  which  lay  in  her  path.  She 
went  to  the  edge  of  the  pond,  and  touched  the  object  with  a  stick,  and  it 
sank  and  rose  again;  but  although  the  moon  shone,  she  could  not  distin- 
guish what  it  was,  and  she  went  home.  Her  curiosity,  however,  having 
been  raised,  she  returned  to  the  spot  on  the  following  morning,  and  then 
she  again  touched  the  substance  with  a  stick,  on  which  it  turned  over,  and 
to  her  terror,  she  saw  two  hands  appear,  the  arms  being  clothed  in  a  shirt, 
which  was  stained  with  blood.  The  alarm  was  immediately  given,  and 
the  body  being  taken  out,  it  proved  to  be  that  of  the  prisoner's  husband. 
It  was  covered  only  with  an  old  coat,  with  a  slop  or  shirt  over  it,  and  the 
head  appeared  to  be  dreadfully  mangled.  The  face  was  much  chopped, 
and  the  head  nearly  cut  off,  and  otlier  injuries  were  inflicted,  which  could 
not  have  been  done  by  the  unfortunate  deceased  himself.  The  body  wag 
immediately  conveyed  in  a  cart  to  the  house  of  the  prisoner,  who  was 
taken  into  custody.  On  her  house  being  examined,  the  bedding  and  bed 
were  found  to  be  smeared  with  blood,  and  the  walls  of  the  bed-room  bore 
marks  of  their  having  been  spattered  with  the  same  fluid,  but  partly 
washed.  Two  sacks,  also  bloody,  were  discovered  concealed  under  a  peat- 
stack,  and  from  a  dark  cupboard  was  produced  a  bill-hook  with  which  the 
foul  deed  was  evidently  perpetrated,  and  from  which  the  blood  had  been 
only  partially  removed.  On  the  garden  being  searched,  a  species  of  grave 
was  found  to  have  been  dug  about  forty  yards  from  the  house,  and  at  the 
spot  where  the  prisoner  had  been  seen  at  work,  sufl&ciently  broad  and  long 


THE   NEW  NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  447 

to  receive  the  body  of  the  deceased,  but  only  about  eighteen  inches  deep. 
In  addition,  liv^wever,  to  these  facts,  tlie  testimony  of  the  girl  Orrice,  whose 
name  had  been  already  mentioned,  was  procured. 

She  stated  that  she  had  been  acquainted  with  the  prisoner  a  good  while, 
and  had  frequently  been  at  her  house.  On  Sunday  (the  19th)  the  prisoner 
Asked  her  to  go  with  her  to  her  house;  and  when  she  got  there,  the  pri- 
soner said  to  her,  "  I  have  killed  my  husband;"  and,  taking  her  into  the 
bed-room,  showed  her  the  body  lying  on  the  bed,  quite  dead,  with  the 
wounds  as  before  described:  her  account  of  the  state  and  appearance  of  the 
room  perfectly  coincided  with  the  descriptions  of  the  former  witnesses;  she 
also  saw  a  hook  lying  on  the  floor  all  bloody:  when  the  hook  was  shown 
to  her  in  court,  she  said  it  was  the  very  same  she  had  then  seen.  The  pri- 
soner then  produced  a  common  corn-sack,  and,  at  her  request,  the  witness 
held  it  whilst  the  prisoner  put  the  body  into  it;  the  prisoner  then  carried 
the  body  from  the  bed-room,  througli  the  passage  and  kitchen,  out  of  the 
house,  across  the  road  to  the  ditch  surrounding  the  garden,  and  left  it  there, 
after  throwing  some  mould  over  it.  The  witness  then  left  tlie  prisoner,  and 
went  to  Larling;  and  the  prisoner  slept  that  night  at  the  witness's  father's 
house.  On  the  following  night,  between  nine  and  ten  o'clock,  the  witness 
was  again  in  company  with  the  prisoner,  and  saw  her  remove  the  body  of 
her  husband  from  the  ditch  of  the  garden  to  the  pit  on  the  common,  drag- 
ging it  herself  along  the  ground  in  the  sack ;  and,  when  arrived  at  tlie  pit, 
the  prisoner  shot  the  body  into  it  out  of  the  sack,  which  she  afterwards 
carried  away  with  her:  the  deceased  had  a  shirt  and  slop  on.  The  pri- 
soner said  nothing  to  her  at  the  time,  and  she  went  home.  The  next  morn- 
ing (Tuesday)  the  witness  went  to  tlie  prisoner's  house,  and  assisted  in 
cleaning  it  up,  taking  some  warm  water,  and  washing  and  scraping  the 
wall  next  the  bed.  The  prisoner  took  up  some  loose  straw,  and  told  the 
witness  she  would  carry  and  throw  it  into  Mr.  Parson's  ditch,  because  it 
was  bloody.  The  prisoner  bade  the  witness  to  be  sure  not  to  say  a  word 
about  the  matter;  for,  if  she  did,  she  (the  witness)  would  certainly  be 
lianged.  Upon  being  questioned  to  that  efiect  by  the  judge,  this  witness 
further  stated  that  she  had  told  the  story  to  her  father  on  the  Tuesday 
night,  and  to  nobody  else. 

On  his  lordship  asking  the  jDrisoner  what  she  had  to  say  in  her  defence, 
she  told  an  incoherent  story,  which,  however,  as  far  as  it  was  at  all  intelli- 
gible, seemed  rather  to  aim  at  making  the  testimony  of  the  last  witness  ap- 
pear contradictory  and  suspicious,  and  to  implicate  her  in  the  guilt  of  the 
transaction,  than  to  deny  the  general  charges  which  had  been  adduced 
against  herself. 

The  learned  judge  then  summed  up  the  evidence  in  a  very  full  and  able 
manner,  and  the  jury  returned  a  verdict  of  Guilty. 

The  prisoner  was  immediately  sentenced  to  death.  Her  behaviour  sub- 
sequently was  becoming  the  awful  situation  in  which  she  was  placed. 
She  confessed  the  justice  of  her  conviction,  and  admitted  that  she  had 
murdered  her  husband  with  the  bill-hook.  She  declared,  however,  that  it 
was  not  the  result  of  premeditated  malice,  but  that  her  husband  having 
threatened  to  beat  her,  the  thought  came  into  her  head  when  he  lay  down 
to  go  to  sleep. 

She  was  drawn  on  a  hurdle  to  the  place  of  execution  on  the  Castle-hill, 
on  the  3 1st  of  July  1807,  and  there  underwent  the  punishment  of  death 
bursuant  to  her  sentence. 


448  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


JOHN  PALMER. 

EXECUTED   FOR    BURGLAPY. 


This  prisoner,  although  at  the  time  of  his  execution  he  was  only 
twenty-three  years  of  age,  was,  nevertheless,  an  old  offender,  and  richly 
merited  the  fate  which  befel  him. 

He  was  indicted  at  the  Old  Bailey  sessions,  in  September  1808,  for 
having,  on  the  8th  of  the  same  month,  feloniously  assaulted  William 
Waller  ;  and  for  having  with  a  certain  sharp  instrument,  which  he  held  in 
his  right  hand,  stabbed  and  cut  him  in  and  upon  his  head,  with  intent 
in  so  doing  to  kill  and  murder  him.  In  another  indictment  he  was 
charged  with  burglariously  breaking  and  entering  the  dwelling-house  of 
Henry  Kimpton,  with  intent  to  steal,  and  stealing  therein  a  pair  of  snuffers. 

The  facts  wliich  were  proved  in  evidence  were,  that  the  house  in  ques- 
tion was  situated  at  No.  :20,  Manchester -square,  and  that,  being  furnished 
and  unoccupied.  Waller  was  placed  in  it,  to  take  care  of  it,  by  Mr. 
Kimpton,  who  was  an  auctioneer.  On  the  8th  of  September,  at  about 
four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon,  Waller  went  out,  having  previously  carefully 
shut  up  the  doors  and  windows  of  the  house,  and  he  did  not  return  until 
near  twelve  o'clock  at  night.  He  then  found  the  house,  to  all  appearance, 
undisturbed  ;  but  upon  his  going  up  to  the  room  in  which  he  slept,  which 
was  on  the  garret  floor,  he  perceived  that  his  bed  was  in  disorder.  He 
was  in  the  act  of  turning  round  to  ascertain  whether  any  person  was  in  the 
adjoining  apartment,  when  he  was  suddenly  seized  from  behind  by  a  man, 
whom  he  presently  saw  was  the  prisoner.  He  cried,  "  Lord  have  mercy 
upon  me  ;"  but  the  prisoner  said,  "  Do  not  speak  a  word  ;  lie  down  on  the 
bed,  that  is  all  you  have  to  do  ;"  and  then  pushing  him,  threw  him  on  his 
face  on  his  bed.  At  this  moment  a  second  man,  v^-hom  the  prisoner  called 
Joseph,  made  his  appearance,  and  AValler  attempting  to  offer  some  resist- 
ance, they  threatened  him  with  instant  death.  He,  however,  continued  to 
struggle ;  and  having  at  length,  extricated  himself  from  the  grasp  of  the 
prisoner,  he  was  running  towards  the  window  to  give  an  alarm,  when  he 
was  suddenly  felled  to  the  ground  by  a  tremendous  blow  on  the  head  from 
an  iron  crowbar.  He  managed  to  rise  and  open  the  window,  and  cry 
"  murder,"  but  he  was  again  violently  assailed  ;  but  tlien  the  people  below 
having  called  to  him  to  go  down  and  open  the  door,  he  managed  to  escape, 
and  run  down  into  the  passage.  He  was  pursued  by  the  prisoner,  whom 
however  he  missed  on  his  reaching  the  ground  floor  ;  and  he  was 
employed  in  opening  the  street  door,  when  the  people  without,  who  had 
been  alarmed  by  his  cries,  suddenly  burst  it  in  upon  him,  and  knocked  him 
down.  At  this  moment  the  prisoner  was  seen  to  ascend  the  area  steps,  and 
to  jump  over  the  gate  into  the  street,  and  being  seized,  he  declared  that  he 
belonged  to  the  house,  and  that  they  were  trying  to  murder  the  man  up 
stairs  ;  but  Waller  was  by  this  time  sufficiently  recovered  to  recognise 
him,  and  having  informed  the  mob,  which  had  by  this  time  assembled, 
that  he  was  the  person  by  whom  he  had  been  so  violently  attacked,  he  was 
handed  over  to  the  custody  of  a  watchman.  All  search  after  his  compa- 
nion having  proved  fruitless,  the  prisoner  was  carried  to  tlie  watcli-house, 
and  then  on  his  being  searched,  a  phosphorus  box  with  matches  was  found 
in  ills  possession,  aud  a  paper  bearing  the  following  memorandum  : — "•  No 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  4} 9 

13,  E'l  ward -street,  and  a  house  in  Harley-street ;  No.  30,  Oxford-street, 

and  No.  20,  ]Manchester-.square done."    A  pair  of  snuifers,  which  was 

proved  to  have  been  taken  from  Mr.  Kimpton's  house,  was  also  taken  from 
him,  besides  a  hirge  buncli  of  picklock  and  skeleton  keys. 

The  prisoner,  when  called  on  for  his  defence,  denied  that  he  was  the 
person  who  had  escaped  from  the  house,  and  declared  that  having  come  up 
with  the  crowd  upon  hearing  the  outcry,  he  had  picked  up  the  snuffers  and 
keys,  which  were  found  upon  him.  He  said  that  he  had  served  in  the 
navy,  and  had  only  returned  seven  months  from  the  Mediterranean  station, 
where  he  had  been  a  seaman  on  board  the  Lion,  Captain  RoUes. 

His  protestations  of  innocence  were,  however,  vain,  and  the  jury  returned 
a  verdict  of  Guilty  on  both  indictments. 

Sentence  of  death  was  subsequently  passed  in  the  usual  form  ;  and  of  all 
those  prisoners  who  by  their  crimes  subjected  themselves  to  condign 
punishment,  and  who  were  tried  at  these  sessions,  Palmer  was  the  only  one 
who  was  ordered  for  execution.  In  the  course  of  the  time  which  inter- 
vened between  his  conviction  and  the  termination  of  his  career,  he  gave 
evident  proofs  of  his  wicked  disposition,  and  of  the  justice  with  which  he  was 
selected  as  the  object  upon  whom  capital  punishment  should  be  inflicted. 

A  few  weeks  before  his  execution  he  formed  a  plan  of  escape,  which,  had 
it  been  fully  carried  out,  would  have  involved  him  in  the  additional  guilt 
of  murder.  Finding  it  necessary  to  procure  the  aid  of  a  fellow-prisoner,  he 
selected  a  fellow  who  was  also  under  sentence  of  death,  to  whom  he  com- 
municated his  project,  and  he  at  once  consented  to  participate  in  his  dan- 
ger, in  the  hope  of  sharir.g  in  his  success.  It  was  arranged  that  tlie  plot 
should  be  put  into  execution  on  tlie  Sunday  following.  Palmer  and  his 
associate  having  then  excused  themselves  from  attending  chapel,  whither 
the  other  prisoners  and  the  principal  turnkeys  would  have  gone,  on  the 
score  of  illness,  they  were  to  attack  the  gaoler,  whose  duty  it  would  be  to 
attend  upon  them,  and  having  deprived  him  of  life  and  possessed  them- 
selves of  his  keys,  they  were  to  make  the  best  of  their  way  to  the  outer 
gate.  Here  they  were  aware  that  they  should  meet  with  another  gaoler  ; 
but  having  overcome  him  by  threats  or  by  main  force,  they  were  to  secure 
their  escape  to  the  street,  where  their  friends  would  be  in  attendance  to 
receive  them.  In  order  to  further  their  design,  Palmer  had  already  fur- 
nished himself  with  spring  saws,  to  remove  their  irons;  and  rope  ladders  had 
also  been  provided,  to  be  used  in  case  of  any  further  impediment  presenting 
itself  to  them,  and  by  which  they  would  be  able  to  scale  the  walls. 

So  far  as  its  arrangement,  the  plot  had  gone  on  with  perfect  success, 
when  Palmer's  companion,  being  conscience-stricken  at  the  crime  which 
was  contemplated,  communicated  all  that  had  been  determined  on  to  Mr. 
Newman,  the  keeper  of  the  prison,  and  proper  means  were  in  consequence 
taken  for  the  security  of  the  prisoners. 

Palmer  finding  himself  thus  foiled  in  his  object,  which  he  had  enter- 
tained sanguine  hopes  that  he  should  have  been  able  to  accomplish,  now 
proceeded  to  apply  himself  to  those  duties  which  he  had  hitherto  neglected. 
As  the  period  approached  for  his  execution,  he  expressed  himself  anxious 
that  the  time  allowed  him  for  preparation  should  be  prolonged;  but  his 
wish  being  conveyed  to  the  Government  by  3Ir.  Sheriff  Hunter,  it  was 
determined  that  it  could  not  be  acceded  to,  and  the  law  was  directed  tc 
take  its  course. 

VOL.    I.  3  M 


450  TIIR    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

Wednesday,  23rd  of  November,  180S,  having  been  fixed  for  the  termi- 
nation of  his  life,  on  that  morning  his  sentence  was  carried  out.  On  his 
way  to  the  scaffold  he  was  attended  by  Dr,  Ford,  the  ordinary  of  the  jail, 
to  whom  he  confessed  the  justice  of  his  punishment.  He  appeared  to  be 
perfectly  resigned  to  his  fate,  and  expressed  a  hope  that  his  death  Vi'ould 
be  an  (>xaniple  to  others.  In  order  to  atone  for  his  own  errors,  he  made  a 
full  confession  of  every  robbery  and  burglary  in  which  he  had  been  con- 
cerned, and  gave  many  particulars  of  the  practices  and  haunts  of  thieves, 
which  subsequently  proved  extremely  useful  to  the  police.  When  on  the 
scaffold,  he  attempted  to  address  the  mob ;  but  his  speech  failed  him,  and 
his  eyes  having  been  covered  with  a  silk  handkerchief  at  his  own  request, 
the  drop  fell  at  the  usual  signal,  and  in  a  few  minutes  he  ceased  to  live. 


THOMAS   SIMMONS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  offence  of  this  miscreant  was  of  a  most  horribly  atrocious  nature. 

It  appears  that  he  was  the  son  of  poor  parents,  but  being  thought  to  be 
a  likely  lad,  he  was  taken  into  the  service  of  a  ]\Ir.  Boreham,  who  lived  at 
Hoddesden,  at  an  early  period  of  his  life.  He  continued  in  this  situa- 
tion for  several  years;  but  on  his  reaching  the  age  of  nineteen  years,  he 
was  dismissed  on  account  of  his  brutal  ferocity  of  disposition,  which  had 
displayed  itself  on  various  occasions.  He  had,  it  appears,  paid  his  ad- 
dresses to  Elizabeth  Harris,  the  servant  in  the  house,  who  was  many  years 
older  than  he  ;  but,  by  the  advice  of  her  mistress,  the  woman  declined 
havino-  anything  to  say  to  him.  In  consequence  of  this  circumstance,  the 
villain  vowed  veno-eance  against  the  servant  and  her  mistress,  and  on  the 
afternoon  of  the  20th  of  October,  1807,  he  proceeded  to  his  late  master's  to 
satisfy  his  revenge  in  a  manner  most  horrible  and  atrocious.  There  were 
at  the  time  of  his  going  to  the  house,  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Boreham  and  their 
four  dauo-hters  in  the  building,  besides  a  Mrs.  Hummerstone  and  the 
servant,  Elizabeth  Harris.  About  a  quarter  past  nine  at  night,  the  party 
sittino-  in  the  parlour  was  alarmed  by  hearing  a  loud  noise  of  voices  at 
the  back  part  of  the  house,  and  upon  listening  they  heard  Simmons 
disputing  with  the  servant,  and  demanding  admittance.  This  was,  how- 
ever, refused,  and  presently  afterwards  the  former  plunged  his  hand,  armed 
with  a  knife,  through  the  lattice- window,  and  attempted  to  stab  the  girl, 
but  without  success.  Mrs.  Hummerstone  on  this  went  to  the  scullery, 
from  which  the  noise  proceeded,  and  opening  the  door,  found  that 
Simmons  had  penetrated  through  the  farm-yard,  and  was  within  the 
stone-yard.  On  her  opening  the  door,  he  suddenly  rushed  at  her,  and 
with  his  knife  stabbed  her  in  the  jugular  artery,  and,  pulling  the  knife 
forward,  laid  open  her  throat  on  the  left  side.  She  ran  forward,  as  is 
supposed  for  the  purpose  of  alarming  the  neighbourhood,  but  fell,  and  rose 
no  more. 

The  murderer  then  pursued  his  sanguinary  purpose,  and  rushing  into 
the  parlour,  raised  and  brandished  his  bloody  knife,  swearing  a  dreadful 
oath,  that  "  he  would  give  it  them  all."  Mrs.  AVarner,  JMr.  Boreham'a 
eldest  dauc^hter,  was  the  person  next  him ;  and,  without  allowing  her  time 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  •^'^l 

to  rise  from  her  chair,  he  gave  her  so  many  stabs  in  the  jugular  vein,  and 
about  her  neck  and  breast,  that  she  fell  from  her  chair,  covered  with 
streams  of  blood,  and  expired.  Fortunately  Miss  Anne  Boreham  had  gone 
np  stairs,  directly  before  the  commencement  of  this  horrid  business  ; 
and  her  sisters,  Elizabeth  and  Sarah,  terrified  at  tlie  horrors  they  saw,  ran 
up  stairs  too,  for  safety. 

The  villain  immediately  afterwards  attacked  the  aged  Mrs.  Boreham^ 
by  a  similar  aim  at  her  jugular  artery,  but  missed  the  point,  and  wounded 
lier  deep  in  the  neck,  though  not  mortally.  The  poor  old  gentleman  was 
now  making  his  way  towards  the  kitchen,  where  the  servant-maid  was ; 
but  the  miscreant  pursued  him,  and  in  endeavouring  to  reach  the  same 
place,  overset  him,  and  then  endeavoured  to  stab  the  servant  in  the  throat: 
she  struggled  with  him,  caught  at  tlie  knife,  and  was  wounded  severely  in 
tiie  hand  and  arm,  and  the  knife  fell  in  the  struggle.  The  girl,  liowever, 
escaped  from  his  grasp,  and  running  into  the  street,  by  her  screams  and 
cries  of  "  murder,"  she  alarmed  the  whole  neighbourhood.  Several  persons 
instantly  came  to  her  assistance,  and  whilst  some  offered  their  aid  to  the 
unhappy  beings  who  had  been  wounded,  others  sought  for  the  mur- 
derer. Their  search  was  for  some  time  in  vaia,  but  they  at  length 
succeeded  in  discovering  him  concealed  in  a  cow-crib  in  the  farm-yard.  He 
was  immediately  secured,  and  so  tightly  bound  to  prevent  his  escape,  that 
the  circulation  was  almost  stopped,  and  in  the  night  death  was  near 
cheating  Justice  of  her  victim.  The  ligatures  were,  however,  loosed  in 
the  morning,  in  ample  time  to  preserve  him  to  undergo  the  punishment  to 
which  his  crimes  had  subjected  him. 

Upon  the  attendance  of  two  professional  men,  they  found  that  all 
attempts  to  assist  Mrs.  Warner  and  Mrs.  Hummerstone  would  be  useless, 
as  they  were  already  dead  ;  and  they  directly  turned  their  attention  to 
Mrs.  Boreham  and  the  servant.  Mr.  Boreham  was  found  lying  on  the 
ground  with  a  poker  by  his  side ;  but  being  afflicted  with  the  palsy,  and 
being  besides  very  aged,  he  had  been  unable  to  use  it  in  opposition  to  his 
assailant. 

A  coroner's  inquest  was  subsequently  held  upon  the  bodies  of  the 
deceased  persons,  and  a  verdict  of  "  Wilful  Murder"  was  returned  against  the 
prisoner,  upon  which  he  was  committed  to  Hertford  Jail  to  await  his  trial. 
Mr.  Boreham  being  a  Quaker,  he  refused  to  prosecute  in  the  case  of  Mrs. 
Warner;  but  an  indictment  was  preferred  in  the  case  of  Mrs.  Hummerstone, 
upon  which  the  prisoner  was  ari-aigned  at  the  Hertford  Assizes  on  the  4th 
of  March,  1808.  The  above  facts  having  been  proved  in  evidence,  as  well 
as  the  additional  circumstance  of  the  prisoner  having  confessed  his  guilt 
when  before  the  coroner,  and  of  his  having  declared  that  his  intention 
was  to  murder  Mrs.  Boreham,  Mrs.  Warner,  and  Elizabeth  Harris  the 
servant,  a  verdict  of  Guilty  was  returned. 

The  awful  sentence  of  death  was  then  pronounced  upon  him,  and  he  was 
hanged  on  the  7th  of  JMarch,  1808,  having  exhibited  throughout  the  whole 
transaction  the  utmost  coolness  and  indifference. 


452  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENO/J<. 


ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL,  ESQ. 

EXECUTED    FOR    A    MURDE?.    COMMITTED    IX    A    UCEL. 

This  is  a  case  arising  out  of  an  absurd  deference  being  paid  to  the  lawg 
of  honour. 

Alexander  Campbell  was  tried  at  the  Armagh  Assizes,  in  Ireland, 
August  13,  1808,  for  the  wilful  murder  of  Alexander  Boyd,  captain 
in  the  21st  regiment,  by  shooting  him  with  a  pistol-bullet,  on  the  23rd 
day  of  June,  1807.  The  evidence  was,  that  the  prisoner  was  major,  and 
the  deceased  captain  of  the  21st  regiment  of  Foot;  and  that  on  the 
22nd  of  June,  after  the  mess-dinner,  a  dispute  arose  between  them,  which 
was  terminated  by  the  prisoner  inquiring,  "  Do  you  say  I  am  wrong  ? " 
and  the  deceased  answering,  "  Yes,  I  do."  Major  Campbell  then  retired, 
and  went  and  took  tea  with  his  family ;  and  he  afterwards  sent  a  message 
to  Captain  Boyd  upon  the  provocation  given,  in  conseqiience  of  which 
they  met.  Being  unattended  by  friends,  the  immediate  circumstances 
which  attended  the  duel  were  not  proved  in  evidence ;  but  it  appears  that 
Captain  Boyd  being  wounded.  Lieutenant  Macpherson,  Surgeon  Price,  and 
others  were  called  to  his  assistance,  in  whose  presence  he  said  to  the  pri- 
soner, "  You  have  hurried  me 1  wanted  you  to  wait  and  have  friends 

Campbell,  you  are  a  bad  man  !"     He  afterwards  died,  and  upon  bis 

body  being  examined,  it  was  found  that  he  had  received  a  pistol-shot,  and 
that  the  bullet  had  penetrated  the  extremity  of  the  four  false  ribs,  and 
lodged  in  the  cavity  of  the  belly,  which  was  the  cause  of  his  death.  These 
facts  having  been  proved,  the  learned  judge  summed  up,  and  the  prisoner 
was  found  guilty  of  the  capital  offence,  but  recommended  to  mercy  by  the 
jury,  on  the  score  of  good  character  alone ;  several  persons  of  distinction 
in  the  army  having  attended,  and  declared  that  he  was  generally  of  a 
humane,  peaceable  disposition. 

Sentence  of  death  was,  however,  immediately  passed  on  the  unfortunate 
gentleman,  and  he  was  ordered  for  execution  on  the  Monday ;  but,  in  con- 
sequence of  the  recommendation  of  the  jury,  was  respited  till  the  Wednes- 
day se'nnight. 

In  the  mean  time,  every  effort  was  made  by  the  friends  of  the  unfortunate 
man  to  procure  the  royal  mercy.  ]\Irs.  Campbell,  his  lady,  departed 
immediately  for  England  to  solicit  in  person  the  royal  clemency  ;  and  the 
grand  jury  of  the  county,  and  the  jury  who  had  found  him  guilty,  pre- 
sented petitions  to  the  lord-lieutenant  of  Dublin.  Mrs.  Campbell,  after 
the  most  incredible  fatigue  and  exertion,  reached  England,  and  procured 
her  petition  to  be  delivered  into  the  hands  of  his  majesty.  The  respite, 
however,  expired  on  the  2;3rd  of  August,  and  an  order  was  sent  from 
Dublin  Castle  to  Armagh,  for  the  execution  to  take  place  on  the  24th. 
Tiie  prisoner's  deportment  during  the  whole  of  the  melancholy  interval 
between  his  condemnation  and  the  day  of  his  execution,  was  manly,  but 
penitent — such  as  became  a  Christian  towards  his  approaching  dissolution. 
When  he  was  informed  that  all  efforts  to  procure  a  pardon  had  failed,  he 
was  only  anxious  for  the  imm.ediate  execution  of  the  sentence.  He  had 
repeatedly  implored  that  he  might  be  shot ;  but  as  this  was  not  suitable  to 
the  forms  of  the  common  law^  his  entreaties  were  of  course  without  succe:>s. 


I 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  4.')3 

He  was  led  out  for  execution  on  Wednesday,  the  24tli  of  August,  18U8, 
just  as  the  ch)ck  struck  twelve.  lie  was  attended  by  Dr.  Bowie,  and  in 
tlu!  whole  of  his  deportment  was  manifest  a  pious  resignation  and  a  peni- 
tent mind.  A  vast  crowd  had  collected  around  the  scene  of  the  catastro- 
phe :  he  surveyed  them  a  moment,  then  turned  his  head  towards  Heaven 
with  a  look  of  prayer.  As  soon  as  he  appeared,  the  whole  of  the  attending 
guards,  and  such  of  the  soldiery  as  were  spectators,  took  off  their  caps  ; 
upon  which  the  major  saluted  them  in  turn.  The  spectacle  was  truly 
distressing,  and  tears  and  shrieks  burst  from  several  parts  of  the  crowd. 
When  the  executioner  approached  to  fix  the  cord,  Major  Campbell  again 
looked  up  to  Heaven.  There  was  now  the  most  profound  silence.  The 
executioner  seemed  paralysed  whilst  performing  this  last  act  of  his  duty, 
and  there  was  scarcely  a  dry  eye  out  of  so  many  thousands  assembled; 
every  aspect  wore  the  trace  of  grief. 

After  hanging  the  usual  time,  the  body  was  put  into  a  hearse  in  waiting, 
which  left  the  town  immediately,  to  convey  the  last  remains  of  the  unfor- 
tunate gentleman  to  the  family  depository  at  Ayr,  in  Scotland.  The 
catastropjhe  is  rendered  still  mure  melancholy  by  the  unhappy  circumstance 
that  Mrs.  Campbell  had  indulged  her  hopes  to  the  last,  and  left  London 
exactly  at  such  a  period  of  time  as  to  arrive  at  Ayr  on  the  day  on  which 
her  husband's  corpse  would  necessarily  have  reached  that  place. 


JOHN  RYAN  AND  MATTHEW  KEARINGE. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ARSON    AND    MURDER. 

The  scene  described  by  the  witnesses  in  this  case  well  depicts  some  of 
the  horrors  to  which  the  inhabitants  of  the  Sister  Kingdom  are  occasionally 
subject. 

At  the  Lent  Clonmel  Assizes  for  the  year  1808,  John  Ryan  and  Mat- 
thew Kearinge  were  indicted  for  the  murder  of  David  Bourke;  in  a  second 
count,  with  the  murder  of  John  Dougherty;  in  a  third,  with  setting  fire 
to  the  house  of  Laui-ence  Bourke;  and  in  a  fourth,  with  maliciously  tiring 
at  Laurence  Bourke,  with  intent  to  kill  him. 

After  the  solicitor-general  had  opened  the  case,  he  called  Laurence 
Bourke,  the  prosecutor,  who  stated  that  on  the  night  of  the  J  1th  of 
October,  between  the  hours  of  ten  and  eleven  o'clock,  he  was  informed 
l)y  his  servant  that  there  were  a  number  of  men  in  arms  advancing  towards 
his  house.  In  consequence  of  this  information  he  went  to  the  window„ 
and  saw  the  prisoners,  with  several  others,  all  armed,  surrounding  his 
liouse :  they  desired  him  to  open  the  door,  but  he  refused ;  and  they  then 
fired  several  shots  in  through  the  different  windows.  There  were  in  the 
house,  Dougherty,  the  deceased,  a  man  who  was  servant  to  the  witness, 
and  witness's  wife  and  child ;  they  were  armed,  but  had  no  ammunition 
but  what  the  guns  were  loaded  with.  The  prisoners  and  the  party  finding 
they  could  not  get  into  the  house,  set  it  on  fire ;  and  the  witness  heard  the 
jirisoner  Ryan  say,  "  Take  it  easy,  boys;  you  will  see  what  botlings  we 
shall  have  by-and-by." — The  witness's  wife  and  child  then  went  to  the 
window,  and  called  out  to  Ryan  (who  was  her  relation)  not  to  burn  the 
house ;  but  he  replied,  with  an  oath,  that  he  would ;  and  a  shot  was  fired 


454  THE    KEW    MEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

at  her,  which  though  it  did  not  take  effect,  frightened  her  so  much, 
that  she  and  her  child  fell  out  of  the  window.  They  were  seized  by 
the  prisoner  Kearinge  ;  but  they  afterwards  fortunately  made  their  escape. 
The  house  was  now  foiling  in  flames  about  the  witness's  head,  and  he 
therefore  opened  the  door  and  ran  out :  several  shots  were  fired  at  him, 
but  he  escaped  them,  and  made  his  way  to  David  Bourke's,  his  father's 
house.  In  his  flight  he  fired  his  piece,  and  killed  one  of  Ryan's  party. 
When  witness  arrived  at  his  father's  house,  he  found  that  he  had  gone  to 
the  assistance  of  the  witness ;  and  on  returning  to  the  place  where  his 
house  stood,  in  search  of  his  father,  he  found  that  Ryan  and  his  party 
were  gone,  and  his  father's  corpse  was  lying  about  twelve  yards  from  the 
smoking  ruins  of  his  dwelling. 

Winnifred  Kennedy  and  other  witnesses  were  examined,  who  corrobo- 
rated the  testimony  of  Bourke,  and  proved  that  tlie  deceased,  John 
Dougherty,  was  burned  in  Bourke's  house.  It  was  also  proved  that  the 
whole  of  Ryan's  party  were  entertained  by  him  at  dinner  that  day,  and 
they  all  left  his  house  armed,  for  the  purpose  of  attacking  Bourke. 

On  the  part  of  the  prisoner  Ryan,  an  alibi  was  attempted  to  be  proved 
by  a  woman  who  lived  with  him,  which  entirely  failed ;  and,  after  a  very 
minute  charge  from  the  learned  judge,  the  jury  brought  in  a  verdict  of 
Guilty  against  both  the  pristmers.     They  were  executed  accordingly. 


JAMES  COOPER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

At  the  Summer  Assizes  at  Croydon,  in  the  year  1809,  James  Cooper 
and  ]\Iary  Cooper,  his  mother,  aged  seventy-one  years,  were  indicted  for 
the  wilful  murder  of  Joseph  Hollis,  at  Compton,  in  the  county  of  Surrey, 
on  the  4th  May  preceding.  The  first  count  in  the  indictment  alleged 
the  murder  to  have  been  committed  by  fracturing  the  skull  of  the  deceased, 
and  the  second  count  stated  the  cause  of  death  to  have  been  a  wound  in 
the  throat. 

This  case  was  of  a  rather  singular  nature,  and  depended  on  circum- 
stances, which  were  proved  by  a  number  of  dift'erent  witnesses ;  and  the 
investigation  lasted  nearly  the  wdiole  day.  The  deceased  was  a  man  pos- 
sessing more  property  than  is  usual  with  persons  in  his  class  of  life.  He 
lived  in  a  small  cottage  adjoining  that  occupied  by  the  prisoners,  and 
which,  with  the  prisoners',  had  been  formerly  but  one  house.  It  had 
lately  been  divided  into  two  tenements,  the  one  being  occupied  by  the 
deceased,  and  the  other  by  the  two  prisoners.  There  was  no  door  of  com- 
munication between  the  two  tenements ;  but  it  was  proved,  that  whatever 
passed  in  one  could  be  distinctly  heard  in  the  other ;  and,  as  one  of  the 
witnesses  stated,  the  clock  could  be  heard  to  tick. 

The  deceased,  Hollis,  was  an  old  man  of  near  seventy,  but  was  hale  and 
hearty;  he  was  of  very  penurious  habits,  and  had  saved  money,  which  he 
was  fond  of  displaying.  One  of  the  witnesses  described  him  as  always 
carrying  three  canvas  bags,  in  one  of  which  he  kept  notes,  in  another  gold 
and  silver,  and  in  a  third  copper  money;  and  if  he  wanted  to  pay  only  a 
sixpence,   he   would  tip  all   the  gold  and   silver  into  his  hand ;  and  the 


I 


THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  455 

•witness  added,  that  he  had  seen  him  with  100/.  in  his  possession.  The 
whole  cottage  in  which  he  lived  was  his  property,  and  the  prisoner, 
Cooper,  was  his  tenant  for  the  part  which  he  occupied.  Nobody  lived  in 
Cooper's  part  but  himself  and  liis  mother  :  and  HoUis,  tlie  deceased,  lived 
alone  ;  a  woman  of  the  name  of  Wisdom  going  to  him  daily  to  complete 
his  little  household  arrangements. 

On  Wednesday,  the  -ird  of  May,  the  day  preceding  Guildford  fair,  he 
had  desired  a  person  of  the  name  of  Goddard  to  go  with  him  to  the  fair, 
as  he  wanted  to  buy  some  sheep;  Goddard  told  him  he  could  not  go  with 
him,  but  advised  him  to  be  early.  On  this  he  declared  his  intention  of 
breakfasting  and  setting  off  the  next  morning  by  four  o'clock;  and  having 
stated  this  to  ]\Iary  Wisdom,  he  told  her  that  she  need  not  come  to  him 
on  the  next  day.  She,  therefoi'e,  did  not  on  the  Thursday  make  her  daily 
visit ;  but  on  the  Friday,  about  ten,  she  sent  her  daughter,  a  girl  about 
thirteen  years  of  age.  The  child  found  the  door  unfastened ;  and,  on 
opening  it,  she  saw  HoUis  lying  dead  on  the  floor,  with  a  great  deal  of 
blood  about  him.  She  ran  out,  and  saw  Moor,  the  constable,  crossing  the 
common,  and  he  immediately  returned  with  her.  A  surgeon  was  sent  for, 
and  several  people  soon  came.  The  body  was  lying  on  the  floor  with  the 
legs  crossed,  and  the  head  lying  on  the  arm,  evidently  composed  to  that 
attitude  by  the  murderer  after  the  deed.  A  cup  of  coffee,  half  drunk,  was 
on  the  table,  a  piece  of  toast  before  the  fire,  another  piece,  partly  eaten, 
lay  on  the  hearth,  the  butter  bason  was  broken,  and  the  pat  of  butter  was 
on  the  floor  near  the  feet  of  tlie  deceased.  The  chair  in  which  he  had  been 
sitting  was  overturned,  and  his  hat  was  lying  near,  so  that  it  appeared 
that  he  had  been  attacked  Avhile  he  was  sitting  at  his  breakfast.  The 
body  was  most  shockingly  mangled,  the  skull  was  fractured  in  two  places, 
the  jaw  broken,  a  finger  broken,  the  arms  bruised,  and  the  throat  cut  so 
as  almost  to  sever  the  head  from  the  body.  Under,  the  body  was  found 
a  clasp-knife,  almost  covered  with  blood,  and  a  poker  in  a  similar  con- 
dition. From  these  circumstances  it  appeared  that  some  struggle  must 
have  taken  place,  which  the  prisoners  must  have  heard  in  their  cottage,  if 
the  miirder  had  been  committed  by  any  stranger. 

The  prisoners  were,  therefore,  apprehended  on  the  Friday  evening,  and 
their  part  of  the  cottage  searched ;  but  no  evidence  of  their  guilt  was 
found.  The  trunk  of  the  deceased  had  been  rummaged  ;  and,  as  only  two 
shillings  were  found  on  his  person,  it  was  presumed  that  the  murderer  had 
carried  off  his  money. 

The  magistrates,  on  examination,  finding  nothing  but  suspicion  against 
the  prisoners,  discharged  them  ;  but  on  subsequent  inquiries,  they  were 
again  apprehended,  and  the  following  circumstances  were  given  in  evidence. 
The  r.iglit  before  the  murder  the  deceased  and  the  prisoner,  James  Cooper, 
had  been  quarrelling  ;  upon  which  the  deceased  declared,  as  Cooper  ha<l 
not  paid  his  rent,  he  would  have  him  out  of  the  cottage ;  and  he  actually 
applied  to  a  person  to  disti'ain  upon  him.  In  this  quarrel.  Cooper  was 
heai'd  to  vow  vengeance  against  the  old  man,  swearing  that  he  would  be 
"up  side"  with  him  before  a  fortnight  was  over.  JMrs.  Cooper  exclaimed 
"God  forbid!"  but  presently  she  said,  that  it  would  not  much  matter, 
for  that  nobody  liked  the  old  man.  Since  the  former  examination  of  the 
prisoners,  a  more  minute  survey  of  their  cottage  had  been  taken,  and 
concealed  in  the  roof  were  found  various  articles  of  apparel,  belonging  to 


4.">6  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

til'"  male  prisoner,  which  were  smeared  Avith  blood.  Upon  subsequent 
Inquiry,  the  knife  and  poker  found  in  old  Hollis' house  were  also  discovered 
to  have  belonged  to  the  Coopers,  and  little  doubt  remained  therefore  ol 
their  being  parties  to  the  murder. 

The  prisoners  were  eventually  committed  to  take  their  trials,  and  while 
in  custody  Mrs.  Cooper  confessed  that  she  knew  of  tlie  murder,  after  its 
commission  by  her  son,  but  she  denied  that  she  was  in  any  way  a  party 
to  the  foul  deed.  She  stated  that  her  son  had  gone  out  in  the  evening  in 
question,  carrying  tlie  knife  and  poker  with  him,  and  that  soon  afterwards 
she  heard  a  noise  in  old  Plollis'  house,  followed  by  cries  for  help,  and  pre- 
sently a  heavy  fall  against  the  wainscot,  but  beyond  this  siieknew  nothing. 

Upon  this  evidence  the  male  prisoner  was  found  guilty,  but  his  mother 
was  acquitted. 

The  unhappy  young  man  immediately  received  sentence  of  death,  and 
was  executed  on  the  following  Monday,  confessing  the  justice  of  his  sentence 
and  punishment. 


JOSEPH    BROWN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

This  case  affords  a  striking  instance  of  the  wonderful  effect  of  the 
workings  of  the  conscience  of  a  guilty  man. 

Josejih  Brown  was  indicted  at  the  York  Assizes  in  the  month  of  March 
1809,  for  the  wilful  murder  of  Elizabetli  Fletcher  at  Hensal,  near  Ferry 
bridge,  in  the  month  of  October,  in  the  year  1804. 

The  offence  was  alleged  to  have  been  committed  by  the  administration 
of  poison  to  the  deceased  woman  by  the  prisoner,  and  a  companion  named 
Hazlegrove,  both  of  whom,  at  the  time  of  the  occurrence,  lodged  in  her 
house.  The  evidence  with  regard  to  the  transaction  was,  that  on  the 
Sunday,  the  21st  October  1804,  the  prisoner,  Hazlegrove,  Elizabeth 
Fletcher,  the  deceased,  and  her  sister  Sarah,  were  all  sitting  together  at 
supper,  between  eight  and  nine  o'clock  at  night,  and  tliat  Hazlegrove  went 
to  fetch  some  ale.  On  his  return  Brown  put  some  sugar  into  it,  and  gave 
it  to  the  deceased,  and  she  and  her  sister  drank  the  whole  of  it,  while 
Brown  and  Hazlegrove  refused  to  partake  of  it,  but  drank  some  out  of 
another  mug.  In  the  course  of  the  night  the  prisoner  and  his  companion 
absconded,  and  nothing  more  was  heard  of  them  untd  the  apprehension  of 
the  prisoner  in  the  Isle  of  Wight,  on  the  3rd  of  August  1808  ;  and  in  the 
morning  ^Irs.  Fletcher  was  found  to  be  dead,  and  her  sister  suffering 
severely  from  the  effects  of  laudanum.  It  was  proved  that  jNIrs.  Fletcher 
was  known  to  be  in  the  possession  of  a  considerable  sum  of  money,  and 
tliat  the  prisoner  had  expressed  a  wish  that  he  had  it ;  and  that  on  the 
Saturday  the  20th  of  October,  he  had  purchased  sixpennyworth  of  lau- 
danum of  3Ir.  Perkins,  a  surgeon  at  Snaith,  to  whom  he  represented,  that 
it  was  for  the  use  of  his  father,  who  was  unable  to  get  any  sleep.  The 
death  of  the  deceased  it  could  not  be  doubted  had  been  produced  by 
laudanum. 

The  additional  evidence,  by  which  it  was  proposed  to  bring  home  the 
offence  to  the  prisoner,  was  a  confession,  which  he  had  made  at  the  Isle  of 
Wight,  in  the  month  of  August  preceding  his  trial,  when  he  surrendered 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  4r)7 

himself  into  custody,  as  he  said  at  the  time,  on  account  of  the  angnistii 
j)roduct'd  in  his  mind,  on  his  reflecting  iipon  the  dreadful  crime  of  which 
he  had  heen  guilty.  In  his  confession,  he  stated  that  he  had  been 
acquainted  with  Joseph  Ilazlegrove  upwards  of  six  years  ;  that  in  the 
Hjonth  of  October  1804,  he  and  Joseph  Hazlcgrove  lodged  with  Mrs. 
Fletcher  of  Ilcnsal,  near  Ferrybridge,  and  there  formed  tlie  design  of 
poisoning  her,  in  order  to  possess  themselves  of  some  property  they  sup- 
posed her  to  possess  ;  that  for  tliis  purpose,  he  procured  six-pennyworth 
of  laudanum  of  a  ]\Ir.  Perkins,  of  Snaitli,  which  he  gave  to  llazlegrove, 
who  mixed  it  with  some  beer,  along  with  some  sugar,  and  gave  it  to 
Elizabeth  Fletcher  and  her  sister ;  the  former  died  in  consequence  of  it, 
and  early  the  following  morning  they  broke  open  her  box,  and  took  out 
one  guinea  and  a  half,  with  which  they  absc(mded.  The  prisoner,  it 
appeared,  had  been  since  subjected  to  prosecution,  on  account  of  some 
offence  of  which  he  had  been  guilty,  but  had  been  permitk^d  to  enter  a 
foot  regiment,  in  which  he  was  still  a  soldier  at  the  time  of  his  trial. 

On  his  being  called  on  for  liis  defence,  he  declared,  with  the  most  con- 
summate impudence,  that  his  confession  was  untrue;  and  that  his  only  object 
in  making  that  statement  was,  by  putting  himself  upon  his  trial,  to  clear  up 
the  suspicions  which  were  entertained  against  him.  He  then  went  on  to 
say,  that  his  acquaintance  with  llazlegrove  had  subsisted  from  an  earlier 
period  than  he  had  represented,  down  to  the  time  of  his  trial ;  and  that 
they  had  always  lived  upon  terms  of  the  closest  intimacy.  Tiiat  in  the 
early  part  of  their  friendship,  a  lady  of  high  rank  and  fortune  had  become 
enamoured  of  his  friend,  and  that  many  interesting  meetings  had  taken 
place  between  them.  lie  was  generally  employed  as  the  go-between  ;  and 
the  secrecy  which  they  were  compelled  to  observe  upon  this  subject  gave 
a,n  air  of  mystery  to  their  conduct,  which  caused  them  to  be  spoken  of 
with  suspicion  ;  and  at  length  so  far  had  the  malignity  of  their  enemies 
been  excited  against  them,  that  they  were  accused  of  every  offence  which 
liappened  to  be  committed  within  a  circuit  of  several  miles!  He  concluded 
by  repeating  his  declaration  as  to  tlie  object  which  he  had  in  view,  in 
surrendering  himself  into  custody,  suggesting  that  the  death  of  IMrs. 
Fletcher  might  have  been  occasioned  by  a  fit,  and  protesting  his  entire 
innocence  of  the  crime  imputed  to  him. 

He  declined  calling  any  witnesses  to  substantiate  the  allegations  which 
he  made,  however,  and  a  verdict  of  guilty  was  returned. 

The  learned  Judge  then  proceeded  to  pass  sentence  of  death  upon  the 
prisoner,  whom  he  addressed  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  Joseph  Brown,  I  am  called  upon,  in  the  painful  exercise  of  my  duty, 
to  pass  sentence  upon  a  person  found  guilty  of  one  of  the  greatest  offences 
against  society — the  crime  of  deliberate  murder.  You  stand  an  awful  and 
striking  example  of  the  justice  of  Providence — of  that  punishment,  which, 
sooner  or  later,  never  fails  to  overtake  the  guilty.  You  have  been  com- 
pelled by  the  agonies  of  remorse,  and  the  upbraidings  and  tortures  of  a 
guilty  mind,  to  furnish  that  evidence  against  yourself,  which  was  wanting 
to  establish  the  proof  of  your  guilt,  and  to  supply  that  link  in  the  chain 
(if  evidence  which  appeared  to  be  imperfect.  I  trust,  that  every  one  who 
hears  of  your  fate  will  bear  in  mind,  that  a  time  will  arrive,  probably  in  this 
world,  most  certainly  in  another,  when  guilt  will  meet  with  its  due  ])unish- 
ment.     In  your  unhappy  case,  that  jieriod  is  already  come,  when  you  must 

VOL.  I.  3  N 


4.'>vS  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

receive  tlie  reward  of  your  crimes.  Impelled  by  the  hope  of  posse?sing  the 
treasure  wliich  you  supposed  your  unfortunate  victim  had  saved  from  her 
hard  earnings,  yovA  deliberately  formed  the  design  of  destroying  her  ;  f  jr 
this  purpose  you  "ourchased  a  deadly  drug,  which  you  procured  to  be 
mingled  in  the  cup  which  you  offered  to  her  under  the  guise  of  friendship. 
When  the  potion  had  taken  effect,  you  plundered  her  of  her  property, 
though  it  was  much  less  than  your  guilty  cupidity  had  suggested.  Your 
crime  appeared  likely  to  be  perpetrated,  as  to  this  world,  witli  impunity ; 
more  than  four  years  had  elapsed  since  its  perpetration,  and  the  remem- 
brance of  it  began  to  fade  from  the  recollection  of  every  one  but  the  guilty 
autlior  of  the  deed,  and  it  seemed  probable,  tliat  nothing  more  would  have 
jeen  heard  of  it,  if  the  consciousness  of  your  crime,  more  poignant  and 
destructive  than  the  poisoned  bowl,  had  not  compelled  you  to  disclose  the 
horrid  secret. — Chequered  as  your  life  has  been  with  crimes,  I  cannot 
indulge  the  hope,  tliat  anything  that  I  can  say  will  have  any  lasting 
effect  upon  you  ;  but  I  conjure  you  to  spend  the  few  remaining  hours  you 
have  to  live,  in  earnest  prayer  and  supplication  to  Heaven  for  mercy  ;  and 
may  your  unhappy  fate  convince  others,  that  though  their  crimes  may  be 
committed  in  the  darkness  of  the  night,  they  will  iiereafter  be  proclaimed 
at  noon-day." 

Sentence  was  then  passed  in  the  usual  terms,  and  the  prisoner  was 
executed  on  the  20th  of  March  1809. 

We  have  no  record  of  the  manner  in  which  he  met  his  death. 


MARY  BATEMAN, 

Commonly  called  the  Yorkshire  Witch. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  insidious  arts  practised  by  this  woman  rendered  her  a  pest  to  the 
neighbourhood  in  which  she  resided,  and  she  richly  deserved  that  fate  which 
eventually  befel  her. 

She  was  indicted  at  York  on  the  18th  of  March  1809,  for  the  wilful 
murder  of  Rebecca  Perigo,  of  Bramley,  in  the  same  county,  in  the  month 
of  May  in  the  previous  year. 

The  examination  of  the  witnesses,  who  were  called  to  support  the  case 
for  the  prosecution,  showed,  that  Mrs.  Bateman  resided  at  Leeds,  and  was 
well  known  at  that  place,  as  well  as  in  the  surrounding  districts,  as  a 
''  witch,"  in  which  capacity  she  had  been  frequently  employed  to  work 
cures  of  "  evil  wishes,"  and  all  the  other  customary  imaginary  illnesses,  to 
which  the  credulous  lower  orders  at  that  time  supposed  themselves  liable. 
Her  name  had  become  much  celebrated  in  tlie  neighbourhood  for  her  suc- 
cesses in  the  arts  of  divining  and  witchcraft,  and  it  may  be  readily  con- 
cluded that  her  efforts  in  her  own  behalf  were  no  less  profitable.  In  the 
spring  of  1806  ]\Irs.  Perigo,  who  lived  with  her  husband,  at  Bramley,  a 
village  at  a  short  distance  from  Leeds,  was  seized  with  a  "  flacking,"  or 
fluttering  in  her  breast,  whenever  she  lay  down,  and  applying  to  a  quack 
doctor  of  the  place,  he  assured  her  that  it  was  beyond  his  cure,  for  tliat  an 
"evil  wish  "  had  been  laid  upon  iier,  and  that  tlie  arts  of  sorcery  must  be 
resorted  to  in  order  to   effect  lier  relief.      AVhile  in  this  dilemma,  she  was 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR  459 

visited  by  her  niece,  a  girl  named  Stead,  who  at  that  time  filled  a  situation 
as  a  household  servant  at  Leeds,  and  who  had  taken  advantage  of  the 
Wliitsuntide  holidays  to  go  round  to  see  her  friends.  Stead  expressed  her 
sorrow  to  find  her  aunt  in  so  terrible  a  situation,  and  recommended  an  im- 
mediate appeal  to  the  prisoner,  whose  powers  she  described  as  fully 
equal  to  get  rid  of  any  affection  of  the  kind,  whether  produced  by  mortal 
or  diabolical  charms.  An  application  was  at  once  determined  on  to  her,  and 
Stead  was  employed  to  broach  the  subject  to  the  diviner.  She,  in  conse- 
quence, paid  the  prisoner  a  visit  at  her  house  in  Black  Dog  Yard,  near  the 
bank,  at  Leeds,  and  having  acquainted  her  with  the  nature  of  the  malady 
by  which  her  aunt  was  affected,  was  informed  by  her,  that  she  knew  a 
lady,  who  lived  at  Scarborough,  and  that  if  a  flannel  petticoat  or  some 
article  of  dress,  which  was  worn  next  the  skin  of  the  patient,  was  sent  to 
her,  she  would  at  once  communicate  witli  her  upon  the  subject.  On  the 
following  Tuesday  William  Perigo,  the  husband  of  the  deceased,  proceeded 
to  her  house,  and  having  handed  over  liis  wife's  flannel  petticoat,  the  pri- 
soner said  that  she  would  write  to  Miss  Blythe,  who  was  the  lady  to  whom 
she  had  alluded,  at  Scarborough,  by  the  same  night's  post,  and  that  an 
answer  would  doubtless  be  returned  by  that  day  week,  when  he  was  to  ciill 
again.  On  the  day  mentioned,  Perigo  was  true  to  his  appointment,  and 
the  prisoner  produced  to  him  a  letter,  saying  that  it  had  arrived  from  Miss 
Blythe,  and  that  it  contained  directions  as  to  what  was  to  be  done.  After 
a  great  deal  of  circumlocution  and  mystery  the  letter  was  opened,  and  was 
read  by  the  prisoner,  and  it  was  found  that  it  contained  an  order  "  that 
Mary  Bateman  should  go  to  Perigo's  house,  at  Bramley,  and  should  take 
with  her  four  guinea  notes,  which  were  enclosed,  and  tliat  she  should  sew 
them  into  the  fonr  corners  of  the  bed,  in  which  the  diseased  woman  slept, 
where  they  were  to  remain  for  eighteen  months ;  that  Perigo  was  to  give 
her  four  other  notes  of  like  value,  to  be  returned  to  Scarborough ;  and  that 
unless  all  these  directions  were  strictly  attended  to,  the  charm  would  be 
useless  and  would  not  work."  On  the  fourth  of  August  the  prisoner  went 
over  to  Bramley,  and  having  shown  the  four  notes,  proceeded  apparently 
to  sew  them  up  in  silken  bags,  which  she  delivered  over  to  Mrs.  Perigo  to 
be  placed  in  the  bed.  The  four  notes  desired  to  be  returned  were  then 
handed  to  her  by  Perigo,  and  she  retired,  directing  her  dupes  frequently  to 
send  to  her  house,  as  letters  might  be  expected  from  Miss  Blythe.  In 
about  a  fortnight,  another  letter  was  produced  ;  and  it  contained  directions, 
that  two  pieces  of  iron  in  the  form  of  horse-shoes  should  be  nailed  up  at 
Perigo's  door,  by  the  prisoner,  but  that  the  nails  should  not  be  driven  in 
■with  a  hammer,  but  with  the  back  of  a  pair  of  pincers,  and  that  the  pincers 
were  to  be  sent  to  Scarborough,  to  remain  in  the  custody  of  Miss  Blythe 
for  the  eighteen  months  already  mentioned  in  the  charm.  The  prisoner 
accordingly  again  visited  Bramley,  and  having  nailed  up  the  horse-shoes 
received  and  carried  off  the  y)incers.  In  October  the  following  letter  was 
received  by  Perigo,  bearing  the  signature  of  the  supposed  Miss  Blythe. 

"  jNIy  dear  Friend. — You  must  go  down  to  Mary  Bateman's,  at  Leeds, 
on  Tuesday  next,  and  carry  two  guinea  notes  with  you  and  give  her  them, 
!ind  she  will  give  you  other  two  that  I  have  sent  to  her  from  Scarborough  ; 
and  you  must  buy  me  a  small  cheese  about  six  oi  eight  pound  weight,  and 
it  must  be  of  your  buying,  for  it  is  for  a  particular  use,  and  it  is  to  be  car- 
ried down  to  IMary  Boteman's,  and  she  will  send  it  to  me  by  the  coach. —  . 
This  letter  is  to  be  burned  when  you  have  done  readino^  it." 


460  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

From  this  time  to  tlie  month  of  March  1807,  a  great  numher  of  letters 
were  received,  demaiidincr  tlie  transmission  of  various  articles,  to  Mis3 
Blythe,  through  the  medium  of  the  prisoner,  the  whole  of  which  were  to 
be  preserved  by  her  until  the  expiration  of  the  eighteen  months  ;  and  in 
the  course  of  the  same  period  money  to  the  amount  of  near  seventy  pounds 
was  paid  over,  Perigo,  upon  each  occasion  of  payment,  receiving  silk  bags, 
containing  what  were  pretended  to  be  coins  or  notes  of  corresponding 
value,  which  were  to  be  sewn  up  in  the  bed  as  before.  In  March  1807, 
the  following  letter  arrived. 

"  i\Iy  dear  Friends. —  I  will  be  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  let  me  have 
half-a-dozen  of  your  china,  three  silver  spoons,  half-a-pound  of  tea,  two 
pounds  of  loaf  sugar,  and  a  tea  canister  to  put  the  tea  in,  or  else  it  will 
not  do — I  durst  not  drink  out  of  my  own  china.  You  must  burn  this 
with  a  candle." 

The  china,  &c.,  not  having  been  sent,  in  the  month  of  April  Miss 
Blythe  wrote  as  follows  : — 

"  My  dear  Friends. — /  will  he  obliged  to  you  if  you  will  Imy  me  a  camp 
bedstead^  led  and  bedding,  a  blanket,  a  pair  of  sheets,  and  a  long  bolster 
must  come  from  your  house. — You  need  not  buy  the  best  feathers,  common 
ones  will  do.  1  have  laid  on  the  floor  for  three  nights,  and  I  cannot  lay 
on  my  own  bed  owing  to  the  planets  being  so  bad  concerning  your  wife, 
and  I  must  have  one  of  your  buying  or  it  will  not  do. — You  must  bring 
dovi^n  the  china,  the  sugar,  the  caddy,  the  three  silver  spoons,  and  the  tea 
at  the  same  time  when  you  buy  the  bed,  and  pack  them  up  altogether. — 
My  brother  s  boat  will  be  up  in  a  day  or  two,  and  I  will  order  my  bro- 
ther's boatman  to  call  for  them  all  at  Mary  Bateman's,  and  you  must  give 
Mary  Bateman  one  shilling  for  the  boatman,  and  1  will  place  it  to 
your  account.  Your  wife  must  burn  this  as  soon  as  it  is  read  or  it  will 
not  do." 

This  had  the  desired  efifect ;  and  the  prisoner  having  called  upon  the 
Perigos,  she  accompanied  them  to  the  sliops  of  a  Mr.  Dobbin,  and  a  Mr. 
Musgrave,  at  Leeds,  to  purchase  the  various  articles  named,  which  were 
eventually  bought  at  a  cost  of  sixteen  pounds,  and  sent  to  Mr.  Sutton's, 
at  the  Lion  and  Lamb  Inn,  Kirkgate,  there  to  await  the  arrival  of  the 
supposed  messenger. 

At  the  end  of  April,  the  following  letter  arrived  : — "  ]\Iy  dear  Friends. 
— I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  you  will  take  an  illness  in  the  month  of  May 
next,  one  or  both  of  you,  Ijut  I  think  both,  but  the  works  of  God  must 
have  its  course. — You  will  escape  the  chambers  of  the  grave  ;  though  you 
seem  to  be  dead,  yet  you  will  live.  Your  wife  must  take  half-a-pound  of 
honey  down  from  Bramley  to  JNIary  Bateman's  at  Leeds,  and  it  must 
remain  there  till  you  go  down  yourself,  and  she  will  put  in  such  like  stuff 
as  I  have  sent  from  Scarbro'  to  her,  and  she  will  put  it  in  when  you  come 
down,  and  see  her  yourself,  or  it  will  not  do.  You  must  eat  pudding  for 
six  days,  and  you  must  put  in  such  like  stuff  as  I  have  sent  to  jMary  Bate- 
man from  Scarbro',  and  she  will  give  your  wife  it,  but  you  must  not  begin 
to  eat  of  this  pudding  while  I  let  you  know.  If  ever  you  find  yourself 
sickly  at  any  time,  you  must  take  each  of  you  a  teaspoonful  of  this  honey; 
I  will  remit  twenty  pounds  to  you  on  the  20th  day  of  May,  and  it  will 
pay  a  little  of  what  you  owe.  You  must  bring  this  down  to  IMary  Bate- 
man's, and  burn  it  at  her  house,  when  you  come  down  next  time." 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  461 

The  instructions  contained  in  this  letter  were  complied  witli,  and  the 
prisoner  having  first  mixed  a  white  powder  in  the  honey,  handed  over  six 
others  of  the  same  colour  and  description  to  Mrs.  Perifj;o,  saying  that  they 
must  be  used  in  the  precise  manner  mentioned  upon  them,  or  tliey  would 
all  be  killed.  On  the  5th  of  I^Iay,  another  letter  arrived  in  tlie  following 
terms : — 

"  ily  dear  Friends. — You  must  begin  to  eat  pudding  on  the  1 1  th  of 
May,  and  you  must  put  one  of  the  powders  in  every  day  as  tliey  are 
marked,  for  six  days — and  you  must  see  it  put  in  yourself  every  day  or 
else  it  will  not  do.  If  you  find  yourself  sickly  at  any  time  you  must  not 
have  no  doctor,  for  it  will  not  do,  and  you  must  not  let  the  boy  tliat  used 
to  eat  with  you  eat  of  that  pudding  for  six  days ;  and  you  must  make  only 
just  as  much  as  you  can  eat  yourselves,  if  there  is  any  left  it  will  not  do. 
You  must  keep  the  door  fast  as  much  as  possible  or  you  will  be  overcome 
by  some  enemy.  Now  think  on  and  take  my  directions  or  else  it  will  kill 
us  all.  About  the  25th  of  May  I  will  come  to  Leeds  and  send  for  your  wife 
to  Mary  Bateman's  ;  your  wife  will  take  me  by  the  hand  and  say,  '  God 
bless  you  that  I  ever  found  you  out.'  It  has  pleased  God  to  send  me 
into  the  world  that  I  might  destroy  the  works  of  darkness  ;  I  call  them 
the  works  of  darkness  because  they  are  dark  to  you — now  mind  what  I 
say  whatever  you  do.  This  letter  must  be  burned  in  straw  on  the  hearth 
by  your  wife." 

The  absurd  credulity  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Perigo  even  yet  favoured  the 
horrid  designs  of  the  prisoner;  and,  in  obedience  to  the  directions  which 
they  received,  they  began  to  eat  the  puddings  on  the  day  named.  For 
five  days,  they  had  no  particular  flavour,  but  upon  the  sixth  powder  being 
mixe;],  the  pudding  was  found  so  nauseous,  that  the  former  could  only  eat 
one  or  two  mouthfuls,  while  his  wife  managed  to  swallow  three  or  four. 
They  were  both  directly  seized  with  violent  vomiting,  and  Mrs.  Perigo, 
whose  faith  appears  to  have  been  greater  than  that  of  her  husband,  at 
once  had  recourse  to  the  honey.  Their  sickness  continued  during  the 
whole  day,  but  although  Mrs.  Perigo  suffered  the  most  intense  torments, 
she  positively  refused  to  hear  of  a  doctor's  being  sent  for,  lest,  as  she  said, 
the  charm  should  be  broken,  by  Miss  Blythe's  directions  being  opposed. 
The  recovery  of  the  husband  from  the  illness,  by  which  he  was  affected, 
slowly  progressed ;  but  the  wife,  who  persisted  in  eating  the  honey,  con- 
tinued daily  to  lose  strength,  and  at  length  expired  on  the  24th  of  May, 
her  last  words  being  a  request  to  her  husband  not  to  be  "rash"  with  Mary 
Batenian,  but  to  await  the  coming  of  the  appointed  time. 

Mr.  Chorley,  a  surgeon,  was  subsequently  called  in  to  see  her  body;  but 
although  he  expressed  his  firm  belief  that  the  death  of  the  deceased  was 
caused  by  her  having  taken  poison,  and  although  that  impression  was  con- 
firmed by  the  circumstance  of  a  cat  dying  immediately  after  it  had  eaten 
some  of  the  pudding,  no  further  steps  were  taken  to  ascertain  the  real 
cause  of  death,  and  Perigo  even  subsequently  continued  in  communication 
with  the  prisoner. 

Upon  his  informing  her  of  the  death  of  his  wife,  she  at  once  d(  clared 
that  it  was  attributable  to  her  having  eaten  all  the  honey  at  once,  and 
then  in  the  beginnincr  of  June,  he  received  the  following  letter  from  Miss 
Blythe  :— 

"  My  dear  Friend. — I  am  sorry  to  tell  you  that  your  wife  should  toucb 


4G2  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

of  tlio«e  things  -which  I  ordered  her  not,  and  for  tliat  reason  it  has  caused 
lier  death  ;  it  had  likened  to  have  killed  me  at  Scarborough,  and  Mary 
Bateman  at  Leeds,  and  you  and  all,  and  for  this  reason,  she  will  rise  from 
the  grave,  she  will  stroke  your  face  with  her  right  hand,  and  you  will  lose 
the  use  of  one  side,  but  I  will  pray  for  you. — I  would  not  have  you  to  go  to 
no  doctor,  for  it  will  not  do.  1  would  have  you  to  eat  and  drink  what  you 
like,  and  you  will  be  better.  Now,  my  dear  friend,  take  my  directions, 
do  and  it  will  be  better  for  you. — Pray  God  bless  you.  Amen.  Amen. 
You  must  burn  this  letter  immediately  after  it  is  read." 

Letters  were  also  subsequently  received  by  him,  purporting  to  be  from 
the  same  person,  in  which  new  demands  for  clothing,  coals,  and  other 
articles  were  made,  but  at  length,  in  the  month  of  October  1808,  two 
years  having  elapsed  since  the  commencement  of  the  charm,  he  thought  that 
the  time  had  fully  arrived,  when,  if  any  good  effects  were  to  be  produced 
from  it,  they  would  have  been  apparent,  and  that  therefore  he  -was  entitled 
to  look  for  his  money  in  the  bed.  He,  in  consequence,  commenced  a  search 
for  the  little  silk  bags,  in  which  his  notes  and  money  had  been,  as  he  sup- 
posed, sewn  up  ;  but  although  the  bags  indeed  were  in  precisely  the  same 
positions  in  which  they  had  been  placed  by  his  deceased  wife,  by  some 
unaccountable  conjuration,  the  notes  and  gold  had  turned  to  rotten  cab- 
bao-e-leaves  and  bad  farthings.  The  darkness,  by  which  the  truth  had 
been  so  long  obscured,  now  passed  away,  and  having  communicated  'v\uth 
the  prisoner,  by  a  stratagem,  meeting  her  under  pretence  of  receiving 
from  her  a  bottle  of  medicine,  which  was  to  cure  him  from  the  effects  of 
the  puddings  which  still  remained,  he  caused  her  to  be  apprehended. 
LTpon  her  house  being  searched,  nearly  all  the  property  sent  to  the  sup- 
loosed  ]Miss  Blythe  was  found  in  her  possession,  and  a  bottle  containing  a 
liquid  mixed  with  two  powders,  one  of  which  proved  to  be  oatmeal,  and 
the  other  arsenic,  was  taken  from  her  pocket  when  she  was  taken  into 
custody. 

The  rest  of  the  evidence  against  the  prisoner  went  to  show  that  there 
was  no  such  person  as  ]Miss  Blythe  living  at  Scarborough,  and  that  all  the 
letters  which  had  been  received  by  Perigo  were  in  her  own  handwriting, 
and  had  been  sent  by  her  to  Scarborough  to  be  transmitted  back  again. 
An  attempt  was  also  proved  to  have  been  made  by  her  to  purchase  some 
arsenic,  at  the  shop  of  a  IMr.  Clough,  in  Kirkgate,  in  the  month  of  April 
1807,  but  the  most  important  testimony  was  that  of  Mr.  Chorley,  tlie 
surgeon,  who  distinctly  proved  that  he  had  analysed  what  remained  of  the 
pudding,  and  of  the  contents  of  the  honey  pot,  and  that  he  found  them 
both  to  contain  a  deadly  poison,  called  corrosive  sublimate  of  mercury,  and 
that  the  symptoms  exhibited  by  the  deceased  and  her  husband  were  such 
as  would  have  arisen  from  the  administration  of  such  a  drug. 

The  prisoner's  defence  consisted  of  a  simple  denial  of  the  charge,  and  the 
learned  judge  then  proceeded  to  address  the  jury.  Having  stated  tlie 
nature  of  the  allegations  made  in  the  indictment,  he  said  that  in  order  to 
come  to  a  conclusion  as  to  the  guilt  of  the  prisoner,  it  was  necessary  that 
three  points  should  be  clearly  made  out.  1st.  That  the  deceased  died  of 
poison.  2nd.  That  that  poison  was  administered  by  the  contrivance  and 
knowledge  of  the  prisoner.  And  :3rd.  That  it  was  so  done  for  the  purpose 
of  occasioning  the  death  of  the  deceased.  A  large  body  of  evidence  had 
been  laid   before  them,  to  prove  that  the  prisoner  had  engaged  in  schemes 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  463 

of  fraud  ag.ainst  the  deceased  and  her  husband,  whlcli  Avas  proved  not 
merely  by  the  evidence  of  Wm.  Perigo,  but  by  the  testimony  of  other 
witnesses ;  and  the  inference  the  prosecutors  drew  from  tliis  fraud  was 
tlie  existence  of  a  powerful  motive  or  temptation  to  commit  a  still  greater 
crime,  for  the  purpose  of  escaping  the  shame  and  punishment  which  must 
have  attended  the  detection  of  the  fraud;  a  fraud  so  gross,  that  it  excited  his 
surprise  that  any  individual  in  that  age  and  nation  could  be  the  dupe  of  it. 
But  the  jury  should  not  go  beyond  this  inference,  and  presume  that,  because 
the  prisoner  had  been  guilty  of  fraud,  she  was  of  course  likely  to  have 
committed  the  crime  of  murder;  that,  if  proved,  must  be  shown  by  other 
evidence.  His  Lordi^hip  then  proceeded  to  recapitulate  the  whole  of  the 
evidence,  as  detailed  in  the  preceding  pages,  and  concluded  with  the 
following  observations.  "  It  is  impossible  not  to  be  struck  with  wonder  at 
the  extraordinary  credulity  of  Wm.  Perigo,  which  neither  the  loss  of  his 
property,  the  death  of  his  wife,  and  his  own  severe  sufferings,  could  dispel; 
and  it  was  not  imtil  the  month  of  October  in  the  following  year,  that  he 
ventured  to  open  his  hid  treasure,  and  found  there  what  every  one  in  court 
must  have  anticipated  that  he  would  find,  not  a  single  vestige  of  his 
property;  and  his  evidence  is  laid  before  the  jury  with  the  observation 
which  arises  from  this  uncommon  want  of  judgment.  His  memory 
however  appears  to  be  very  retentive,  and  his  evidence  is  confirmed,  and 
that  in  difterent  parts  of  the  narrative,  by  other  witnesses  ;  and  many  parts 
of  the  case  do  not  rest  upon  his  evidence  at  ail.  The  illness,  and  peculiar 
symptoms,  which  preceded  the  death  of  his  wife  ;  his  own  severe  sickness  ; 
and  a  variety  of  other  circumstances  attending  the  experiments  made  upon 
the  pudding,  were  proved  by  separate  and  independent  testimony  j  and 
it  is  most  strange,  that,  in  a  case  of  so  much  suspicion  as  it  appeared  to 
have  excited  at  the  time,  the  interment  of  the  body  should  have  taken 
place  without  any  inquiry  as  to  the  cause  of  death,  an  inquiry  which  then 
would  have  been  much  less  difficult ;  though  the  fact  of  the  deceased  hav- 
ing died  of  poison  is  now  well  established.  The  main  question  is,  did  the 
prisoner  contrive  the  means  to  induce  the  deceased  to  take  it  ? — if  she  did 
so  contrive  the  means,  the  intent  could  only  be  to  destroy. — Poison  so 
deadly  could  not  be  administered  with  any  other  view.  The  jury  will  lay 
all  the  facts  and  circumstances  together ;  and  if  they  feel  them  press  so 
strongly  against  the  prisoner,  as  to  induce  a  conviction  of  the  prisoner's 
having  procured  the  deceased  to  take  poison,  with  an  intent  to  occasion  her 
death,  they  will  find  her  guilty  ;  if  they  do  not  think  the  evidence  conclu  • 
sive,  they  will,  in  that  case,  find  the  prisoner  not  guilty." 

The  jury,  after  conferring  for  a  moment,  found  the  prisoner  guilty  ;— 
and  the  judge  proceeded  to  pass  sentence  of  death  upon  her,  in  nearly 
the  following  words  : — 

"  Mary  Bateman,  you  have  been  convicted  of  wilful  murder  by  a  jury, 
who,  after  having  examined  your  case  with  caution,  have,  constrained  by 
the  force  of  evidence,  pronounced  you  guilty ;  and  it  only  remains  for  me 
to  fulfil  my  painful  duty  by  passing  upon  you  the  awful  sentence  of  the 
law.  After  you  have  been  so  long  in  the  situation  in  which  you  now 
stand,  and  harassed  as  your  mind  must  be  by  the  long  detail  of  your 
crimes,  and  by  listening  to  the  sufferings  you  have  occasioned,  I  do  not 
wish  to  add  to  your  distress  by  saying  more  than  my  duty  renders  neces- 
sary.    Of  your  guilt,  there  cannot  remain  a  particle  of  doubt  in  the  breast 


464  THE    XEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

of  any  one  who  has  heard  your  case. — You  entered  into  a  long  and  preme- 
ditated system  of  fraud,  which  you  carried  on  for  a  lengtli  of  time,  wliich  is 
most  astonishing,  and  by  means  wliich  one  woukl  have  supposed  could 
not,  in  tliis  age  and  nation,  have  been  practised  witli  success.  To  prevent 
a  discovery  of  your  complicated  fraud,  and  the  punishment  which  must 
have  resulted  therefrom,  you  deliberately  contrived  the  death  of  the  persons 
you  had  so  grossly  injured,  and  that  by  means  of  poison,  a  mode  of  de- 
struction against  which  there  is  no  sure  protection  ;  but  your  guilty  design 
was  not  fully  accomplished. — And,  after  so  extraordinary  a  lapse  of  time, 
you  are  reserved  as  a  signal  example  of  the  justice  of  that  mysterious  Pro- 
vidence, which,  sooner  or  later,  overtakes  guilt  like  yours  ;  and  at  the  very 
time  when  you  were  apprehended,  there  is  the  greatest  reason  to  suppose, 
that  if  your  surviving  victim  had  met  you  alone,  as  you  wished  him  to  do, 
you  would  have  administered  to  him  a  more  deadly  dose,  which  would  have 
completed  the  diabolical  project  you  had  long  before  formed,  but  which  at 
that  time  only  partially  succeeded  ;  for  upon  your  person,  at  that  moment, 
was  found  a  phial  containing  a  most  deadly  poison.  For  crimes  like  yours, 
in  tliis  world,  the  gates  of  mercy  are  closed.  You  afforded  your  victim  no 
time  for  preparation ;  but  the  law,  while  it  dooms  you  to  death,  has,  in  its 
mercy,  afforded  you  time  for  repentance,  and  the  assistance  of  pious  and 
devout  men,  whose  admonitions,  and  prayers,  and  counsels,  may  assist  to 
prepare  you  for  another  world,  where  even  your  crimes,  if  sincerely  repented 
of,  may  find  mercy. 

"  The  sentence  of  the  law  is,  and  the  court  doth  award  it,  That  you  be 
taken  to  the  place  from  whence  you  came,  and  from  thence,  on  Monday 
next,  to  the  place  of  execution,  there  to  be  hanged  by  the  neck  until  you 
are  dead  ;  and  that  your  body  be  given  to  the  surgeons  to  be  dissected 
and  anatomised  ;  and  may  Almighty  God  have  mercy  upon  your  soul." 

The  prisoner  having  intimated  that  she  was  pregnant,  the  clerk  of  the 
arraigns  said,  "  Mary  Bateman,  what  have  you  to  say,  why  immediate 
execution  should  not  be  awarded  against  you  ?"  On  which  the  prisoner 
pleaded  that  she  was  twenty-two  weeks  gone  with  child.  On  t.iis  plea  the 
judge  ordered  the  sheriff  to  impannel  a  jury  of  matrons  ;  this  order  created 
a  general  consternation  among  the  ladies,  who  hastened  to  quit  the  court, 
to  prevent  the  execution  of  so  painful  an  office  being  imposed  upon  them. 
His  lordship,  in  consequence,  ordered  the  doors  to  be  closed,  and  in  about 
half-an-hour,  twelve  married  women  being  impannelled,  they  were  sworn 
in  court,  and  charged  to  inquire  "  whether  the  prisoner  was  with  quick 
child  ?"  The  jury  of  matrons  then  retired  with  the  prisoner,  and  on  their 
return  into  court  delivered  their  verdict,  which  was,  that  Mary  Bateman 
is  not  with  quick  child.  The  execution  of  course  was  not  respited,  and  she 
was  remanded  back  to  prison. 

During  the  brief  interval  between  her  receiving  sentence  of  death  and  her 
execution,  the  ordinary,  the  Rev.  George  Brown,  took  great  pains  to  pre- 
vail upon  her  ingenuously  to  acknowledge  and  confess  her  crimes.  Though 
the  prisoner  behaved  with  decorum,  during  the  few  hours  that  remained  of 
her  existence,  and  readily  joined  in  the  customary  offices  of  devotion,  no 
traits  of  that  deep  compunction  of  mind,  which,  for  crimes  like  hers,  must 
be  felt  where  repentance  is  sincere,  could  l)e  ob-^erved  ;  but  she  maintained 
her  caution  and  mystery  to  the  last.  On  the  day  preceding  her  execution, 
she  wrote  a  letter  to  her  husband,  in  which  ^he  enclosed  her  wedding-ring, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  4G5 

"with  a  request  that  it  might  be  given  to  her  daughter.  She  admitted  that 
she  had  been  guilty  of  many  frauds,  but  still  denied  that  she  had  had  any 
intention  to  produce  the  death  of  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Perigo. 

Upon  the  Monday  morning  at  five  o'clock  she  was  called  from  her  cell, 
to  undergo  the  last  sentence  of  the  law.  She  received  the  communion  with 
some  other  prisoners,  who  were  about  to  be  executed  on  the  same  day,  but 
all  attempts  to  induce  her  to  acknowledge  the  justice  of  her  sentence,  or  tlie 
crime  of  which  she  had  been  found  guilty,  proved  vain.  She  maintained 
the  greatest  firmness  in  her  demeanour  to  the  last,  which  was  in  no  wise 
interrupted  even  iipon  her  taking  leave  of  her  infant  child,  which  lay  sleep- 
ing in  her  cell,  at  the  moment  of  her  being  called  out  to  the  scaffold. 

Upon  the  appearance  of  the  convict  upon  the  platform,  the  deepest 
silence  prevailed  amongst  the  immense  assemblage  of  persons,  which  had 
been  collected  to  witness  the  execution.  As  a  final  duty,  the  Rev.  Mr. 
Brown,  immediately  before  the  drop  fell,  again  exhorted  the  unhappy 
woman  to  confession,  but  her  only  reply  was  a  repetition  of  the  declaration 
of  her  innocence,  and  the  next  moment  terminated  her  existence. 

Her  body  having  remained  suspended  during  the  usual  time,  was  cut 
down,  and  sent  to  the  General  Infirmary  at  Leeds  to  be  anatomised. 
Immense  crowds  of  persons  assembled  to  meet  the  hearse,  in  which  it  was 
carried  ;  and  so  great  was  the  desire  of  the  people  to  see  her  remains,  that 
30^.  were  collected  for  the  use  of  the  infirmary,  by  the  payment  of  Sd.  for 
each  person  admitted  to  the  apartment  in  which  they  were  exposed. 

A  short  sketch  of  the  life  of  this  remarkable  woman,  and  a  few  anecdotes 
of  her  proceedings,  shall  conclude  this  article.  Mary  Bateman,  it  appears, 
was  born  of  reputable  parents  at  Aisenby,  near  Thirsk,  in  the  North-riding 
of  Yorkshire,  in  the  year  1768  :  her  father,  whose  name  was  Harker, 
carrying  on  business  as  a  small  farmer.  As  early  as  at  the  age  of  five 
years,  she  exhibited  much  of  that  sly  knavery,  which  subsequently  so 
extraordinarily  distinguished  her  character ;  and  many  were  the  frauds  and 
falsehoods,  of  which  she  was  guilty,  and  for  which  she  was  punished. 
In  the  year  1780,  she  first  quitted  her  father's  house,  to  undertake  the 
duties  of  a  servant  in  Thirsk,  but  having  been  guilty  of  some  peccadilloes, 
she  proceeded  to  York  in  1  787  ;  but  before  she  had  been  in  that  city  more 
than  twelve  months,  she  was  detected  in  pilfering  some  trifling  articles  of 
property  belonging  to  her  mistress,  and  was  compelled  to  run  off  to  Leeds, 
without  waiting  either  for  her  wages  or  her  clothes.  For  a  considerable 
time  she  remained  without  employment  or  friends,  but  at  length  upon  the 
recommendation  of  an  acquaintance  of  her  father,  she  obtained  an  engage- 
ment in  the  shop  of  a  mantua-maker,  in  whose  service  she  remained  for 
more  than  three  years.  She  then  became  acquainted  with  John  Bateman, 
to  whom  after  a  three  weeks'  courtship  she  was  married  in  the  year  1792. 

Within  two  months  after  her  marriage,  she  was  found  to  have  been 
guilty  of  many  frauds,  and  she  only  escaped  prosecution  by  inducing  her 
husband  to  move  frequently  from  place  to  place,  so  as  to  escape  apprehen- 
sion ;  and  at  length  poor  Bateman,  driven  almost  wild  by  the  tricks  of  his 
wife,  entered  the  supplementary  militia.  Mrs.  Bateman  was  now  entirely 
tlirown  upon  her  own  resources,  and  unable  to  follow  any  reputable  trade, 
she  in  the  year  1799  took  up  her  residence  in  Marsh  Lane,  near  Timble 
Bridge,  Leeds,  and  proceeded  to  deal  in  fortune-telling  and  the  sale  of 
charms.     From  a  long  course  of  iniquity,  carried  on  chiefly  through  tlia 

VOL.  I.  3  0 


4(56  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

medium  of  the  most  wily  arts,  she  had  acquired  a  manner,  and  a  mode  of 
speech  pecuUarly  adapted  to  her  new  profession ;  and  abundance  of  credulous 
victims,  upon  whom  she  was  able  to  prosecute  her  schemes,  daily  presented 
themselves  to  her. 

Her  first  daring  attempt  was  upon  a  Mrs.  Greenwood,  whom  she 
persuaded  that  her  husband  was  in  a  situation  of  the  greatest  peril,  which 
would  be  aggravated  by  the  circumstance  being  mentioned  to  him  ;  that  he 
was  in  danger  of  being  accused  of  a  crime,  for  which  he  would  be  instantly 
sacrificed,  and  that  so  relentless  and  determined  were  his  prosecutors,  that 
unless  four  pieces  of  gold,  four  pieces  of  leather,  four  pieces  of  blotting- 
paper,  and  four  brass  screws  were  given  to  her,  to  "  screw  them  down," 
he  would  be  dead  before  the  morning.  Mrs.  Greenwood,  unfortunately  for 
the  trick,  was  not  possessed  of  even  one  piece  of  gold,  and  the  proposition 
of  the  "  witch,"  that  she  should  steal  what  she  wanted,  so  startled  her,  that 
she  had  fortitude  enough  to  emancipate  herself  from  the  trammels  which 
had  been  thrown  round  her. 

Her  next  attempt  was  upon  a  poor  woman  named  Stead,  upon  whose 
jealous  fears  she  worked  so  far,  as  to  obtain  from  her  nearly  the  whole  of 
her  furniture,  under  pretence  of  "  screwing  down,"  a  woman,  with  whom 
she  represented  that  her  husband  was  intimate.  Stead  was  about  to  enter 
the  army  ;  and  Mrs.  Bateman  next  easily  found  means  to  persuade  him,  as 
she  had  persuaded  his  wife,  of  her  powers,  and  she  obtained  from  him  all 
the  little  money,  which  he  had  obtained  as  his  bounty,  under  the  pretence 
of  "  screwing  down  "  his  officers  to  give  him  promotion.  The  fascinating 
and  all  powerful  Miss  Blythe  had  not  yet  been  discovered,  but  all  her 
operations  were  now  performed  through  tlie  medium  of  a  !Mrs.  Moore,  whose 
existence,  it  may  readily  be  supposed,  wJis  as  doubtful  as  that  of  her 
subsequent  coadjutor. 

Terror  was  the  great  engine  by  which  this  woman  carried  on  her  frauds, 
and  as  the  wife  of  Stead  had  still  a  few  articles  of  furniture  and  clothing — 
the  last  sad  Avreck  of  their  property,  she  persuaded  her  if  something  was 
not  doue  to  prevent  it,  her  daughter  who  was  then  only  about  eight  years 
of  age,  would,  when  she  attained  the  age  of  fourteen,  become  pregnant  of  an 
illegitimate  child,  and  that  either  she  would  murder  herself,  or  would  be 
murdered  by  her  seducer,  to  prevent  which,  1 7s.  was  to  be  placed  in  ^lary 
Bateman's  hands.  This  money  she  was  to  hand  over  to  the  invisible  Mrs. 
Moore,  who  was  to  reduce  the  coin  to  a  "  silver  charm,"  which  charm  was 
to  be  worn  round  the  girl's  arm  till  the  period  of  danger  was  past,  but 
which,  when  the  bubble  burst  three  months  after,  was  cut  from  the  child's 
arm,  when  by  a  strange  transmutation  of  metal,  the  silver  had  turned  to 
pevrter. 

In  the  midst  of  these  scenes  of  fraud  in  one  party,  and  weakness  in  the 
other,  a  relation  of  Stead's  came  over  to  Leeds  in  a  state  of  pregnancy,  and 
forsaken  by  her  lover.  This  young  woman  was  a  fine  subject  for  the 
artful  Mary  Bateman,  who  soon  learned  her  misfortime,  and  undertook,  on 
condition  that  a  guinea  was  given  to  her,  for  ]Mrs.  Moore,  to  make  the 
lover  marry  her.  The  money  was  paid,  but  no  lover  appeared.  It  was 
then  found  out  that  he  was  too  strong  for  the  first  charm,  and  that  more 
money  and  more  screws  would  be  necessary  to  screw  him  down  to  the 
altar  of  Hymen.  Still  he  came  not ;  and  the  girl  finding  the  money  she 
had  fast  diminishing,  procured  a  service  in  a  respectable  family  in  Leeds, 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  467 

the  master  of  which  being  a  bachelor,  Mary  soon  contrived  to  persuade 
the  silly  girl  that  she  could  by  her  arts  oblige  him  to  marry  her.  Here 
a  difficulty  arose — tlie  unborn  child  was  in  the  way  ;  but  Mary,  ever  ready 
to  undertake  any  business,  however  desperate,  engaged  to  remove  the 
impediment,  and  for  that  purpose  administered  certain  medicines  to  the 
ill-fated  young  woman,  which  produced  the  desired  effect,  and  abortion 
ensued.  The  master  after  all  was  not  to  be  caught ;  but  the  girl's  former 
sweetheart  coming  over  to  Leeds  married  her,  though  she  was,  at  that  time, 
owing  as  is  supposed  to  the  medicine  given  to  her  by  Mary  Bateman,  in  a 
very  emaciated  state.  In  speaking  of  her  connexion  witli  this  vile  woman, 
she  used  the  following  remarkable  expression: — "  Had  I  never  known  Mary 
Bateman,  my  child  would  now  have  been  in  my  arms,  and  I  should  have 
been  a  healthy  woman — but  it  is  in  eternity,  and  I  am  going  after  it  as  fast 
as  time  and  a  ruined  constitution  can  carry  me."  Tlie  unhappy  girl  died 
soon  after,  a  melancholy  instance  of  the  direful  effects  which  too  great 
credulity  and  weakness  of  mind  may  produce. 

The  artifices  and  frauds  of  which  she  had  been  hitherto  guilty,  however, 
shrink  into  com^Darative  obscurity,  when  opposed  with  the  offences 
whicli  Mrs.  Bateman  subsequently  committed.  The  case  of  the  imhappy 
Mrs.  Perigo  has  been  already  mentioned,  and  its  circumstances  detailed, 
but  there  is  too  much  reason  to  believe  that  she  was  concerned  in  producing 
the  death  of  three  persons,  a  crime  of  still  greater  and  more  cold-blooded 
cruelty.  The  Misses  Kitchen  Avere  quakcr  ladies,  who  carried  on  the 
busiuess  of  linen-drapers,  near  St.  Peter's  Square,  Leeds,  and  Mrs.  Bate- 
man, by  representations  of  her  skill  in  divination,  and  reading  the  stars, 
managed  so  far  to  ingratiate  herself  into  their  good  graces  as  to  become 
their  confidant  and  most  intimate  adviser.  She  attended  their  shop,  was  a 
constant  visitor  at  their  house,  and  her  interference  extended  even  to  the 
domestic  concerns  of  the  family.  In  the  month  of  September,  1803,  the 
younger  Miss  Kitchen  was  attacked  with  a  severe  and  painful  illness,  and 
Bateman  possessing  the  full  confidence  of  the  family  procured  medicines 
from  a  person  whom  she  described  as  a  country  doctor,  but  instead  of  their 
producing  any  improvement  in  the  condition  of  the  unhappy  patient,  in  less 
than  a  week  she  died.  Her  mother  arrived  from  Wakefield,  where  she 
lived,  in  time  only  to  receive  the  last  breath  of  her  daughter,  but  in  two 
days,  she,  as  well  as  the  surviving  sister,  died,  and  they  were  all  three 
placed  in  the  same  grave.  Throughout  the  whole  of  these  distressing  ill- 
nesses Mary  Bateman  was  the  sole  attendant  upon  the  unhappy  women, 
and  after  their  death  she  took  upon  herself  the  task  of  rendering  them  those 
last  melancholy  offices,  which  aie  usually  the  duty  of  the  near  relations  of 
the  deceased.  No  person  was  permitted  by  her  to  enter  the  house,  under 
pretence  that  the  deceased  persons  had  been  affected  by  the  plague,  except 
those,  whose  presence  was  rendered  necessary  in  order  to  the  j^erformance 
of  the  rites  of  sepulture ;  and  for  many  weeks  the  neighbourhood  was 
shunned,  lest  the  supposed  infection  might  spread.  Mrs.  Bateman,  how- 
ever, in  the  midst  of  all,  exhibited  the  most  praiseworthy  and  disinterested 
affection  for  the  poor  ladies,  and  in  the  face  of  all  danger,  hesitated  not  to 
minister  to  their  wants,  and  even  after  death  to  take  those  precautions,  in 
fumigating  the  house,  which  were  supposed  to  be  necessary.  She  prepared 
their  meals,  and  by  her  hands  alone  were  the  medicines  administered, 
"which  she  professed  to  have  been  prescribed.     Several  months  had  elapsed 


468  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

before  any  inquiries  were  made  as  to  the  condition  in  which  the  deceased 
persons  had  died,  and  then  some  of  their  creditors  having  determined  to 
ascertain  what  property  they  had  left  behind  them,  entered  the  house.  To 
their  surprise  they  discovered  that  of  the  furniture  and  stock,  of  which  the 
deceased  had  been  known  to  be  possessed,  scarce  a  vestige  remained ;  and 
the  discovery  of  some  articles  of  property  in  the  house  of  Bateman,  which 
were  known  to  have  belonged  to  the  deceased  ladies,  but  which  the  former 
declared  had  been  given  to  her  by  them,  aflforded  grounds  for  a  well-founded 
suspicion  that  poison  was  the  "  plague  "  of  which  they  had  died,  although 
under  the  circumstances  of  the  case,  and  after  the  lapse  of  so  long  a  time, 
evidence  could  not  be  obtained  which  could  be  deemed  conclusive  upon  the 
subject.  The  determined  cruelty  exercised  in  the  case  of  the  Perigos  ap- 
peared to  sanction  the  suspicions  which  were  entertained,  and  after  convic- 
tion Mrs.  Bateman  was  minutely  questioned  upon  the  subject,  but  all 
efforts  to  induce  a  confession  of  this  crime,  or  of  that  of  which  she  was 
found  guilty,  proved  unavailing. 

It  would  be  useless  to  follow  this  wretched  woman  through  the  subse- 
quent scenes  of  her  miserable  life.  Fraud  and  deceit  were  the  only  means, 
by  which  she  was  able  to  carry  on  the  war,  and  numerous  were  the  impu- 
dent and  heartless  schemes  which  she  put  into  operation  to  dupe  the  unhappy 
objects  of  her  attacks.  Her  character  was  such  as  to  prevent  her  long  pur- 
suing her  occupation  in  one  position,  and  she  was  repeatedly  compelled  to 
change  her  abode  until  she  at  length  took  up  her  residence  in  Black  Dog 
Lane,  where  she  was  apprehended.  Her  husband  at  this  time  had  returned 
from  the  militia  several  years,  and  although  he  followed  the  trade  to  which 
he  had  been  brought  up,  there  can  be  little  doubt  that  he  shared  the  pro- 
ceeds of  his  wife's  villanies. 

Mary  Bateman  was  neat  in  her  person  and  dress,  and  though  there  was 
nothing  ingenuous  in  her  countenance,  it  had  an  air  of  placidity  and  com- 
posure, not  ill  adapted  to  make  a  favourable  impression  on  those  who 
visited  her.  Her  manner  of  address  was  soft  and  insinuating,  with  the 
affectation  of  sanctity.  In  her  domestic  arrangements  she  was  regular,  and 
was  mistress  of  such  qualifications  in  housewifery  as,  with  an  honest  heart, 
would  have  enabled  her  to  fill  her  station  with  respectability  and 
usefulness. 

A  few  anecdotes  upon  the  subject  of  the  belief  in  witchcraft,  in  former 
days,  we  trust  will  not  prove  uninteresting  to  our  readers. 

The  reign  of  James  the  Sixth  of  Scotland,  and  First  of  England,  may  be 
said  to  have  been  the  witchcraft  age  of  Great  Britain.  Scotland  had 
always  been  a  sort  of  fairy  land  ;  but  it  remained  for  that  sagacious  prince, 
at  a  time  when  knowledge  was  beginning  to  dispel  the  mists  of  supersti- 
tion, to  contribute,  by  his  authority  and  writings,  to  resolve  a  prejudice  of 
education  into  an  article  of  religious  belief  amongst  the  Scottish  people. 
He  wrote  and  published  a  "  Treatise  on  Da^monologie  ;"  the  purpose  of 
which  was,  to  "resolve  the  doubting  hearts  of  many,  as  to  the  fearful 
abounding  of  those  detestable  slaves  of  the  Devil,  witches,  or  enchanters." 
The  authority  of  Scripture  was  perverted,  to  show,  not  only  the  possibility, 
but  certainty,  that  such  "  detestable  scenes  "  do  exist ;  and  many  most 
ridiculous  stories  of  evil  enchantment  were  added,  to  establish  their 
"^  fearful  abounding."  The  treatise,  which  is  in  the  form  of  a  dialogue, 
treats  also  of  the  punishment  which  such  crimes  deserve;  concluding,  that 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  469 

"  no  sex,  age,  nor  rank,  should  be  excused  from  the  punishment  of  death, 
according  to  the  law  of  God,  the  civil  and  imperial  law,  and  tlie  municipal 
law  of  all  Christian  nations."  In  answer  to  the  question,  "  What  to  judge 
of  deathe,  I  pray  you  ?"  The  answer  is,  "  It  is  commonlie  used  by  fyre, 
but  there  is  an  indifierent  thing  to  be  used  in  every  country,  according  to 
the  law  or  custume  thereof." 

Such,  in  fact,  was  the  ci'uel  and  barbarous  law  of  James's  native  country ; 
and  such  became  the  law  also  of  England,  when  he  succeeded  to  the  sceptre 
of  Elizabeth.  IMany  hundreds  of  unfortunate  creatures,  in  both  countries, 
became  its  victims,  suiFering  death  ignominiously,  for  an  impossible  offence: 
neither  sex,  nor  age,  nor  rank,  as  James  had  sternly  enjoined,  was  spared ; 
and  it  was  the  most  helpless  and  inoffensive,  such  as  aged  and  lone  women, 
who  wei'e  most  exposed  to  its  malignant  operation. 

There  were  persons  regularly  employed  in  hunting  out,  and  bringing  to 
punishment,  those  unfortunate  beings  suspected  of  witchcraft. 

Matthew  Hopkins  resided  at  JManningtree,  in  Essex,  and  was  witch- 
finder  for  the  associated  counties  of  Essex,  Suffolk,  Norfolk,  and  Hunting- 
donshire. In  the  years  1644,  1645,  and  1646,  accompanied  by  one  John 
Stern,  he  brought  many  to  the  fatal  tree  as  reputed  witches.  He  hanged, 
in  one  year,  no  less  than  sixty  reputed  witches  of  his  own  county  of  Essex. 
The  old,  the  ignorant,  and  the  indigent,  such  as  could  neither  plead  tlieir 
own  cause  nor  hire  an  advocate,  were  the  miserable  victims  of  this  wretch's 
credulity,  spleen,  and  avarice.  He  pretended  to  be  a  great  critic  in  special 
marks,  which  were  only  moles,  scorbutic  spots,  or  warts,  that  frequently 
grow  large  and  pendulous  in  old  age  ;  but  were  absurdly  supposed  to  be 
teats  to  suckle  imps.  His  ultimate  method  of  proof  was  by  tying  together 
the  thumbs  and  toes  of  the  suspected  person,  about  whose  waist  was 
fastened  a  cord,  the  ends  of  which  were  held  on  the  banks  of  the  river  by 
two  men,  in  wliose  power  it  was  to  strain  or  slacken  it.  Swimming,  upon 
this  experiment,  was  deemed  a  sufficient  proof  of  guilt;  for  which  king 
James  (who  is  said  to  have  recommended,  if  he  did  not  invent  it)  assigned 
a  ridiculous  reason,  that,  "  as  some  persons  had  renounced  their  baptism  by 
water,  so  the  water  refuses  to  receive  them."  Sometimes  those  who  were 
accused  of  diabolical  practices,  were  tied  neck  and  heels,  and  tossed  into  a 
pond  :  if  they  floated  or  swam,  they  were  consequently  guilty,  and  were 
therefore  taken  out  and  burned ;  but  if  tliey  were  innocent,  they  were  only 
drowned.  The  experiment  of  swimming  was  at  length  tried  upon  Hopkins 
liimself,  in  his  own  way,  and  he  was  upon  the  event  condemned,  and,  as  it 
seems,  executed  as  a  wizard.  In  a  letter  from  Serjeant  Widrinton  to  Lord 
Whitelocke,  mention  is  made  of  another  fellow  of  the  same  profession  as 
Hopkins.  This  fellow  received  twenty  shillings  a-head  for  every  witch  he 
discovered,  and  thereby  obtained  rewards  amounting  to  thirty  pounds. 

In  an  old  print  of  this  execrable  character,  he  is  represented  with  two 
■witches.  One  of  them,  named  Holt,  is  supjDosed  to  say,  "  ]\Iy  Impes  are. 
1.  Ilemauzyr;  '2.  Pyewackett  ;  3.  Pecke  in  the  Crown;  4.  Griezell 
Griediegutt."  Four  animals  attend  :  Jarmara,  a  black  dog  ;  Sacke  and 
Sugar,  a  hare  ;  Newes,  a  ferret ;  Vinegar  Tom,  a  bull-headed  greyhound. 
This  print  is  in  the  Pepysian  library. 

Amongst  a  number  of  women  (as  many  as  sixteen)  whom  Hopkins,  in 
the  year  1644,  accused  at  Yarmouth,  was  one,  of  whom  the  following 
account  is  given.     It  appears  that  she  used  to  work  for  Mr.  Moulton  (a 


470  THE    M:t\'   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

stocking  mercliant,  and  alderman  of  the  town),  and  upon  a  certain  day 
went  to  his  house  for  work ;  but  he  being  from  home,  his  man  refused  to 
let  her  have  any  till  his  master  returned  ;  whereupon,  being  exasperated 
igainstthe  man,  she  applied  herself  to  the  maid,  and  desired  some  knitting- 
work  of  her  ;  and  when  she  returned  the  like  answer,  she  went  home  hi 
great  discontent  against  them  both.  That  night,  when  she  was  in  bed, 
she  heard  a  knock  at  her  door,  and  going  to  lier  window,  she  saw  (it  being 
moon-light)  a  tall  black  man  there  :  and  asked  what  he  would  have  ?  He 
told  her  that  she  was  discontented,  because  she  could  not  get  work ;  and 
that  he  would  put  her  into  a  way  that  she  should  never  want  anything. 
On  this,  she  let  him  in,  and  asked  him  what  he  had  to  say  to  her  ?  He 
told  her  he  must  first  see  her  liands  ;  and  taking  out  something  like  a 
penknife,  he  gave  it  a  little  scratch,  so  that  a  little  blood  followed, 
a  scar  being  still  visible  when  she  told  the  story  ;  then  he  took  some  of 
tlie  blood  in  a  pen,  and  pulling  a  book  out  of  his  pocket,  bid  her  write 
her  name  ;  and  when  she  said  she  could  not,  he  said  he  would  oruide  her 
hand.  When  this  was  done,  he  bid  her  now  ask  what  she  would  have. 
And  when  she  desired  first  to  be  revenged  on  the  man,  he  promised  to  give 
her  an  account  of  it  next  night,  and  so  leaving  her  some  money  went  awav. 
The  next  night  he  came  to  her  again,  and  told  her  he  could  do  nothing 
against  the  man,  for  he  went  constantly  to  church,  and  said  his  prayers 
morninor  and  evening.  Then  she  desired  him  to  revenge  her  on  the  maid ; 
and  he  again  promised  her  an  account  thereof  the  next  night :  but  he  said 
the  same  of  the  maid,  and  that  therefore  he  could  not  hurt  her.  But  she 
said  that  there  was  a  young  child  in  the  house,  which  was  more  easy  to  be 
dealt  with.  AVhereupon  she  desired  him  to  do  what  he  could  against  it. 
The  next  night  he  came  again,  and  brought  with  him  an  image  of  wax, 
and  told  her  they  must  go  and  bury  that  in  the  church-yard,  and  then  the 
child,  which  he  had  put  in  great  pain  already,  should  waste  away  as  that 
image  wasted.  Whereupon  they  went  together  and  buried  it.  The  child 
havino-  laid  in  a  languishing  condition  for  about  eighteen  months,  and 
being  verj-  near  death,  the  minister  sent  this  woman  with  this  account  to 
the  magistrates,  who  thereupon  sent  her  to  Mr.  Moulton's,  where,  in  the 
same  room  that  the  child  lay,  almost  dead,  she  was  examined  concerning 
the  particulars  aforesaid  ;  all  which  she  confessed,  and  had  no  sooner 
done,  but  the  child,  who  was  three  years  old,  and  was  thought  to  be  dead 
or  dying,  laughed,  and  began  to  stir  and  raise  up  itself :  and  from  that 
instant  began  to  recover.  The  woman  was  convicted  upon  her  own 
confession,  and  was  executed  accordingly. 

A  more  melancholy  tale  does  not  occur  in  the  annals  of  necromancy, 
than  that  of  the  Lancashire  Witches,  in  1612.  The  scene  of  the  story  is 
in  Penderbury  Forest,  four  or  five  miles  from  Manchester,  remarkable  for 
its  picturesque  and  gloomy  situation.  It  had  long  been  of  ill  repute,  as  a 
consecrated  haunt  of  diabolical  intercourse,  when  a  country  magistrate, 
Eoger  Nowel  by  name,  took  it  into  his  head  that  he  should  perform  a 
great  public  service  by  routing  out  a  nest  of  witches,  who  had  rendered 
the  place  a  terror  to  all  the  neighbouring  vulgar.  The  first  persons  he 
seized  on,  were  Elizabeth  Demdike  and  Ann  Chattox.  The  former  was 
eighty  years  of  age,  and  had  for  some  years  been  blind,  and  principally 
subsisted  by  begging,  though  she  had  a  miserable  hovel  on  the  spot,  which 
she  called  her  own.     Anne  Chattox  was  of  the  same  age,  and  had  for 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  471 

ftome  time  been  threatened  with  the  calamity  of  blindness.  Dcnidike  was 
held  to  be  so  hardened  a  Avitch  that  she  had  trained  all  her  family  to  the 
mystery  :  namely,  Elizabeth  Device,  her  daughter,  and  James  and  Alison 
Device,  her  great-grandchildren.  These,  together  with  John  Balcock,  and 
Jane  his  mother,  Alice  Natter,  Catherine  Hewitt,  and  Isabel  Roby,  were 
successively  apprehended  by  the  diligence  of  Nowel,  and  one  or  two  neigh- 
bouring magistrates,  and  were  all  of  them  by  some  means  induced,  some 
to  make  a  more  liberal,  and  others  a  more  restricted  confession  of  their 
misdeeds  in  v*'itchcraft,  and  Avere  afterwards  hurried  away  to  Lancastet 
Castle,  fifty  miles  off,  to  prison.  Their  crimes  were  said  to  have  universally 
proceeded  from  malignity  and  resentment ;  and  it  was  reported  to  have 
repeatedly  happened  for  poor  old  Demdike  to  be  led  by  night  from  her 
habitation  into  the  open  air,  by  some  member  of  her  family,  where  she 
was  left  alone  for  an  hour  to  curse  her  victim,  and  pursue  her  unholy 
incantations,  and  was  then  sought  and  brovight  back  again  to  her  hovel, 
her  curses  never  failing  to  produce  the  desired  effect. 

The  poor  wretches  had  been  but  a  short  time  in  prison,  when  informa- 
tion was  given  that  a  meeting  of  witches  was  held  on  Good-Friday,  at 
Malkin's  Tower,  the  habitation  of  Elizabeth  Device,  to  the  number  of 
twenty  persons,  to  consult  how,  by  infernal  machinations,  to  kill  one 
Lovel,  an  officer,  to  blow  up  Lancaster  Castle,  deliver  the  prisoners,  and 
to  kill  another  man,  of  the  name  of  Lister.  The  last  object  was  effected  ; 
the  other  plans,  by  some  means,  which  are  not  related,  were  prevented. 

The  prisoners  were  kept  in  jail  till  the  summer  assizes  ;  but  in  the  mean 
time,  the  poor  blind  Demdike  died  in  confinement. 

The  other  prisoners  were  severally  indicted  for  killing  by  witchcraft 
certain  persons  who  were  named,  and  were  all  found  guilty.  The  princi- 
pal witnesses  against  Elizabeth  Device  were  James  Device  and  Jennet 
Device,  her  grandchildren,  the  latter  only  nine  years  of  age.  "When  this 
girl  was  put  into  the  witness-box,  the  grandmotlier,  on  seeing  her,  set  up 
so  dreadful  a  yell,  intermixed  with  dreadful  curses,  that  the  child  declared 
that  she  could  not  go  on  with  her  evidence,  unless  the  prisoner  was 
removed.  This  was  agreed  to,  and  both  brother  and  sister  swore  that  they 
had  been  present,  when  the  Devil  came  to  their  grandmothei",  in  the  shape 
of  a  black  dog,  and  asked  her  what  she  desired.  She  said  the  death  of 
John  Robinson  ;  when  the  dog  told  her  to  make  an  image  of  Robinson  in 
clay,  and  after  crumble  it  into  dust,  and  as  fast  as  the  image  perished, 
the  life  of  the  victim  should  waste  away,  and  in  conclusion  the  man  should 
die.  This  testimony  was  received ;  and  upon  the  conviction,  winch 
followed,  ten  persons  were  led  to  the  gallows,  on  the  twentieth  of  August, 
Anne  Chattox,  of  eighty  years  of  age,  among  the  rest,  the  day  after  the 
trials,  which  lasted  two  days,  were  finished. 

The  judges  who  presided  on  these  trials  were  Sir  James  Altham  and  Sir 
Edward  Bromley,  barons  of  the  exchequer. 

Guluim,  who  gives  the  most  simple  and  interesting  account  of  this 
melancholy  case,  conjectures,  with  much  reason,  that  the  old  women  had 
played  at  the  game  of  commerce  with  the  Devil,  in  order  to  make  their 
simpler  neighbours  afraid  of  them ;  and  that  tliey  played  the  game  so 
long,  that  in  an  imperfect  degree  they  deceived  themselves.  But  when 
one  of  them  actually  saw  her  grandchild  of  nine  years  old  placed  in  the 
witness-box,  with  the  intention  of  consigning  her  to  a  public  and  ignomi- 


472  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

nious  death,  then  the  rt  veries  of  the  imagination  vanished,  and  she  deeply 
t'flt  the  reality,  that,  when  she  had  been  somewhat  imposing  on  the  child, 
in  devilish  sport,  she  had  been  whetting  the  dagger  that  was  to  take  her  own 
life.  It  was  then  no  wonder  that  she  uttered  a  supernatural  yell,  and 
poured  curses  from  her  heart. 

Such  was  the  first  case  of  the  Lancashire  Witches.  In  that  which 
folJGWs,  the  accusation  was  clearly  traced  to  be  founded  on  a  most  villan- 
ous  conspiracy. 

About  the  year  1634,  a  boy  named  Edmund  Robinson,  whose  father,  a 
very  poor  man,  dwelt  in  Pendle  Forest,  the  scene  of  the  alleged  witching, 
declared  that,  while  gathering  wild-flowers  in  one  of  the  glades  of  the 
forest,  he  saw  two  greyhounds,  which  he  supposed  to  belong  to  a  gentle- 
man in  the  neighbourhood.  Seeing  nobody  following  them,  the  boy  alleged 
that  he  proposed  to  have  a  course  ;  but,  though  a  hare  was  started,  the 
dofTs  refused  to  run.  Young  Robinson  was  about  to  punish  them  with  a 
switch,  when  one  Dame  Dickenson  a  neighbour's  wife,  started  up  instead 
of  the  one  greyhound  ;  and  a  little  boy  instead  of  the  other.  The  witness 
averred  that  Mother  Dickenson  offered  him  money  to  conceal  what  he  had 
seen,  which  he  refused,  saying,  '  Nay  ;  thou  art  a  witch  ! '  Apparently, 
she  was  determined  he  should  have  full  evidence  of  the  truth  of  what  he 
said,  for  she  pulled  out  of  her  pocket  a  bridle,  and  shot  it  over  the  head 
of  the  boy,  who  had  so  lately  represented  the  other  greyhound.  He  was 
then  directly  changed  into  a  horse ;  Mother  Dickenson  mounted,  and  took 
Robinson  before  her.  They  made  to  a  large  house  or  barn,  called  Hoiirs- 
town,  into  which  the  boy  entered  with  the  others.  He  there  saw  six  or  seven 
persons  pulling  at  halters,  from  which,  as  they  pulled  them,  meat  ready- 
dressed  came  flying  in  quantities,  together  with  lumps  of  butter,  porringers 
of  milk,  and  whatever  else  might,  in  his  fancy,  complete  a  rustic  feast. 
He  declared  that,  while  engaged  in  the  charm,  they  made  such  ugly  faces 
and  looked  so  fiendish,  that  he  was  frightened. 

This  story  succeeded  so  well,  that  the  father  of  the  boy  took  him  round 
to  the  neiohbouring  churches,  where  he  placed  him  standing  on  a  bench 
after  service,  and  bade  him  look  round  and  see  what  he  could  observe. 
The  device,  however  clumsy,  succeeded ;  and  no  less  than  seventeen  per- 
sons were  apprehended  at  the  boy's  election,  and  conducted,  as  witches,  to 
Lancaster  Castle.  These  seventeen  persons  were  tried  at  the  assizes  and 
found  guilty;  but  the  judge,  whose  name  has  unfortunately  been  lost, 
unlike  Sir  James  Altham  and  Sir  Edward  Bromley,  saw  something  in  the 
case  that  excited  his  suspicion,  and,  though  the  juries  had  not  hesitated  in 
any  one  instance,  respited  the  convicts,  and  sent  up  a  report  of  the  affair 
to  the  government.  Twenty-two  years  had  not  elapsed  since  the  former 
case,  in  vain.  Four  of  the  prisoners  were,  by  the  judge's  recommendation, 
sent  for  to  the  metropolis,  and  were  examined,  first  by  the  king's  physi- 
cian, and  then  by  Charles  the  First,  in  person.  The  boy's  story  was 
strictly  scrutinised,  and  in  the  end,  he  confessed  that  it  was  all  an  impos- 
ture, in  which  he  had  been  instructed  by  his  father ;  and  the  whole 
seventeen  prisoners  received  the  royal  pardon. 

So  late  as  the  year  1679,  several  unfortunate  persons  were  tried  and 
executed  at  Borrostowness  in  Scotland,  for  witchcraft,  four  of  them  being 
poor  widows.  The  following  is  a  literal  copy  of  the  indictment  upon 
which  they  were  arraigned  • — 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  473 

"  Annaple  Thomsone,  widow  in  Borrostowness,  Margaret  Princle,  relect 
of  the  deceast  John  Campbell,  seivewright  there,  &c.  &c. 

"  Aye,  and  ilk  ane  of  you,  are  indigtted  and  accused,  that,  whereas,  not- 
withstanding the  law  of  God  particulurlie  sett  down  in  the  20th  chapter 
of  Leveticus  and  the  18th  chapter  of  Deuteronomy,  and  be  tlie  lawes  and 
actes  of  parliament  of  this  kingdome  and  constant  practis  thereof,  particu- 
larlie  to  the  27  act,  29  parliament  Q.  Marie,  the  crynie  of  witchcraft  is 
(leclaired  to  be  one  horreid,  abominable,  and  capitall  cryme,  punishable 
with  the  pains  of  death  and  confiscatiown  of  moveables  : — nevertheless  it  is 
of  veritie,  that  you  have  comitted  and  are  gwyltie  of  the  said  crime  of 
witchcraft,  in  awa  far  ye  have  entered  in  practicion  with  the  devile,  the 
enemie  of  your  salvatiown,  and  have  renownced  our  blessed  Lord  and 
Savior,  and  your  baptizme,  and  have  given  yoursellfes,  both  souUes  and 
bodies,  to  the  devile,  and  swyndrie  wyth  witches,  in  divers  places.  And 
panicularlie  ye,  the  said  Annaple  Thompsone,  had  a  metting  with  the 
devile  the  time  of  your  weidowliood,  before  you  were  married  to  your  last 
husband,  in  your  coming  betwixt  Linlithgow  and  Borrostowness,  where 
the  devile,  in  the  lykeness  of  one  black  man,  told  you,  that  vou  was  one 
poor  puddled  bodie,  and  had  one  lyiff  and  difficulties  to  win  throu  the 
world ;  and  promesed  iff  ye  wald  followe  him,  and  go  alongst  with  him, 
you  should  never  want,  but  have  one  better  lyiff;  and  about  fyve  wekes 
thereafter  the  devile  appeared  to  you,  when  you  was  going  to  the  coal-hill, 
abowt  sevin  a-clock  in  the  morning.  .  Having  renewed  his  former  temta- 
tiown,  you  did  condeshend  thereto  and  declared  yourselff"  content  to  follow 
him  and  become  his  servant ;  whereupon  the  devile  *  *  *  ^j^^j  yg 
and  each  persone  of  you  wis  at  several  metting  with  the  devile,  in  the 
linkes  of  Borrostowness,  and  in  the  house  of  you,  Bessie  Vicker ;  and  ye 
did  eate  and  drink  with  the  devile,  and  with  one  another,  and  with  witches 
ia  her  howss  in  the  night  tyme  ;  and  the  said  Wm.  Crow  brouoht  the  ale, 
which  ye  drank,  extending  about  sevin  gallons,  from  the  howss  of  Elizabeth 
Hamilton  ;  and  you,  the  said  Annaple,  had  another  metting  about  fyve 
wekes  ago,  when  you  wis  goeing  to  the  coal- hill  of  Grange,  and  he 
inveitted  you  to  go  alongst  and  drink  with  him  in  the  Grange  farmes;  and 
you,  the  said  Margaret  Pringle,  have  bein  one  witch  this  many  yeeres  by 
gone,  hath  renownced  your  baptizme  and  becum  the  devile's  servant,  and 
promeis  to  follow  him  ;  and  the  devile  took  you  by  the  right  hand,  wliere- 
hy  it  was  for  eight  days  greivowslie  pained,  but,  having  it  twitched  new 
again,  it  immedeatelie  became  haill ;  and  you,  the  said  Margaret  Hamilton 
has  bein  the  devile's  servant  these  eight  or  nine  years  by  gone,  and  he 
appeared  and  conversed  with  you  at  the  town  well  of  Borrostowness,  and 
several  times  at  your  owin  howss,  and  drank  several  choppens  of  ale  with 
you.  *  *  and  the  devile  gane  you  ane  fyne  merk  piece  of  gold,  which 
a  lyttle  after  becam  ane  skleite  stone ;  and  you,  the  said  Margaret  Hamil- 
ton, relict  of  James  PuUevart,  has  been  ane  witch,  and  the  devile's  servant, 
thertie  yeres  since,  hath  renounced  your  baptisme,  as  said  is 
********* 

And  ye,  and  ilk  of  you,  was  at  a  meeting  m  ith  the  devile  and  other  witches, 
at  the  croce  of  Murestain,  above  Renneil,  upon  the  threttein  of  October 
last,  where  you  all  danced,  and  the  devile  acted  the  piper,  and  where  you 
endevored  to  have  destroyed  Andrew  Mitchell,  sone  to  John  Mitchell, 
elder  in  dean  of  Kenneil." 

VOL.    I.  3   P 


474  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

The  charges  thus  made  against  the  "  poor  puddled  bodies,"  Annaple 
Thomsone  and  her  associates,  howeyer  ludicrous  they  may  seem,  were  sub- 
stantiated to  tlie  satisfaction  of  a  jury ;  and  for  so  meeting,  and  dancing, 
and  drinking,  and  frolicking  with  his  Satanic  majesty  (who  condescended 
to  act  the  piper),  the  unfortunate  defendants  were  solemnly  condemned, 
"to  be  taken  to  the  west  end  of  Borrostowness,  the  ordinary  place  of 
execution  there,  upon  Tuesday,  the  23rd  day  of  December  current,  betv/ixt 
two  and  four  in  the  afternoon,  and  then  to  be  wirried  at  a  steack  Ttliat  is. 
like  a  bull  or  a  badger,  by  dogs  in  human  shape]]  till  they  be  dead,  and 
thereafter  to  have  their  bodies  burned  to  ashes." 

Tlie  strange  and  eventful  history  of  the  Witches  of  New  England  is, 
perhaps,  generally  known  to  the  educated  and  informed  :  still  there  must 
be  many  who  are  not  aware  of  all  its  melancholy  details.  As  a  storv 
of  witclicraft,  without  any  poetry  in  it,  without  anything  to  amuse  the 
iraao'ination,  or  interest  the  fancy,  it,  perhaps,  surpasses  everytliing  upon 
record.  The  prosecutions  for  witchci'aft  in  New  England  were  numerous, 
and  they  continued,  with  little  intermission,  principally  at  Salem,  during 
the  greater  part  of  the  year  1692.  The  accusations  were  of  the  most  vul- 
gar and  contemptible  sort — invisible  pinchings  and  blows,  fits,  with  the 
blastings  and  mortality  of  cattle,  and  wains  stuck  fast  in  the  ground,  or 
losino-  their  wheels.  A  conspicuous  feature  in  nearly  the  whole  of  these 
stories,  was  what  they  named  "•  the  spectral  sight,"  or,  in  other  words,  that 
the  profligate  accusers  first  feigned,  for  the  most  part,  the  injuries  they  re- 
ceived, and  next  saw  the  figures  and  action  of  the  persons  who  inflicted 
them,  when  they  were  invisible  to  every  one  else.  Hence  the  miserable 
prosecutors  gained  the  power  of  gratifying  the  wantonness  of  their  malice, 
by  pretending  that  they  suffered  by  the  hand  of  any  one  against  whom  they 
had  an  ill  will.  The  persons  so  charged,  though  unseen  by  any  one  but 
the  accuser,  and  who  in  their  corporal  presence  were  at  a  distance  of  miles, 
and  were  doubtless  wholly  unconscious  of  the  mischief  that  was  hatching 
against  them,  were  immediately  taken  up,  and  cast  into  prison.  And  what 
was  more  monstrous  and  incredible,  there  stood  the  prisoner  on  trial  for  his 
life,  while  the  witnesses  were  permitted  to  swear  that  his  spectre  had 
haunted  them,  and  afliicted  them  with  all  manner  of  injuries  ! 

The  first  specimen  of  tliis  sort  of  accusation  was  given  by  one  Paris,  a 
minister  of  a  church  at  Salem,  in  the  end  of  the  year  1691,  who  had  two 
daughters,  one  nine  years  old,  the  other  eleven,  who  were  afflicted  with  fits 
and  convulsions.  The  first  person  fixed  on  as  the  mysterious  author  of 
these  evils,  was  Tituba,  a  female  slave  in  the  family,  and  she  was  ha- 
rassed by  her  master  into  a  confession  of  unlawful  practices  and  spells. 
The  girls  then  fixed  on  Sarah  Good,  a  female,  known  to  be  the  ^nctim  of  a 
morbid  melancholy,  and  Osborne,  a  poor  man  who  had  for  a  considerable 
time  been  bed-ridden,  as  persons  whose  spectres  had  perpetually  haunted 
and  tormented  them,  and  Good  was,  twelve  months  afterwards,  hanged  on 
this  accusation. 

A  person,  who  was  one  of  the  first  to  fall  vmder  the  imputation,  was  one 
George  Burroughs,  also  a  minister  of  Salem.  He  had,  it  seems,  buried  two 
wives,  both  of  whom  the  busy  gossips  said  he  had  used  ill  in  their  life-time, 
and,  consequently,  it  was  whispered  he  had  murdered  them.  He  was  ac- 
customed, foolishly,  to  vaunt  that  he  knew  what  people  said  of  him  in  his 
absence,  and  thiis  was  brought  as  a  proof  that  he  dealt  with  the  devil.    Two 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  475 

■women,  who  were  witnesses  against  liim,  interrupted  their  tcstimonj''  with 
exclaiming  that  they  saw  the  ghosts  of  the  murdered  wives  present  (who 
had  promised  them  they  would  come),  though  no  one  else  in  the  court  saw 
them  ;  and  this  was  taken  in  evidence.  Burroughs  conducted  himself  in  a 
very  injudicious  way  on  his  trial ;  but,  when  he  came  to  be  hanged,  made 
so  impressive  a  speech  on  the  ladder,  with  fervent  protestations  of  innocence, 
as  melted  many  of  the  spectators  into  tears. 

The  accusations,  founded  upon  such  stories  as  these,  spread,  with  won- 
derful rapidity.  In  Salem,  many  were  seized  with  fits,  exhibited  frightful 
contortions  of  their  limbs  and  features,  and  became  a  fearful  spectacle  to 
the  bystanders.  They  were  asked  to  assign  the  cause  of  all  this ;  and  pre- 
tended to  suppose,  that  they  saw  some  neighbour,  already  solitary  and 
afflicted,  and  on  that  account  in  ill  odour  with  the  townspeople,  scowling 
upon,  threatening,  and  tormenting  them.  Presently  persons,  specially  gifted 
with  the  '  spectral  sight,'  formed  a  class  by  themselves,  and  were  sent  about 
at  the  public  expense  from  place  to  place,  that  they  might  see  what  no  one 
else  could  see.  The  prisons  were  filled  with  the  persons  accused,  and  the 
utmost  horror  was  entertained,  as  of  a  calamity  which  in  such  a  degree  had 
never  before  visited  that  part  of  the  world.  It  happened,  most  imfortu- 
nately,  that  Baxter's  "  Certainty  of  the  World  of  Spirits"  had  been  pul)lished 
but  the  year  before,  and  a  number  of  copies  had  been  sent  out  to  New  Eng- 
land. There  seemed  a  strange  coincidence  and  sympathy  between  vital 
Christianity  in  its  most  honourable  sense,  and  the  fear  of  the  devil,  who  ap- 
peared to  be  "  come  down  unto  them,  with  great  wrath."  Mr.  Increase 
Mather,  and  INIr.  Cotton  Mather,  his  son,  two  clergymen  of  the  highest 
reputation  in  the  neighbourhood,  by  the  solemnity  and  awe  with  which 
they  treated  the  subject,  and  the  earnestness  and  zeal  which  they  displayed, 
gave  a  sanction  to  the  lowest  superstition  and  virulence  of  the  ignorant. 
All  the  forms  of  justice  were  brought  forward  on  this  occasion.  There  was 
no  lack  of  judges,  and  grand  juries,  and  petty  juries,  and  executioners,  and 
still  less  of  prosecutors  and  witnesses.  The  first  person  that  was  hanged 
was  on  the  10th  of  June,  five  more  on  the  19th  of  July,  five  on  the  1 9th 
of  August,  and  eight  on  the  22nd  of  September.  Multitudes  confessed  that 
they  were  witches  ;  for  this  appeared  the  only  way  for  tlie  accused  to  save 
their  lives.  Husbands  and  children  fell  down  on  their  knees,  and  implored 
their  wives  and  mothers  to  own  their  guilt.  Many  were  tortured  by  being 
tied  neck  and  heels  together,  till  they  confessed  whatever  was  suggested  to 
them.  It  is  remarkable,  however,  that  not  one  persisted  in  her  confession 
at  the  place  of  execution. 

The  most  interesting  story  that  occurred  in  this  affiiir,  was  of  Giles  Cory, 
and  Martha,  his  wife.  The  woman  was  tried  on  the  9th  of  September,  and 
hanged  on  the  'i'ind.  In  the  interval,  on  the  16th,  the  husband  was  brought 
up  for  trial.  He  said  he  was  not  guilty ;  but  being  asked  how  he  would 
be  tried,  he  refused  to  go  through  the  customary  form,  and  say,  "  By  God, 
and  my  country."  He  observed  that,  of  all  that  had  been  tried,  not  one 
had  as  yet  been  pronounced  not  guilty ;  and  he  resolutely  refused  in  that 
mode  to  undergo  a  trial.  The  judge  directed,  therefore,  that  according  to 
the  barbarous  mode  prescribed  in  the  mother  country,  he  should  be  laid  on 
his  back,  and  pressed  to  death  with  weights  gradually  accumulated  on  the 
upper  surface  of  his  body,  a  proceeding  which  had  never  yet  been  I'esorted 
to  by  the  English  in  North  America.  '  The  man  persisted  in  his  resolution, 
and  remained  mute  till  he  expired. 


476  TIIK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

The  whole  of  this  dreadful  tragedy,  says  Mr.  Godwin,  in  his  "  Lives  of 
the  Necromancers,"  was  kept  together  by  atliread.  The  spectre- seers,  for 
a  considerable  time,  prudently  restricted  their  accusations  to  persons  of  ill 
repute,  or  otherwise  of  uo  consequence  in  the  community.  By-and-bye, 
however,  they  lost  sight  of  this  caution,  and  pretended  they  saw  the  figures 
of  some  persons  well  connected,  and  of  unquestioned  honour  and  reputation, 
engaged  in  acts  of  witchcraft.  Immediately  the  whole  fell  through  in  a 
moment.  The  leading  inhabitants  presently  saw  how  unsafe  it  would  be 
to  trust  their  reputaticjus  and  their  lives  to  the  mercy  of  these  profligate 
accusers.  Of  fifty-six  bills  of  indictment  that  were  offered  to  the  grand 
jury  on  the  3rd  of  January,  1693,  twenty-six  only  were  found  true  bills, 
and  thirty  thrown  out.  On  the  twenty-six  bills  that  were  found,  three 
persons  only  were  pronounced  guilty  by  the  petty  jury,  and  these  three  re- 
ceived their  pardon  from  the  government.  The  prisons  were  thrown  open ; 
fifty  confessed  witches,  together  with  two  hundred  persons  imprisoned  on 
suspicion,  were  set  at  liberty,  and  no  more  accusations  were  heard  of.  The 
"  afflicted,"  as  they  were  technically  termed,  recovered  their  health;  the 
'■•  spectral  sight "  was  universally  scouted  ;  and  men  began  to  wonder  how 
they  could  ever  have  been  the  victims  of  so  horrible  a  delusion. 

Dr.  Cook,  in  his  General  and  Historical  Review  of  Christianity,  gives  a 
melancholy  description  of  the  condemnation  of  a  woman  for  witchcraft, 
by  a  tribunal  at  Geneva,  about  the  middle  of  the  seventeenth  century. 
An  enumeration  of  some  of  the  particulars  of  this  case  will  afford  a 
tolerably  correct  notion  of  the  horrible  cruelty,  which,  in  almost  all 
proceedings  against  witchcraft,  was  practised  in  different  parts  of  Europe. 
The  woman  Avas  accused  of  having  sent  devils  into  two  young  women, 
and  of  having  brought  distempers  upon  several  others, — a  charge  suffi- 
ciently vague.  To  substantiate  the  accusation,  the  members  of  the  tribunal 
availed  themselves  of  an  opinion,  that  the  devil  imprinted  certain  marks 
upon  his  chosen  disciples,  the  effect  of  which  was,  that  no  pain  could  be 
produced  by  any  application  to  the  parts  of  the  body  where  these  marks 
w^ere.  They  sent  two  surgeons  to  examine  whether  such  marks  could  be 
discovered  in  the  accused  ;  who  reported,  not  much  to  the  credit  of  their 
medical  skill  and  philosophy,  that  they  had  found  a  mark,  and  that, 
having  thrust  a  needle  into  it,  the  length  of  a  finger,  she  had  felt  no  pain, 
and  that  no  blood  had  issued  from  the  wound.  Being  brought  to  the  bar, 
the  prisoner  denied  the  statement  of  the  surgeons ;  upon  which  she  was 
examined  by  three  more,  with  whom  were  joined  two  physicians.  It 
might  have  been  expected  that  a  body  of  men,  who  had  received  a  liberal 
education,  and  who  must  have  had  some  acquaintance  with  the  nature  and 
construction  of  the  human  frame,  would  have  presented  a  report,  showing 
the  absurdity  of  the  examination  upon  which  they  were  employed.  This, 
however,  did  not  occur  to  them ;  for  they  gravely  proceeded  to  thrust 
sharp  instruments  into  the  mark  ali'eady  mentioned,  and  into  others  which 
they  thought  they  had  found  out ;  but,  as  the  miserable  patient  gave  plain 
mdication  that  she  suffered  from  their  operations,  they  were  staggered,  and 
satisfied  themselves  with  declaring,  tliat  tliere  was  something  extraordinary 
in  the  marks,  and  that  they  were  not  perfectly  like  those  commonly  to  be 
seen  in  witches.  She  was,  notwithstanding,  doomed  to  another  investiga- 
tion, the  result  of  which  was,  that  after  some  barbarous  experiments,  she 
felt  no  pain,  and  hence  it  was  inferred  that  the  marks  were  satauical.     She 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  477 

had.  previously  to  tliis  last  inquiry,  been  actually  put  to  the  rack  ;  but  she 
retained  her  fortitude  and  presence  of  mind,  firmly  maintaining  that  she 
had  sent  no  devils  into  the  persons  whom  it  was  alleged  she  had  thus 
injured.  She  was  again  threatened  with  the  torture ;  and,  from  dread  of 
undergoing  it,  made  a  confession,  which  it  is  painful  to  think  was  not  at 
once  discerned  to  be  the  raving  of  insanity.  Similar  proceedings  were 
continued  ;  and  the  conclusion  of  the  whole  was,  that  she  was  condemned 
to  be  hanged  and  burned,  for  giving  up  herself  to  the  devil,  and  for 
bewitching  two  girls  ! 

We  conclude  this  article  by  the  well-known  case  of  the  trial  and 
acquittal  of  Lady  Fowlis. 

Catherine  Ross,  Lady  Fowlis,  was  the  daughter  of  Ross  of  Balnagown, 
and  second  wife  of  the  fifteenth  Baron  of  Fowlis.  The  object  of  her  crimes 
was  to  destroy  her  step-sons,  Robert  and  Hector  Monro,  with  about  thirty 
of  their  principal  kinsmen,  in  order  that  her  own  children  might  succeed 
to  the  possessions  of  their  father,  which  were  considerable,  and  lay  in  the 
counties  of  Ross,  Sutherland,  and  Inverness.  Her  brother,  George  Ross, 
seems  to  have  been  in  league  with  her  for  the  accomplishment  of  this 
diabolical  purpose,  and  his  wife,  the  young  Lady  Balnagown,  was  marked 
out  as  a  victim,  whose  removal,  with  that  of  the  rest  of  the  family,  might 
pave  the  way  for  his  marriage  with  the  wife  of  Robert  Monro,  the  young 
laird.  Their  schemes  were  brought  into  active  operation  in  the  summer  of 
1577.  Towards  the  end  of  that  year,  four  of  their  accomplices,  Agnes 
Roy,  Christian  Ross,  of  Canorth,  William  M'Gillievoricdam,  and  Thomas 
M'Kane  3Iore  M'Allan  M'Evoch,  were  arraigned  in  a  justice  court,  held 
in  the  Cathedral  Kirk  of  Ross,  convicted,  and  burnt.  One  of  the  judges 
who  presided  at  this  trial,  was  Robert  Monro,  the  husband  of  the  prin- 
cipal instigator  of  the  crimes,  and  father  of  the  family  whose  lives  were 
practised  against.  Lady  Fowlis,  upon  the  discovery  of  her  wickedness, 
fled  into  the  county  of  Caithness,  and,  after  remaining  there  for  the  space 
of  three  quarters  of  a  year,  her  husband  was  persuaded  to  receive  her 
home  aofain  :  and  she  seems  to  have  lived  unmolested  during  the  rest 
of  the  life  of  the  old  baron  ;  and  even  the  young  laird,  for  whose  destruc- 
tion she  had  perseveringly  laboured,  made  no  exertion  to  bring  her  to 
justice.  His  brother  Hector,  however,  on  succeeding  him  in  !  590,  pro- 
cured a  commission  for  the  punishment  of  certain  witches  and  sorcerers, 
which  was  understood  to  be  aimed  at  his  step-mother  ;  but  before  he  had 
time  to  act  upon  the  power  thus  granted,  she  had  influence  enough  to 
obtain  a  suspension  of  the  commission  ;  and  it  was  not  till  July  1591  that 
she  was  brought  to  trial.  The  evidence  mainly  rested  upon,  was  that  of 
the  notoriety  of  the  facts,  and  the  confession  of  the  accomplices ;  each  count 
of  the  indictment  closed  with  a  reference  to  the  record  of  the  process  before 
the  provincial  court,  with  the  occasional  addition  of  "  as  is  notour,"  "  as  is 
manifest  be  the  haill  countie  of  Roiss,"  or  words  to  that  effect.  The  verdict 
was  favourable  to  the  accused  ;  but  Mr.  Pitcairn  is  of  opinion,  that  her 
escape  was  owing  to  her  powerful  influence.  "  The  inquest,"  he  says, 
"  bears  all  the  appearance  of  a  selected  or  packed  jury,  being  very  inferior 
in  rank  and  station  of  life,  contrary  to  the  usual  custom."  The  dittory  or 
indictment  is  the  only  part  of  the  proceedings  that  is  preserved ;  indeed, 
the  reading  of  it  seems  to  have  constituted  the  whole  case  of  the  prosecutor, 
aud  the  simple  denial  of  the  "  samin  and  the  haill  poyntis  thereof,"  the 


478  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

whole  case  for  the  accused  ;  after  which  tlie  jury  retired  to  consider  their 
verdict. 

Tlie  first  method  adopted  to  compass  the  deaths  of  the  persons  who 
stood  in  the  way  of  her  ambition,  was  to  form  figures  to  represent  the 
young  Laird  of  Fowlis  and  the  young  Lady  Balnagown,  which  were  to 
be  shot  at  with  elf-an-ows,  in  conformity  with  the  belief,  that,  if  these 
charmed  weapons  struck  the  typical  bodies,  the  wounds  would  be  felt  in 
the  real  bodies,  and  produce  invisibly  the  desired  effect.  For  the  perform- 
ance of  the  necessary  rites,  a  meeting  of  three  witches  took  place  in  the 
house  of  Christian  Ross,  at  Canorth,  Christian  herself  being  one  of  them, 
Lady  Fowlis  another,  and  Marjory  M'Allester,  a  hag  of  pecuhar  eminence, 
distiuouished  also  by  the  name  of  Loskie  Loncart,  the  third.  Having 
constructed  two  images  of  clay,  they  placed  them  on  the  north  side  of  the 
western  chamber,  and  Loskie,  producing  two  elf- arrows,  delivered  one  to 
Christian  Ross,  who  stood  by  with  it  in  her  hand,  while,  with  the  other, 
Lady  Fowlis  shot  twice  at  the  figure  of  Lady  Balnagown,  and  Loskie 
three  times  at  that  of  Robert  Monro,  without  success.  In  the  mean  time, 
the  imao-es  not  having  been  properly  compacted,  crumbled  to  pieces  ;  and 
their  purpose  bemg  thus  thwarted  for  the  present,  the  unhallowed  con- 
vocation broke  up,  Loskie  having  engaged,  at  the  command  of  Lady  Fowlis, 
to  make  two  other  figures.  M'Gillievoricdam  seems  now  to  have  been 
taken  into  their  counsels  ;  and  by  his  advice,  an  image  in  butter  of  the 
younc  Laird  of  Fowlis  was  placed  by  the  side  of  the  wall  in  the  same 
western  chamber  of  Canorth,  and  shot  at  eight  times  with  an  elf-arrow  by 
Loskie,  without  effect.  This  was  on  the  2nd  of  July,  1577  ;  and  nothing 
discouraged  by  repeated  failures,  a  clay  figure  of  the  same  person  was 
constructed  on  the  6th,  when  the  indefatigable  Loskie  discharged  the  elf- 
arrow  twelve  times,  sometimes  reaching  the  image,  but  never  wounding 
it.  The  other  two  hags  stood  by,  anxiously  watcliing  for  a  successful  shot, 
Christian  Ross  having  provided  three  quarters  of  fine  linen  cloth,  to  be 
bound  about  the  typical  corpse,  which  was  to  be  interred  opposite  the  gate 
of  the  Stank  of  Fowhs,  in  order  to  complete  the  enactment  by  a  full  repre- 
sentation of  every  circumstance  which  they  were  desirous  of  producing  as 
its  consequence.  The  main  part  of  the  rite,  however,  consisted  in  the 
infliction  of  a  wound;  and  this  not  having  been  accomplished,  they  desisted 
from  the  vain  labour. 

The  more  secret  arts  of  witchcraft  having  failed  to  effect  the  desired 
ends,  Lady  Fowlis  next  had  recourse  to  poison  ;  and  numerous  were  the 
consultations  held  to  concoct  drugs  and  devise  means  for  administering 
them.  The  same  assistants  figured  as  the  chief  agents  in  this  equally 
abominable  work.  A  stoup  full  of  poisoned  ale  was  first  mixed  in  the 
barn  of  Drumnyer,  but  opportunity  not  serving  for  its  immediate  use,  it 
was  kept  three  nights  in  the  kiln,  and  the  stoup  being  leaky,  the  liquor 
was  lost,  all  but  a  very  small  quantity ;  to  prove  the  strength  of  which, 
Lady  Fowlis  caused  her  servant  lad,  Donald  Mackay,  to  swallow  it.  The 
three  confederates  were  assembled  on  this  occasion,  and  as  the  draught  did 
not  kill  the  boy,  but  only  threw  him  into  a  state  of  stupor,  Loskie  Loncart 
was  dismissed,  with  an  injunction  to  make  "  ane  pig-fu!l  of  ranker 
poysoune."  The  obedient  hag  prepared  the  potion,  and  sent  it  to  her 
patroness,  by  whom  it  was  delivered  to  her  nurse,  3Iary  3Iore,  to  be 
conveyed  to  Angus  Leith's  house,  where  the  young  laii-d  then  was,  that  it 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  479 

might  be  employed  for  his  destruction.  Night  was  the  time  chosen  for 
despatching  her  on  this  errand  :  she  broke  tlie  vessel  by  the  way,  spilt  the 
liquor,  and,  wishing  probably  to  ascertain  the  nature  of  wliat  had  been 
intrusted  to  her  under  such  circumstances  of  mystery,  tasted  it,  and  paid 
the  forfeit  of  her  curiosity  with  her  life  ;  and  what  helps  to  show  the 
deadly  qualities  of  their  preparation,  the  indictment  adds,  that  "  the  place 
quhair  the  said  pig  brak,  the  gers  that  grew  upon  the  samin  wes  so  birch 
by  (beyond)  the  natur  of  other  gers,  that  nather  cow  nor  scheip  evir 
preavit  (tasted)  thairof."  It  were  endless  to  detail  all  the  traffickings  and 
messengers  kept  scouring  the  country  to  collect  the  required  quantity  of 
poison.  Loskie  Loncart  was  lodged  and  maintained  a  wliole  summer  in 
Christian  Ross's  house,  for  the  greater  convenience  of  assisting  to  drug 
drinks,  and  devise  means  of  administering  them.  M'Gillievoricdam  was 
sent  to  consult  the  gipsies  about  the  most  effectual  Avay  of  poisoning  the 
young  laird.  He  also  purchased  a  quantity  of  the  powder  used  to  destroy 
rats,  of  a  merchant  in  Elgin,  and  another  portion  in  Tain,  and  was  strictly 
questioned  by  Lady  Fowlis,  whether  it  would  suit  best  to  mix  the  ingre- 
dient with  egg,  brose,  or  kail.  No  fitting  opportunity  seems  to  have 
occurred  for  administering  any  of  the  portions  to  Robert  Monro ;  but,  after 
three  interviews,  John  M'Farquhar,  Lady  Balnagown's  cook,  was  pre- 
vailed upon  by  the  present  of  two  ells  of  grey  cloth,  a  shirt,  and  twelve 
and  fourpence  (Scots),  to  lend  them  his  aid  in  accomplishing  their  purpose 
on  his  mistress.  That  young  lady  being  to  entertain  a  party  of  friends  one 
night  at  her  house  at  Ardmore,  a  witch,  named  Catherine  Mynday,  carried 
poison  thither  to  M'Farquhar,  who  poured  it  on  the  principal  dish,  which 
was  kidneys.  This  woman  remained  to  witness  the  effects,  and  afterwards 
declared  that  she  "  skunnerit,"  or  revolted  at  the  sight,  which  was  ^  the 
sarest  and  maist  cruell  that  evir  scho  saw,  seeing  the  vomit  and  vexacioun 
that  was  on  the  young  Lady  Balnagown  and  her  company/'  The  victim 
of  these  horrible  practices  did  not  die  immediately,  but  contracted  a  deadly 
sickness,  "  quhairin,"  says  the  indictment,  "  scho  remains  yet  (that  is 
twelve  years  after  taking  the  poison)  incurable." 

The  persons  named  as  privy  to  the  designs  of  Lady  Fowlis  were  numer- 
ous, and  included  the  daughter  of  a  baronet  of  her  own  name,  whose 
interest  in  the  matter  seems  to  have  been  merely  that  of  a  connexion,  or, 
at  most,  a  clanswoman ;  and  the  bribes  with  which  she  purchased  assist- 
ance and  secrecy  were  of  the  paltriest  kind.  She  provided  lodgings  in  the 
houses  of  her  adherents,  for  some  whom  she  wished  to  have  near  her,  for 
the  better  maturing  of  her  schemes.  The  cook  of  young  Lady  Balnagown 
was  bx'ibed,  as  we  have  seen,  with  little  more  than  a  shirt  and  a  shilling 
sterling  !  The  fidelity  of  Cliristian  Ross  was  bespoken,  by  reminding  her 
that  she  ought  not  to  reveal  anything  against  one  who  was  her  lady  and 
mistress.  Another  of  the  gang  was  paid  with  '  ane-half  furlett  of  meilL' 
M'Gillievoricdam  got  four  ells  of  linen  for  his  trouble,  but,  besides,  ap- 
propriated six  and  eightpence  (Scots)  of  the  money  given  to  him  to  be  ex- 
pended for  poison  ;  at  other  times,  however,  this  person  was  conciliated 
with  '20s..  a  firlot  of  meal,  five  ells  of  linen,  and  16.?.  The  brother  of  Ladv 
rowlis  is  also  said  to  have  promised  to  Thomas  IM'Kane  More  M'Allan 
M'Evoch  'ane  garmounthe  of  clais'  (suit  of  clothes)  for  his  services  in  the 
same  base  plot. 

From  a  review  of  this  whole  case,  with  others  of  the  same  date,  it  will 


480  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

appear  that  the  crimes  of  former  times  were  distinguished  from  those  of  the 
present  day,  not  so  much  by  the  greater  atrocity  of  any  single  act,  as  by  the 
length  of  time  for  which  they  were  meditated,  and  the  number  of  persons 
admitted  to  a  knowledge  of  them,  without  any  fear  of  disclosure.  They 
were  the  offspring  of  habitual  thought  rather  than  the  effect  of  sudden 
starts  of  passion. 

Immediately  after  the  acquittal  of  Lady  Fowlis,  her  step-son  and  prose- 
cutor, the  seventeenth  Baron  of  Fowlis,  was  presented  at  the  bar  on  an  accu- 
sation in  some  respects  similar,  of  which  he  also  was  found  not  guilty,  by  a 
jury,  the  majority  of  whom  had  sat  on  the  preceding  trial.  In  January, 
1588-9,  this  gentleman  being  taken  ill,  sent  a  servant  with  his  own  horse, 
to  bring  to  his  assistance  Marion  ]\I'Ingarach,  who  is  characterised  as 
being  '  ane  of  the  maist  notorious  and  rank  wichis  in  all  this  realme,'  and 
who,  as  soon  as  she  entered  the  house  where  he  lay  sick,  gave  him  three 
drinks  of  water  from  three  stones  (probably  rude  stone  cups).  After  a 
long  consultation,  she  declared  there  was  no  hope  of  recovery,  unless  the 
principal  man  of  tlie  patient's  house  should  suffer  death  for  him;  and  it 
was  determined,  after  some  discussion,  that  this  substitute  should  be  George 
Monro,  eldest  son  of  Catharine  Monro,  Lady  Fowlis.  A  plan  was  next 
devised  for  transferring  the  onus  moriendi,  for  the  present,  to  George ;  ac- 
sordino-  to  which,  in  the  first  place,  no  person  was  to  have  admittance  to 
the  house  in  which  Hector  lay,  until  his  half-brother  came ;  and  on  his 
arrival,  the  sick  man,  with  his  left  hand,  was  to  take  his  visitor  by  the 
right,  and  not  to  speak  until  spoken  to  by  him.  In  conformity  with  these 
injunctions,  several  friends,  who  called  to  inquire  for  the  patient,  were  ex- 
cluded, and  messengers  were  despatched,  both  to  George  Monro's  house 
and  to  other  parts  of  the  country,  where  he  was  thought  to  be  engaged  in 
the  sports  of  the  chase.  Before  he  could  be  found,  seven  expresses  had 
been  sent  after  him,  and  five  days  expired.  On  the  intelligence  that  his 
brother  desired  earnestly  to  see  him,  he  repaired  to  the  place,  and  was  re- 
ceived in  the  form  prescribed  by  the  witch.  Hector  with  his  hand  grasping 
George's  right,  and  abstaining  from  speaking  until  asked  "  how  he  did,"  to 
which  he  replied,  "the  better  that  you  have  come  to  visit  me,"  and  he  uttered 
not  a  word  more,  notwithstanding  his  urgency  to  obtain  an  interview.  The 
younger  Monro  having,  in  this  manner,  been  brought  fairly  within  the 
compass  of  the  witch's  spells,  she  that  night  mustered  certain  of  her  accom- 
plices, and  having  provided  spades,  repaired  to  a  spot  where  two  lairds' 
lands  met,  and,  at  'ane  after  midnycht,'  digged  a  grave  of  the  exact  length 
of  Hector  Monro,  and  laid  the  turf  of  it  carefully  aside.  They  then  came 
home,  and  M'Ingarach  gave  her  assistants  instructions  concerning  the 
part  that  each  was  to  perform  in  the  remaining  ceremonies.  The  object — 
namely,  the  preservation  of  Hector's  life  and  the  death  of  George  in  his 
stead — being  now  openly  stated,  some  of  those  present  objected,  that  if  tlie 
latter  should  be  cut  oft'  suddenly,  the  hue  and  cry  would  be  raised,  and  all 
their  lives  would  be  in  danger.  They  therefore  pressed  the  presiding  witch 
not  to  make  the  sacrifice  immediately,  but  to  cause  it  to  follow  after  such 
an  interval  as  might  obviate  suspicion,  which  she  accordingly  engaged  to 
accomplish,  and  warranted  him  to  live  till  the  17th  day  of  the  ensuing 
April,  at  least.  This  being  arranged  to  the  satisfaction  of  the  persons 
assembled,  the  sick  man  was  laid  in  a  pair  of  blankets,  and  carried  out  to 
the  place  where  the  grave  had  been  prepared.      The  party  were  strictly 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  481 

enjoined  to  be  silent,  and  only  M'Ingarrach,  and  Christian  Neil],  Hectoi's 
foster-mother,  were  to  utter  the  necessary  incantations.  Being  come  to 
the  si)ot,  their  living  burden  was  deposited  in  the  grave,  the  turf  being 
spread  over  him,  and  held  down  with  staves.  M'Ingarrach  stood  by 
the  side  of  the  grave,  and  Neill,  holding  a  boy,  a  son  of  Hector  Leith,  by 
the  hand,  ran  the  breadth  of  nine  rings,  then  returned,  and  demanded, 
'  which  is  your  choice  ?'  Thereupon  the  other  replied,  '  Mr.  Hector,  I 
choose  you  to  live,  and  your  brother  George  to  die  for  you.'  This  form  of 
conjuration  was  twice  gone  througli  that  night ;  and,  on  its  completion, 
the  sick  man  was  lifted,  cai'ried  home — not  one  of  the  company  uttering  a 
word  further — and  replaced  in  bed. 

To  the  efficacy  of  this  spell  was  attributed  not  only  tlie  recovery  d 
Hector,  but  the  death  of  George  Monro,  though  the  latter  continued  in  per- 
fect health  not  only  for  the  time  warranted  by  the  witch,  but  for  a  year 
longer.  He  was  taken  ill  in  Ai>ril,  1590,  and  died  on  the  J3rd  of  June 
following.  M'Ingarrach  was  higlily  favoured  by  the  gentleman  who 
supposed  he  owed  to  her  his  life.  As  soon  as  his  health  was  I'estored, '  be  the 
d^wilisch  moyan  foirsaid,'  he  carried  her  to  the  house  of  his  uncle  at  Kil- 
urmmody,  where  she  was  entertained  with  as  much  obsequious  attention 
as  if  she  had  been  liis  spouse,  and  obtained  such  pre-eminence  in  the 
country  that  no  one  durst  offend  her,  tliough  her  ostensible  character  was 
only  that  of  keeper  to  his  sheep.  Upon  the  information  of  Lady  Fowlis, 
the  protector  of  M  Ingarrach  was  com;ielIed  to  present  her  at  Aberdeen, 
where  she  was  examined  before  the  king,  and  produced  the  stones  out  of 
which  she  had  made  the  baron  drink.  Tliese  enchanted  cups  were  de- 
livered to  the  keeping  of  the  justice  clerk;  but  we  are  not  informed  as  to 
the  fate  of  the  witch  herself. 

The  indictrntni  cluirged  the  prisoner  that  'ye  gat  yowr  health  be  the 
develisch  means  foirsaid,'  And  further,  it  said,  'ye  are  indicted  for  art 
and  part  of  tlie  cruel,  odious,  and  shameful  slaughter  of  the  said  George 
Monro,  your  brotlier,  by  tlie  enchantments  and  witchcrafts  used  upon  him 
by  you  and  of  your  devise,  by  speaking  to  him  within  youre  bed,  taking  of 
him  by  the  right  hand,  conform  to  the  injunctions  given  to  you  by  the  said 
Marian  Ingarrach,  inthe  said  month  of  January,  1389  years;  throic  the  ichich 
inchantmentis  he  tuke  ane  deidlie  seiknets  in  the  moncth  of  Apryle^  1590 
yetris^  and  contineic  and  thalr'm  until  Junii  thairaftei\  diceissit  in  the 
said  moneth  of  Junii  ^  being  the  third  day  of  that  instant!' 


JAMES  HARDY  YAUX, 

TRANSPORTED    VOR    PRIVATELY    STEALING. 

The  adventures  of  James  Hardy  Yaux  are  not  inferior  in  interest  to 
those  of  the  renowned  Guzman  d'Alfarache,  or  Lazarillo  de  Tormes,  and 
like  those  celebrated  rogues,  in  order  tliat  the  public  may  profit  by  his 
example,  he  has  given  the  world  a  narrative  of  his  exploits,  in  wliich 
philosophers  may  read  the  workings  of  an  unprincipled  conscience,  the 
legislator  may  discover  the  effect  of  the  existing  laws  upon  the  mind  of  a 
criminal,  and  by  means  of  which  tlie  citizen  may  learn  to  detect  the 
frauds  by  which  he  is  so  constantly,  and,  but  too  frequently,  so  success- 

VOL.    I.  '  3   Q 


4S2  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

fully  beset.  So  excellent  a  moral  is  to  be  derived  from  the  memoirs  of  this 
criminal,  well  written  as  they  appear  to  be,  that  we  shall  furnish  the 
reader  with  occasional  extracts  from  them,  giving  an  abridgment  of  those 
portions  of  them  which  present  features  of  less  interest. 

James  Hardy  Vaux  was  born  at  Guildford,  in  the  county  of  Surrey,  in 
the  year  1782,  where  iiis  father,  who  was  a  foreigner,  lived  in  the  service 
of  a  Mr.  Sumner,  as  cook  and  house- steward.  It  appears  that  the  mother 
of  this  unfortunate  man  was  born  of  higlily  respectable  parents,  her  father 
being  a  ]\Ir.  Lowe,  a  solicitor  in  London,  and  that  her  mai'riage  with  her 
husband  took  place  much  against  the  wishes  of  her  friends.  In  1785, 
]\Ir.  Lowe  retired  from  business,  and  going  to  live  in  the  country,  he  took 
with  him  his  little  grandson,  whom  he  treated  with  parental  fondness ; 
sent  him  to  school,  and  gave  him  a  liberal  education,  such  as  to  qualify  him 
for  his  own  profession.  j\Irs.  Yaux's  first  imprudence  had  partially  alien- 
ated the  affections  of  her  parents,  and  her  subsequent  conduct  did  not  tend 
to  restore  their  good  opinion.  Young  Yaux,  therefore,  was  entirely  aban- 
doned to  the  care  of  his  grandfather  and  grandmother,  and  he  complains 
tb.at  his  natural  parents  never  treated  him  with  anything  like  a  proper 
affection. 

After  six  years'  residence  in  the  country,  !Mr.  Lowe  was  prevailed  upon 
to  live  with  his  daughter  and  son-in-law,  who  had  recently  commenced 
the  hat  business  at  Great  Turnstile,  Ilolborn.  Young  Yaux,  being  at 
this  time  nine  years  old,  was  sent  to  a  respectable  boarding-school  at 
Stockwell ;  and  after  three  years  he  returned  to  his  grandfather,  who  had 
quitted,  in  consequence  of  family  disagreements,  the  house  of  his  son-in- 
law,  and  then  resided  in  one  of  the  squares.  Mrs.  Lowe's  healtli  declining, 
tlie  family  removed  to  "Wisbeach,  Cambridgeshire,  where  they  continued 
for  some  time,  and  then  returned  to  their  original  residence  in  Shropshire, 
youno-  Yaux  being  now  fourteen  years  of  age.  Here  he  became  acquainted 
with  the  son  of  John  Maultrie,  Esq.,  a  resident  in  the  vicinity,  and,  on 
that  youth's  removal  to  college,  his  father  proposed  to  pay  for  Yaux  to 
accompany  him ;  but  his  indecision  and  obstinacy  rendered  the  proffered 
kindness  of  no  avail.  The  army  or  navy  was  his  ambition  ;  but,  as  his 
grandfather  would  not  consent  to  his  entering  either  of  these  professions, 
the  desire  was  abandoned,  and,  after  much  hesitation,  he  was  ultimately 
bound  an  apprentice  to  Parker  and  Co.  linen-drapers,  at  Liverpool. 

As  this  step  may  be  called  his  first  entrance  into  life,  we  will  let  him 
speak  for  himself,  as  his  conduct  in  his  first  situation  clearly  indicates  his 
character,  while  it  forcibly  reminds  youth  of  the  danger  they  run  in  yield- 
ing to  the  first  incentives  to  crime.  "  I  was  now,"  said  Hardy  Yaux, 
"  turned  of  fourteen ;  my  health  and  constitution  good,  my  spirits  elevated, 
and  I  felt  all  those  pleasing  sensations  which  naturally  arise  in  a  youthful 
mind,  happy  in  conscious  innocence,  and  flattered  by  the  prospect  of  rising 
to  honourable  independence.  The  gaiety  and  bustle  of  this  beautiful  and 
improving  borough  at  once  charmed  and  amused  me  ;  I  spent  a  week  in 
viewing  the  public  buildings,  the  environs,  &:c. ;  but,  above  all,  my  ad- 
miration was  excited  by  the  numerous  and  capacious  docks,  by  which 
ships  of  large  burden  are  admitted,  as  it  were,  into  the  heart  of  the  town, 
ami  discharge  their  rich  and  varied  cargoes  with  surprising  facility, 
M  hicli  are  deposited  in  spacious  warehouses,  of  amazing  extent,  and  from 
twelve  to  fourteen  stories  high,  with  which  these  noble  docks  are  nearly 
surrounded. 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  483 

"  The  opportunities  I  had,  during  my  residence  in  Liverpool,  of  viewing 
tl:e  daily  arrivals  and  sailings  of  mei'cbant  ships  to  and  from  all  parts  of 
the  world,  particularly  the  Guineamen,  which  formed  a  remarkably  fine 
class  of  vessels,  revived  the  latent  desire  I  had  for  a  seafaring  life  ;  and  I 
wanted  but  little  incitement,  had  the  smallest  opportunity  offered,  to  take 
French  leave  of  my  mastei's,  and  gratify  my  rambling  propensity.  How- 
ever, the  bustle  in  which  I  was  continually  involved,  and  tlie  new  scenes 
of  amusement  which  every  succeeding  day  presented,  suppressed  the 
inclination  for  a  time ;  but  that  it  was  not  totally  subdued  Avill  be 
seen  hereafter.  The  establishment  and  economy  of  our  house  were  upon 
the  most  regular  plan ;  the  former  consisted  of  six  apprentices  (myself 
among  the  niunber),  and  four  assistants  at  very  liberal  stipends,  besides,  a 
nephew  of  the  elder  partner,  who  superintended  the  whole  and  officiated 
in  the  counting-house  ;  there  were  also  several  porters  and  other  subordi- 
nates, for  all  of  whom  full  employment  was  found.  Being  the  junior 
apprentice,  it  was  my  province  to  polish  the  counters,  trim  the  lamps, 
carry  out  small  parcels,  and  to  perform  other  inferior  duties  ;  when  disen- 
gaged fi*om  whicli,  I  assisted  in  waiting  on  retail  customers  and  making 
myself  otherwise  useful  behind  the  counter.  We  had  a  plentiful  table 
appropriated  to  us,  to  which  we  retired  in  turn  during  tlie  hours  of  busi- 
ness, commodious  and  airy  chambers,  and,  in  short,  we  enjoyed  every 
comfort  we  could  desire.  For  the  first  month  of  my  probation  I  behaved 
extremely  well,  and  by  my  quickness  and  assiduity  gained  the  good 
opinion  of  my  employers,  who  wrote  of  me  in  the  most  favourable 
terms  to  my  friends  in  Shropshire  ;  nor  did  my  expenses  exceed  my 
allowance  for  pocket-money,  which  was  fully  adequate  to  every  rational 
enjoyment. 

"  Among  my  fellow- apprentices  was  a  young  man  named  King,  some 
years  older  tlian  myself,  with  whom,  from  a  similarity  of  sentiment,  I  formed 
a  close  intimacy.  He  was  of  an  excellent  disposition,  but  a  great  lover  of 
pleasure  ;  and  as  his  servitude  was  far  advanced,  and  his  prospects  pecu- 
liarly flattering,  he  was  under  very  little  restraint,  but  gave  the  rein  to  his 
passion  for  dissipation.  His  expenses  were  profuse,  but  whether  he 
indulged  in  them  at  the  expense  of  his  probity  I  could  never  ascertain. 
He  soon  introduced  me  to  several  young  men  of  his  own  stamp,  and  I  be- 
came in  a  short  time  as  great  a  rake  as  the  best  of  them  :  nor  was  our  con- 
versation confined  to  our  own  sex,  scarcely  a  night  passing  without  our 
visiting  one  or  other  of  those  houses  consecrated  to  the  Cyprian  Goddess, 
with  which  the  town  of  Liverpool  abounds.  In  such  a  course  of  life,  it  is 
not  likely  that  I  could  submit  to  limited  hours :  my  companions  and  I 
seldom  returned  home  before  midnight,  and  sometimes  not  until  the  ensu- 
ing morning.  Though  we  took  measures  to  keep  this  from  the  ears  of  our 
employers,  it  could  not  fail  to  be  known  in  time ;  and  the  consequence  was 
a  strong  but  tender  remonstrance  on  my  imprudence,  which  much  alfected 
me  at  the  moment ;  but  the  impression  was  transitory  and  soon  effaced.  I 
plunged  deeper  and  deeper  into  the  vortex  of  folly  and  dissipation, until  I  vras 
obliged  to  have  recourse  for  advice  to  the  vEsculapius  of  Gilead  House. 
Tiiis  irregular  mode  of  life  had  borne  hard  upon  my  finances,  and  I  had  not, 
as  yet,  had  recourse  to  fraud  or  peculation.  I  was  liberally  supplied  by 
my  relations  on  leaving  Shropshire,  and  had  received  my  first  quarterly 
allowance;  b  it  au  event,  whii'li   eoon  followed,  tempted  me  to  the  first 


484  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

breach  of  confidence  and  integrity.  I  had  in  my  youth  been  passionately 
fond  of  cocking-,  a  sport  for  whicli  tlie  county  of  tSalop  has  been  always 
famed  ;  and,  tliough  so  young,  I  had  constantly  kept  several  cocks  at 
walk,  unknown  to  my  parents;  so  that  I  had  acquired  a  considei'able 
share  of  experience  and  knowledge  on  the  subject.  One  day,  when  I  was 
sent  with  some  muslins  to  wait  on  a  lady  in  the  environs  of  Liverpool,  near 
the  canal,  I  accidentally  passed  a  cockpit,  where  a  great  crowd  was  assem- 
bled ;  and  I  understood  tiiat  a  grand  main  was  about  to  commence.  Elated 
at  this  pleasing  intelligence,  I  hastened  to  execute  my  commission  ;  and 
returning  to  the  house,  entered  it,  and,  learving  my  wrapper  of  goods  in  the 
care  of  the  landlady,  I  ascended  to  the  pit,  and  took  my  seat.  The  com- 
pany was,  as  usual,  of  a  motley  description  ;  but  there  were  many  genteel 
persons.  I  A'entured  a  few  trifling  bets  at  first  with  various  success;  but 
at  length  an  opportunity  offering,  which  I  considered  as  next  to  a  cer- 
tainty, I  laid  the  odds  to  a  large  amount,  flattermg  myself  that,  by  this 
stroke  of  judgment,  I  should  be  enabled  to  figure  away  with  increased 
eclat  among  my  gay  companions.  After  I  had  so  done,  greater  odds  were 
still  vociferated  ;  but  in  a  moment  the  scene  was  changed  !  the  fallen  cock, 
in  the  agonies  of  death,  made  a  desperate  effort,  and,  rising  for  a  moment, 
cut  the  throat  of  his  antagonist,  who  was  standing  over  him,  in  the  act  oi 
crowing  with  exultation  on  his  victory  !  The  latter  immediately  fell, 
choked  with  the  effusion  of  blood,  nor  did  the  victor  survive  him  many 
moments.  The  whole  pit  resounded  with  acclamation,  and  the  discord 
wliich  ensued  beggars  description.  I  was  not  the  only  sufferer  by  this 
revolution  of  fortune ;  many  others  had  laid  higlier  odds  than  myself,  and 
to  a  much  greater  amount.  I  was  soon  surrounded  by  my  creditors,  to 
whom  I  disbursed  every  shilling  I  had  about  me,  among  which  were  some 
pounds  I  had  just  received  from  the  lady  for  goods,  and  for  which  I  had 
given  her  a  receipt.  I  was  still  something  deficient,  for  which  I  pledged 
my  honour  to  one  of  the  parties,  giving  my  address,  and  j'iromising  payment 
on  an  early  day.  I  now  returned  home,  filled  with  remorse  and  shame ; 
but,  as  the  first  false  step  of  a  young  person  insensibly  leads  to  another,  I 
added  to  my  guilt  by  concealing  the  affair  from  my  employers,  and  directed 
them  to  book  the  articles  the  lady  had  selected.  I  had  a  degree  of  false 
shame  about  me,  which  rendered  me  incapable  of  'confessing  the  truth  and 
promising  amendment,  or  .all  might  still  have  been  well.  In  the  evening  I 
had  recourse  to  the  bottle  to  drown  my  chagrin  ;  and  I  determined  to  pur- 
loin a  certain  sum  every  day,  in  the  course  of  my  attendau'ie  on  retail  cus- 
tomers, until  I  had  liquidated  my  debt  of  honour  !  Then  I  vowed  to  stop 
and  reform.  Delusive  idea !  \\o\v  little  did  I  then  know  my  own  weak- 
ness, or  the  futility  of  such  xesolutions  in  a  young  mind  !  And  who,  that 
once  begins  a  career  of  vice,  can  say  to  himself,  "  Thus  far  will  I  go,  and  no 
farther  ?"  After  I  had  discharged  my  engagement  I  found  a  small  sum 
must  be  raised  for  pocket-money,  and  other  exigencies,  as  it  would  be 
above  two  months  before  I  could  expect  a  remittance. 

"  I  therefore  continued  my  peculation,  and  at  length  my  evil  genius  sug- 
gested to  me,  that  I  might,  by  venturing  a  small  sum,  become  more  fortu- 
nate at  the  cock-pit,  and  repair  the  loss  I  had  sustained  ;  as  miracles  don't 
happen  every  day,  and  the  odds  must  win  in  the  long  run.  Thus  I  argued 
witii  myself;  and,  fatally  for  me,  I  tried  the  experiment. 

"  From  this  moment  I  never  missed  a  day's  fighting  at  the  cock -pit ;  and 


r 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  4S5 

when  sent  on  business  which  required  my  speedy  return,  I  could  not  tear 
myself  from  the  spot,  but  frequently  stayed  out  several  hours,  and,  after- 
wards forged  a  lie  to  account  for  my  delay.  I  sometimes  came  oft"  a  winner ; 
but,  as  I  was  not  then  acquainted  with  the  art  of  hedging,  by  which  the 
knowing  ones  commonly  saved  themselves,  I  was  sure  to  be  a  loser  at  every 
week's  end.  But  I  managed  matters  so  well,  that  my  frequent  secre- 
tions from  the  till  were  not  discovered,  however  they  might  be  suspected. 
The  extensive  trade  of  the  shop  rendered  it  next  to  impossible ;  and  what  I 
abstracted  was  a  trifle  compared  to  the  gross  receipts  of  the  day.  jMy  con- 
tinued misconduct  became  now  the  subject  of  frequent  remonstrances  on  tlie 
part  of  JMr.  Parkei",  the  resident  partner  ;  wrhicli  not  having  had  the  de- 
sired effect,  that  gentleman  wrote  to  my  friends,  informing  them  in  geneial 
terms  that  I  had  unhappily  formed  improper  connexions,  aiul  that  my  late 
levity  of  conduct  rendered  me  unfit  to  be  received  into  their  house  ;  there- 
fore desiring  I  might  be  recalled  without  delay.  Mr.  Parker  conchuk'd 
with  a  remark,  which  I  shall  never  forget,  and  which  was  peculiarly  grati- 
fying to  my  grandfather's  (perhaps  too  partial)  feelings  :  after  expatiating 
on  my  general  capacity  for  business,  he  added,  '  his  smartness  and  activity 
are  really  wonderful.'  This  letter  produced  a  speedy  answer,  in  conse- 
quence of  which  I  was  directed  to  hasten  my  departure,  which  took  place 
in  a  few  days,  IMr.  Parker  giving  me  a  great  deal  of  wholesome  advice  at 
parting  ;  observing  that  although  it  was  not  in  his  power  to  charge  me 
with  any  direct  criminality,  my  inconsiderate  behaviour,  and  the  con- 
tinued excesses  of  my  conduct,  left  but  too  much  room  for  unfavourable 
conjectures. 

"  Behold  me  now  returned  to  my  grandfather,  after  an  absence  of  nearly 
five  months  ;  and  this  excursion  may  be  called  my  first  entrance  into  life. 
I  could  not  help  blushing  at  the  consciousness  of  my  own  unworthiness  ; 
but  the  blind  partiality  of  my  dear  parents  induced  them  to  believe  me 
less  culpable  than  I  really  was,  and  to  listen  readily  to  anytliing  I  had  to 
offer  in  palliation  of  my  errors." 

Having  now  tasted  the  vicious  cup  of  pleasure,  Yaux  found  a  village  too 
limited  a  sphere  for  his  ambition,  and  resolved  to  try  his  fortune  in  Lon- 
don. His  grandfather,  having  many  friends  in  his  own  profession,  gave 
him  letters  of  introduction,  which,  on  his  arrival  in  the  metropolis^  procured 
him  a  situation  as  copying  clerk  in  a  solicitor's  office.  Resolving  to  bo 
master  of  his  own  conduct,  he  did  not  visit  the  house  of  his  father,  who  by 
this  time  had  tried  many  businesses,  but  was  imfurtunate  in  all ;  but  took 
private  lodgings,  and  for  three  months  conducted  himself  with  great  pro- 
priety. But,  getting  acquainted  with  several  young  persons  of  both  sexes, 
he  gradually  gave  way  to  dissipation,  visited  the  theatres,  and  became 
irregular  in  his  attendance  at  his  office,  in  consequence  of  which  he  was 
formally  dismissed. 

Finding  it  still  necessary  to  have  some  employment,  he  procured, 
through  one  of  his  dissipated  companions,  the  son  of  a  wealthy  citizen, 
a  situation,  as  clerk  in  the  warehouse  of  Messrs.  Key  and  Sons,  whole- 
sale stationers,  in  Abchurch  Lane,  Lombard  Street,  at  a  guinea  a  week. 
Here,  however,  he  continued  but  for  a  short  time ;  for  he  could  not 
endure  a  confinement  in  the  East  End,  so  far  from  the  resort  of  his  old 
acquaintances,  who  chiefly  frequented  Covent  Garden  and  the  purlieus  of 
Drury  Lane. 


486  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

"  During  an  abode,"  says  he,  "  of  ten  months  in  London,  as  I  was  fre- 
quently puslied  for  money,  I  availed  myself  of  a  genteel  appearance,  and 
])retty  good  address  ;  and,  taking  advantage  of  the  credulity  of  several 
tradesmen  in  the  neighbourhood,  I  ordered  wearing  apparel  of  various  kinds, 
and  sometimes  other  goods,  upon  credit,  without  much  concern  about  the 
day  of  payment  ;  however,  I  always  took  care  to  procure  a  bill  of  parcel? 
with  the  articles,  which  precluded  any  charge  of  fraud,  and  left  the  matter, 
at  the  worst,  but  a  debt  contracted ;  for  which,  being  a  minor,  I  knew  I 
could  not  be  arrested.  This  was  my  first  deviation  from  honesty  since  I 
left  Liverpool.  I  was  also  frequently  obliged  to  change  my  lodgings ;  and, 
as  payment  of  my  rent  would  have  required  ready  money,  for  which  I  had 
so  many  otlier  uses,  I  commonly  decamped  under  favour  of  the  night,  having 
previously  removed  my  effects  by  various  stratagems.  As  I  Avas  ashamed 
to  let  my  grandfather  know  the  true  state  of  my  affairs,  and  as  I  really 
grieved  at  the  expenses  I  had  already  caused  him,  which  I  knew  had  much 
inconvenienced  him,  I  forbore  at  last  to  trouble  him  for  remittances;  but 
falsely  assured  him  that  I  was  doing  well,  and  enabled  to  live  upon  the  profits 
of  my  industry.  I  desired  he  would  abandon  the  idea  of  articling 
me  to  the  law,  as  the  expenses  attending  admission  had  of  late  years  been 
so  much  increased  by  stamp  duties ;  and  as  I  could,  if  I  continued  the 
study,  at  a  future  period,  practise  under  tlie  sanction  of  another  person's 
name ;  a  custom  then  very  prevalent,  though  irregular.  By  these  assur- 
ances I  quieted  the  good  old  man,  and  silenced  any  inquiries  my  friends 
might  have  instituted  respecting  me ;  as  I  now  really  wished  to  continue 
free  from  all  restraint  upon  my  person  or  actions,  and  foolishly  flattered 
myself  that  I  should,  by  some  lucky  event,  ultimately  secure  the  means  of 
independence.  These  conjectures  were,  however,  perfectly  vague,  and  pro- 
ceeding from  no  fixed  idea  whatever. 

"  On  quitting  my  city  employment,  I  returned  to  the  law,  for  which  I 
still  retained  a  partiality ;  and  obtained  a  more  liberal  salary  than  before 
in  an  office  equally  respectable.  Indeed  I  was  now  become  more  useful, 
and  had  improved  much,  both  in  person  and  address,  since  my  arrival  in 
town. 

"  I  was  still  frequently  reduced  to  pecuniary  straits,  and  obliged  to  have 
recourse  to  various  expedients,  known  only  to  men  of  the  town,  for  my 
support  :  some  of  them,  indeed,  were  bordering  on  dishonesty,  and  none  of 
them  very  honourable.  But  to  describe  them  iudividually  is  impossible ; 
and  a  man  wlio  lives  by  his  wits,  as  the  phrase  is,  will  assure  you,  if  called 
to  account,  that  he  really  could  not  for  his  life  tell  by  what  distinct  means 
he  makes  out  a  living. 

"  As  I  now  wrote  uncommonly  fast,  I  quitted  the  station  of  a  weekly 
clerk,  and  obtained  writings  to  copy  by  the  sheet,  from  the  law-stationers, 
by  which  I  could  earn  considerably  more  money ;  and  in  this  employment 
I  continued  to  labour  diligently  for  several  hours  every  day,  and  sometimes 
half  the  night. 

"  When  I  had  a  mind  to  relax  from  this  occupation,  and  particularly  if 
ray  finances  were  at  a  low  ebb,  I  frequently  resorted  to  the  Blue  Lion,  in 
(irray's  Inn  Lane,  a  house  noted  for  selling  fine  ale,  and  crowded  every 
night  by  a  motley  assemblage  of  visitors,  among  whom  were  many  thieves, 
sharpers,  and  otlier  desperate  characters,  with  their  doxies.  I  was  intro- 
duced to  this  house  (from  which  hundreds  of  young  persons  may  date 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  487 

their  ruin)  by  a  fellow-clerk,  who  appeared  to  have  a  personal  intimacy 
with  most  of  tlicse  obnoxious  persons  ;  however,  though  I  listened  eagerly 
to  their  conversation,  (part  of  wliich  was  then  unintelligible  to  me,)  and 
fancied  them  people  of  uncommon  spirit,  I  was  not  yet  sufficiently  depraved 
to  cultivate  their  acquaintance ;  but  sat  witli  a  pipe  in  my  mouth,  enve- 
loped in  smoke,  ruminating,  like  a  philosoplier,  on  the  various  characters 
wlio  tread  the  great  stage  of  life,  and  felt  a  sort  of  secret  presentiment  that 
I  was  myself  born  to  undergo  a  more  than  common  share  of  vicissitudes 
and  disaj^pointments." 

During  his  nightly  resort  to  the  Blue  Lion  he  became  acquainted  with 

a  young  man  named  D ,  who  had  been  steward  on  board  a  king's  ship, 

but  who  had  spent  all  his  money,  and  had  now  resolved  to  go  to  Ports- 
mouth, in  the  hope  of  procuring  a  situation  similar  to  the  one  he  had  left. 
Vaux,  naturally  inconstant,  determined  on  accompanying  him  ;  and,  having 
converted  most  of  their  clothes  into  money,  they  set  otF  on  foot ;  but  had 
not  proceeded  farther  than  Kingston  when  tlieir  cash  became  exhausted, 
and  they  owed  a  trifle  to  the  mistress  of  the  Eight  Bells. 

"  In  this  dilemma,"  says  Vaux,  "  a  sudden  thought  struck  me.  Callincr 
for  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  I  told  my  companion  I  had  a  scheme  in  my  head 
for  raising  a  supply,  but  would  not  impart  it  until  I  had  tried  its  success. 
I  then  drew  up  a  sort  of  memorial  to  the  following  eft'ect : — '  To  the 
Ladies  and  Gentlemen  of  Kingston. — The  writer  hereof,  a  young  man  of 
respectable  family,  and  good  education,  having,  by  a  series  of  misfortunes, 
been  reduced  to  the  greatest  distress,  is  now  on  his  way  to  Portsmouth,  in 
hopes  of  procuring  a  situation  in  the  navy  ;  but,  being  destitute  of  money 
for  his  present  support,  humbly  solicits  your  charitable  assistance  towards 
enabling  him  to  pursue  his  journey.  To  a  noble  mind,  the  pleasure  of 
doing  a  good  action  is  its  own  reward.  The  smallest  donation  will  be 
gratefully  received,  and  any  lady  or  gentleman  mclined  to  relieve  the 
writer  is  earnestly  requested  to  subscribe  his  or  her  name  hereto.' — Hav- 
ing completed  this  production,  I  desired  my  friend  to  wait  patiently  for 
my  return,  and  assured  him  I  doubted  not  of  bringing  speedy  relief.  I 
now  set  out  on  my  expedition,  and  immediately  waited  on  Mr.  Mayor,  who 
was  a  grocer ;  but  in  this  first  essay  I  was  unsuccessful.  His  worship 
declared  he  never  encouraged  applications  of  this  sort  from  strangers ;  and 
desired  me  to  go  about  my  business.  I,  however,  took  the  liberty  of 
subscribing  his  name  to  my  memorial,  by  way  of  sanction,  and  gave  his 
charity  credit  for  a  donation  of  five  shillings.  Young  as  I  was  at  that 
time,  I  well  knew  that  example,  in  matters  of  this  kind,  goes  a  great  way; 
and  that  many  persons,  witliout  a  grain  of  Christian  benevolence  in  their 
composition,  will  give  liberally  from  motives  of  ostentation,  when  they  see 
that  their  neighbours  have  already  contributed,  and  that  their  own  names  and 
donations  will  also  be  made  public.  I  experienced  the  truth  of  this  notion, 
for  I  was  successful  in  almost  every  application  I  afterwards  made.  Hav- 
ing visited  a  number  of  genteel  houses,  with  various  success,  I  was  on  the 
point  of  returning,  to  impart  my  good  luck  to  my  companion,  when, 
coming  to  a  very  handsome  mansion-house  in  the  suburbs  of  the  town,  I 
tliought  I  ought  not  to  omit  calling,  and  a  person  at  that  moment  passing 
by,  I  inquired  whose  residence  it  was,  and  which  was  the  entrance  to  the 
premises  ;  for  the  house  was  situated  in  the  midst  of  a  spacious  pleasure- 
ground,  remote  from  the  high  road,  and,  it  being  quite  dusk,  I  had  not 


483  THE    NEW    >EAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

observed  any  avenue  by  wliich  I  could  gain  access  to  it.     I  was  informed 

that  it  was  the  residence  of  Lady  W ;  that  a  little  further  on  I  should 

perceive  a  door  in  the  brick  wall,  which  extended  along  the  road-side;  and 
that  if  I  entered  at  that  door,  and  proceeded  in  a  straight  direction,  I  should 
arrive  at  the  servants'  hall ;  but  my  informer  cautioned  me  to  keep  close 
to  another  wall  on  my  left  hand,  wliich  divided  this  avenue  from  the  lawn 
in  front  of  the  mansion,  because  there  was  a  very  large  and  fierce  dog  at 
the  upper  end,  but  which,  being  ckained  up,  could  not  reach  me,  if  1 
followed  the  above  directions.  I  thanked  this  obliging  person,  and 
immediately  proceeded  to  the  door  described,  which  I  entered,  and 
walked  cautiously,  and  not  without  some  fear,  by  the  wall-side,  till  I 
perceived,  by  the  lights  in  the  kitchen  and  out-  offices,  that  I  was  near  the 
premises. 

"  It  was  now  very  dark,  and  I  was  carefully  exploring  my  way,  my 
mind  full  of  apprehensions  at  the  thought  of  this  terrible  dog ;  when  lo  ! 
at  that  instant,  to  my  inexpressible  consternation,  the  ferocious  animal 
made  a  spring  at  me,  and  I  gave  myself  up  for  dead.  However,  though 
he  was  certainly  within  a  yard  of  me,  he  did  me  no  mischief;  but  my 
alarm  was  so  great,  that,  without  knowing  how  or  where  to  fly  for  refuge, 
I  ran  precipitately  from  the  spot ;  and,  when  I  recovered  myself  from  the 
fright,  found  myself  in  the  pleasure-ground  in  front  of  the  mansion-house. 
It  appeared  that  I  had,  without  knowing,  escaped  through  a  door  in  the 
wall,  which  was  open  on  my  left  hand  at  the  moment  I  was  alarmed  by 
the  dog.  I  was  now  more  at  a  loss  than  ever,  for  I  knew  of  no  way  to 
get  out  of  the  pleasure-ground  except  by  the  aforesaid  door,  and  fear  of  the 
dog  prevented  my  attempting  that  passage.  After  wandering  about  for  a 
few  minutes,  I  approached  the  mansion,  and,  going  up  to  one  of  the  par- 
lour windows,  which  were  very  large,  and  on  a  level  with  the  terrace 
before  the  house,  I  applied  my  eye  to  the  glass,  and  discovered,  through 
an  aperture  in  the  inside  shutters,  a  numerous  and  splendid  party  of  ladies 
and  gentlemen  at  dinner.  Having  considered  a  moment,  I  determined 
on  a  very  bold  step,  as  I  saw  no  alternative  but  remaining  all  night 
in  the  open  air,  exposed  to  the  inclemency  of  the  weather.  Taking 
advantao-e  of  a  pause  in  the  company's  conversation,  I  tapped  with  my 
finger  at  the  window,  and  immediately  the  whole  party  were  struck  with 
wonder.  In  the  midst  of  their  surprise  I  repeated  my  knock  ;  and  then, 
after  several  voices  exclaiming  '  Good  God  1  there  is  certainly  somebody 
at  the  window,'  &c.  a  gentleman  rose  from  the  table,  and,  advancing 
towards  me,  opened  first  the  shutters,  and  then  the  window  itself,  which 
might,  in  fact,  be  called  a  pair  of  folding-doors  ;  and  these  being  thrown 
back,  I  walked  in  with  the  most  respectful  air  I  coidd  assume,  and 
presented  myself  to  the  astonished  company.  Having  bowed  twice  or 
thrice,  and  given  time  for  their  alarm  to  subside,  I  began  to  make  my 
speech. 

"  Apologizing  for  my  presumptuous  intrusion,  I  stated  in  a  concise 
manner  the  fright  I  had  endured  from  the  dog,  my  embarrassment 
at  not  being  able  to  find  means  of  egress  from  the  pleasure-ground,  and 
my  having  consequently  taken  the  liberty  of  knocking  at  the  window. 
I  then  presented  my  memorial,  which  was  read  in  turn  by  most  of  the 
company,  each  of  whom  surveyed  me  with  evident  surprise.  Having 
answered  such  queries  as  they  thought  proper  to  put  to  me,  I  was  desired 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  489 

by  the  lady  of  the  house  to  withdraw  to  the  kitchen  for  a  short  time;  and 
a  servant  was  ordered  to  attend  me  thither.  Here  I  had  my  story  to 
repeat  for  the  information  of  the  domestics,  who  langhed  heartily  at  the 
adventure  of  the  dow,  but  afterwards  seriously  assured  me  that,  had  the 
animal  not  been  chained,  or  had  I  approached  within  his  reach,  he  would 
inevitably  have  torn  mo  to  pieces.  The  parlour  dinner  being  over,  and  the 
disdies  brought  out,  I  was  desired  to  fall  to  ;  and,  being  really  hungry,  I 
wanted  no  pressing,  but  selected  from  the  variety  of  good  things  on  the 
table  a  very  fine  buttock  of  beef,  on  which  substantial  fare  1  made  a 
sumptuous  meal.     There  was  no  scarcity  of  good   malt  liquor,  and  Lady 

W very   kindly  sent  me  out  a  pint  of  red  port,  witli  a  particular 

injunction  (which,  by-the-by,  was  unnecessary)  that  I  should  eat  and  drink 
heartily. 

"  At  length  I  was  summoned  to  attend  the  company  in  tho  parlour  ;  and 
her  ladyship  then  expressing  her  concern  for  my  misfortunes,  and  her 
anxious  hope  that  I  should  speedily  find  an  end  to  them,  presented  me 
with  half  a  guinea.  The  rest  of  the  party  also  said  many  handsome 
things,  and  the  majority  of  them  contributed  to  my  relief.  In  addition 
to  these  favours,  one  of  the  gentlemen  at  the  particular  request  of  Lady 

AV ,  took  the  trouble  to  write  a  letter  in  my  behalf  to  the  captain  of  a 

man-of-war,  supposed  to  be  then  lying  at  Portsmouth,  entreating  him  to 
give  me  an  appointment  under  him.  Her  ladyship,  after  obliging  me  to 
take  another  glass  of  wine,  and  repeating  her  sorrow  for  my  distress, 
advised  me  to  lose  no  time  in  prosecuting  my  journey,  ordered  a  servant 
to  conduct  me  to  the  door  at  which  I  had  first  entered  her  premises,  and  I 
took  a  respectful  leave  of  this  truly  benevolent  party. 

"  Returning  to  the  Eight  Bells,  I  imparted  my  adventures  to  my  friend, 
who  was,  of  course,  much  pleased  at  my  success ;  for  I  had  realised  between 
four  and  five  poimds.  I  found  this  begging  scheme  so  productive,  that  I 
was  in  no  hurry  to  pjursue  the  Portsmouth  speculation  ;  and,  as  we  were 
both  satisfied  with  our  present  quarters,  it  was  agreed  that  we  should 
continue  a  few  days  longer  in  Kingston,  in  which  time  I  proposed  to 
follow  np  my  success  by  making  a  I'egular  circuit  among  the  inhabitants  , 
and  I,  in  fact,  determined  to  levy  similar  contributions  in  every  town  which 
lay  in  our  route. 

"  It  is  to  be  observed  that  this  idea  of  raising  money  was  perfectly 
original  in  me,  for  at  that  time  I  had  never  heard  of  such  a  practice,  but 
have  since  discovered  that  it  is  a  very  common  expedient,  and  is  called  by 
those  persons  who  live  by  such  impositions,  '  the  Letter  Backet.' 

"The  following  day  I  again  sallied  forth  and  met  with  equal  success, 
visiting  not  only  the  houses  of  private  persons,  but  even  the  respectable 
shopkeepers,  <S:c.  ;  and  I  may  here  state,  once  for  all,  that  in  the  course  of 
tliis  as  well  as  my  subsequent  speculations  of  the  same  nature,  I  met  with 
various  receptions  according  to  the  charitable  or  churlish  dispositions  of  tbo 
people  to  whom  I  applied.  Many  ]>itieel  my  case  and  cheerfully  relieved 
me.  Others  expressed  equal  commiseration,  but  declined  giving  anything, 
either  because  '  they  never  encouraged  beggars,'  or  '  they  had  poor  enough 
of  their  own  to  maintain.'  Some  invited  me  into  their  parlours,  treated  me 
with  excessive  politeness,  and  obliged  me  to  take  refreshment  at  their  own 
tables  ;  and  where  there  were  any  young  ladies  in  the  family,  I  was  an 
object  of  particular  solicitude,  and  the  recital  of  my  misfortunes  drew  many 

y^ir..  I.  3  R 


490  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

a  sigli  from  their  tender  bosoms.  Others  desired  me  like  the  ]\Iayor  of 
Kingston  to  go  about  my  business,  and  hinted  that  I  ought  to  be  sent  to 
the  house  of  correction  as  a  vagrant.  Sometimes  the  servants  who  admitted 
me  refused  to  present  my  memorial,  declaring  that  they  had  strict  orders 
from  their  masters  or  mistresses  never  to  trouble  them  on  such  an  occa- 
sion. The  donations  I  commonly  received  were  from  one  shilling  to  five ; 
sometimes,  but  rarely,  I  was  presented  witli  gold,  particularly  at  the  seats 
of  the  nobility  and  gentry  ;  all  which  lying  within  a  short  distance  of  the 
road  I  travelled,  I  made  a  point  of  calling  at;  and  for  my  information  on 
tliis  subject,  I  provided  myself  with  a  comprehensive  '  Book  of  Roads,' 
in  which  those  objects  are  correctly  laid  down.  Some  truly  charitable 
persons,  but  whose  means  were  limited,  relieved  me  with  sixpence,  and  of 
course  I  was  bound  to  accept  such  a  trifle  with  as  much  appearance  of 
thankfulness  as  I  would  a  larger  sum ;  and  frequently  when  I  called  at  a 
farm-house  by  the  road  side,  I  have  been  compelled  to  take  some  cold 
meat  or  other  eatables,  wliicli  I  afterwards  bestowed  upon  the  first  more 
needy  beggar  I  met  on  my  way.  It  was  my  custom  in  general  to  travel 
on  foot,  making  short  stages,  and  putting  up  at  a  good  inn  in  every  town 
I  entered,  where  I  lived  upon  the  best  during  my  stay,  and  associated  with 
London  riders,  and  other  respectable  guests.  When  tired  of  walking.  I 
availed  myself  of  a  passing  stage-coach  or  return  post-chaise  ;  and  my  only 
equipage  was  a  spare  shirt,  handkerchief,  &c.  which,  with  my  '  Book  of 
Roads,'  I  carried  in  a  small  bundle  under  my  arm." 

On  the  evening  of  the  second  day,  however,  he  was  arrested  and  carried 
before  the  masistrates,  charged  as  a  rogue  and  vagabond.  He  referred 
the  magistrates  to  one  of  his  grandfather's  friends  in  London  ;  and  the 
inquiries  there  satisfying  them,  he  was  discharged  out  of  custody  on  the 
second  day  of  confinement,  and  hastened  back  to  town,  his  companion 
haviuo-  proceeded  to  Portsmouth.  After  spending  one  dissipated  evening 
in  London,  he  set  out  next  day  to  Portsmouth  ;  and,  notwitlistanding  the 
check  he  had  received  three  days  earlier,  he  stopped  in  Kingston,  and 
levied  contributions,  in  the  usual  way,  on  the  charitable  inhabitants, 
avoiding,  of  course,  that  part  of  the  town  where  he  had  been  before.  This 
practice  he  continued  on  the  road,  and  after  the  payment  of  his  expenses 
he  still  had  15/.  in  his  pocket.     On  his  reaching  Portsmouth,  his  fervour 

for  the  navy  cooled  on  his  finding  that  his  friend  D had  procured  a 

situation  as  a  merchant's  clerk,  and  he  was,  after  some  time,  induced  to 
enter  into  the  service  of  an  attorney.  A  short  employment  was  quite  suf- 
ficient to  satisfy  his  industrious  fit,  and  he  soon  quitted  Portsmouth  in 
disgust,  and  proceeded  once  more  towards  tlie  great  metropolis.  There  liis 
good  fortune  tlirew  before  him  an  opportunity,  wliich  steadiness  on  liis 
part  only  required  to  render  most  advantageous.  Dining  one  day  at  the 
Saracen's  Head,  Snow  Hill,  he  entered  into  conversation  witli  a  gentleman 
named  Kennedy,  a  surgeon  in  the  navy,  who,  pleased  with  his  manner  and 
address,  procured  for  him  an  appointment  as  midshipman  on  board  the 
Astrea  frigate.  Delighted  with  the  prospect  of  at  lengih  entering  the 
navy,  he  wrote  to  his  grandfather,  who  immediately  furnished  him  with 
100/.  to  purchase  an  outfit.  On  the  voyage  he  became  weary  of  his  posi- 
tion as  a  midshipman,  and  the  captain  being  in  want  of  a  clerk,  he  tendered 
his  services  and  was  accepted.  At  the  conclusion  of  a  long  cruise  in  tlie 
northern  latitudes,  the  vessel  made  for  England ;   and  on  their  arrival  in 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  491 

the  Thames,  Vaux  proceeded  to  London.  He  there  met  with  a  dashing 
Cyprian,  and  unmindful  of  the  future,  he  remained  witli  her  imtil  all  his 
money  was  spent;  and  then  he  found  that  his  vessel  had  sailed,  carrying 
with  lier  his  clothes,  books,  and  all  the  little  property  of  whicli  he  was 
possessed.  Now,  driven  to  the  greatest  distress,  he  had  recourse  to  the 
gamino-table,  where  for  a  short  time  he  contrived,  by  associating  with 
professed  gamblers,  to  procure  a  precarious  existence.  But  the  summer 
approach i'Mg  and  dupes  becoming  fewer,  he  obtained  by  application  to 
Messrs.  Dalton  and  Edwards,  King's  Bench  Walk,  a  situation  as  clerk,  at 
one  pound  a  week,  with  Mr.  Dalton,  a  solicitor,  of  Bury  St.  Edmund's. 
'•  Upon  the  whole,"  says  he,  "this  was  one  of  the  most  agreeable  employ- 
ments I  ever  engaged  in  ;  and,  bad  I  prudently  retained  it  for  a  few  years, 
there  is  no  doubt  I  should  have  met  with  the  most  liberal  encouragement 
from  my  employer.  But  my  natural  inconstancy  still  prevailed  ;  and  I 
had  been  but  a  few  weeks  at  Bury,  before  I  grew  tired  of  tlie  country,  and 
thought  of  nothing  bvit  returning  to  London,  with  such  spoil  as  I  could 
obtain  from  the  credulity  of  the  tradesmen  in  the  town.  "NVith  this  view 
I  bespoke  clothes,  boots,  linen,  and  other  articles  at  various  sliops.  inform- 
ing the  parties  that  I  should  expect  credit  till  the  expiration  of  my  quarter, 
to  which,  on  account  of  the  respectable  gentleman  I  served,  they  readily 
consented.  As  soon  as  any  of  these  goods  were  brought  home,  I  immedi- 
ately packed  them  up  in  small  portable  parcels,  which  I  sent  up  to  London 
by  the  coach,  consigned  to  a  pawnbroker  with  whom  I  was  on  intimate 
terms;  desiring  him  to  receive  and  keep  them  safe  until  he  saw  me.  I  also 
coached  off,  in  the  same  clandestine  manner,  such  of  my  own  apparel,  &c. 
as  I  had  in  my  trunk,  in  which,  to  prevent  discovery,  I  deposited  stones  or 
bricks  to  preserve  its  gravity.  By  these  means  I  had  nothing  to  impede 
my  sudden  departure,  when  rendered  necessary  by  the  arrival  of  the 
expected  quarter-day. 

"  I  must  here  observe,  to  meet  any  surprise  the  reader  might  feel  on  the 
subject,  that,  as  I  had  never  at  this  time  been  connected  with  downright 
thieves,  so  I  had  never  yet  committed  an  actual  theft,  save  the  embezzle- 
ment of  money  at  Liverpool ;  (which  indeed  the  law  has  lately  made  a 
felonious  taking ;)  though  I  therefore  scrupled  not  at  practising  a  fraud,  I 
was  not  yet  sufficiently  depraved  to  commit  a  robbery.  This  will  account 
for  my  not  robbing  the  premises  of  Mr.  Dalton,  which,  at  a  subsequent 
period  of  my  life,  would  have  been  my  primary  object,  as  I  had  access  to 
every  part  of  the  house,  and  have  frequently  viewed  with  longing  eyes  the 
servant  cleaning  a  handsome  service  of  plate  in  the  pantry. 

"I  had  now  been  about  two  months  at  Bury,  and  had  no  intention  of 
absconding  till  the  expiration  of  the  third;  when  an  accidental  event 
induced  me  to  hasten  my  departure.  One  afternoon  ]\Ir.  Dalton  had 
written  several  letters  in  the  office,  and  tlie  footman  being  elsewhei'e 
engaged,  he  requested  me  to  drop  them  in  the  post-office  in  my  way  home. 
I  accordingly  brought  them  out  in  my  hand,  and  happening  inadvertently 
to  cast  my  eye  on  the  superscriptions,  I  perceived  that  one  was  addressed 
to  Mr.  Lvne,  tailor,  Cecil  Street,  Strand,  London.  Being  curious  to  know 
what  correspondence  Mr.  Dalton  could  have  with  a  tailor,  I  opened  this 
letter,  and  found  the  contents  to  the  following  effect : — '  ^Ir.  Lyne, — By 
the  wagfTon  which  goes  from  hence  on  ^Monday  next,  and  arrives  at  the 
Blue  Boar  in  Bishopsgate  Street  on  Wednesday  night,  I  shall  send  you  a 


492  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

portmanteau  corded  and  sea'cd,  but  not  locked,  containing  two  coats, 
sixteen  waistcoats,  fourteen  pair  of  breeches,  and  a  suit  of  uniform  of  the 
City  Light  Horse.  ]\Iost  of  these  articles  are  nearly  as  good  as  new;  but, 
as  they  have  now  become  unfashionable,  I  desire  you  will  dispose  of 
them  to  the  best  advantage,  on  my  account,  and  send  me  down  by  the 
same  conveyance  two  suits  made  in  the  present  taste,'  &c. 

"  It  immediately  struck  me,  that,  if  I  took  measures  accordingly,  I  might 
arrive  in  town  time  enough  to  intercept  and  obtain  this  trunk  from  the  inn; 
for  which  purpose  I  put  this  letter  in  my  pocket,  and  the  otliers  in  the 
post-office.  The  next  day,  happening  to  go  into  Mr.  Dalton's  kitchen,  I 
there  saw  the  portmanteau  corded  up,  and  directed  ;  and,  on  questionino- 
tlie  servant  in  a  careless  manner  about  it,  he  informed  me  that  he  was  goin.cr 
to  carry  it  to  the  inn,  the  following  evening,  in  readiness  for  the  departure 
of  the  waggon.  Tlie  same  afternoon  it  happened  (which  was  a  most  for- 
tunate circumstance  for  me)  that  i\Ir.  Dalton  again  begged  of  me  to  put 
some  letters  in  the  post-office,  which  he  had  not  done  above  twice  or  thrice 
since  I  came  into  his  service.  Looking  at  these  letters,  I  saw,  to  my  sur- 
prise, another  addressed  to  Mr.  Lyne  as  before,  which,  eagerly  opening,  I 
found  was  to  mention  something  Mr.  Dalton  said  he  had  forgot  in  liis  letter 
of  the  preceding  day.  I  immediately  destroyed  this  second  letter,  which, 
had  it  come  to  hand,  might  have  frustrated  my  design, 

"  I  now  prepared  matters  for  eloping,  and  sent  off  the  remainder  of  mv 
effects  by  the  coach,  as  before ;  but  my  good  fortune  produced  another 
windfall,  of  which  I  had  no  expectation.  The  day  before  my  intended  de- 
parture, I  was  walking  in  the  Market-place  with  a  young  man,  who  was 
clerk  to  another  attorney  in  the  town  ;  and,  the  conversation  turning  upon 
watches,  my  companion  observed  that,  if  I  wished  to  purchase  one,  he 
would  introduce  me  to  a  maker  of  his  acquaintance,  who  would  use  me 
well  on  his  account.  I  took  him  at  his  word,  and  begged  he  would  imme- 
diately do  so.  We  were  then  within  a  few  doors  of  the  shop,  into  whicli 
we  entered  ;  and  I  perceived  over  the  window  in  large  characters,. '  Lum- 
ley  and  Gudgeon,  watchmakers.'  I  laughed  inwardly  at  the  singularity  of 
tlie  latter  name,  which  I  considered  ominous  of  my  success  in  the  imposi- 
tion I  meant  to  put  upon  him.  After  a  short  preliminary  conversation,  my 
acquaintance,  having  business  to  do,  took  his  leave,  and  Mr.  Gudgeon  him- 
self proceeded  to  show  me  several  watches.  I  informed  him  that  I  wished 
to  have  a  good  one,  but  my  circumstances  would  not  allow  me  to  go  to  a 
high  price.  Mr.  Gudgeon  assured  me  it  was  better  to  have  a  good  one  at 
once,  and  recommended  me  to  a  very  handsome  gilt  watch,  capped  and 
jewelled,  and  his  own  make,  which  he  said  he  could  warrant  to  perform 
well,  and  for  which  he  asked  me  eight  guineas,  I  replied  that,  as  my 
weekly  salary  from  JMr.  Dalton  was  but  one  pound,  I  could  not  afford  to 
give  so  much,  and  began  to  examine  others  of  a  cheaper  kind,  but  still  let- 
ting him  see  that  I  had  a  strong  inclination  for  the  one  he  had  recom- 
mended. This  induced  him  to  repeat  his  praises  of  the  latter,  and  to  press 
me  with  greater  energy  to  fix  upon  it.  I  at  length  (with  a  show  of  much 
reluctance)  suffered  rnyself  to  be  persuaded  ;  but  I  begged  leave  to  observe, 
that  as  I  was  influenced  in  evei-ything  by  the  advice  of  my  good  master, 
JMr.  Dalton,  I  would  not  venture  to  make  so  extensive  a  purcliase  without 
his  approbation  :  tliat,  if  he  would  tlierefore  entrust  me  with  the  watch, 
1  would  consult  Mr.  Dalton,   and  give   him    (Mr.  Gudgeon)   a  decisivo 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  493 

answer  tlie  next  morning  :  this  he  declared  himself  willing  to  do,  on  which 
I  took  both  the  watch  and  my  leave  together,  and  returned  home. 

"  The  next  morning  I  attended  tlie  office  as  usual,  but  of  course  took  no 
notice  to  Mr.  Dalton  of  the  affair  in  hand.  During  the  space  of  time  I 
allotted  myself  for  dinner,  I  again  called  on  Mr.  Gudgeon,  and  told  him 
that  I  would  keep  the  watch,  provided  he  should  receive  the  payment  by 
instalments,  as  I  could  not  afford  to  pay  the  whole  price  at  once.  I  there- 
ibre  ])roposed  to  give  him  the  ensuing  Saturday  one  or  two  guineas,  as  I 
should  find  most  convenient,  and  to  pay  him  half-a-guinea  a  week  after- 
wards, until  the  whole  was  liquidated.  To  this  he  readily  agreed,  and, 
having  fitted  a  key  to  the  watch,  he  begged  leave  to  show  me  some  chains 
and  seals.  Of  the  former  he  had  none  but  gilt  ones  :  I  selected  one  of  the 
neatest,  and  a  handsome  gold  seal,  I  then  desired  to  have  a  bill  of  parcels 
of  the  whole,  observing  that,  whenever  I  paid  a  sum  upon  account,  ]\Ir. 
Gudgeon  could  make  a  memorandum  of  it  at  the  bottom  by  way  of  receipt. 
Having  obtained  this,  I  departed,  promising  to  be  punctual  in  paying  my 
first  instalment  on  the  day  appointed.  This  took  place  on  Tuesday,  the 
portmanteau  being  now  on  its  way  to  London ;  and  the  same  evening  I 
quitted  my  lodgings  privately,  leaving  nothing  behind  but  a  trunk,  con- 
taining brick-bats  and  stones,  and  walked  by  moonlight  to  a  village  four 
miles  distant,  through  which  the  stage-coach  was  to  pass  next  morning  at 
seven  o'clock.  I  procured  some  supper  at  a  decent  public-house,  and  re- 
tired to  rest,  desiring  to  be  called  in  time  for  the  coach.  At  the  expected 
hour  the  stage  made  its  appearance,  in  which  I  seated  myself,  and  about 
eight  the  same  evening  arrived  at  the  Blue  Boar,  just  two  hours  after  the 
waggon,  which  I  perceived  standing  in  the  yard." 

He  received  the  portmanteau  with  little  difficulty,  and  having  disposed 
of  its  contents  in  various  ways,  lived  upon  the  produce  for  five  or  six 
weeks,  at  the  termination  of  which  he  thought  it  riglit  to  look  out  for  a 
new  situation.  He  found  one  in  the  office  of  Mr.  Preston,  solicitor;  ani 
with  the  imprudence  of  dishonest  persons,  entered  upon  it,  though  the  office 
was  next  door  to  Dalton  and  Edwards,  who  had  sent  him  down  to  Bury 
St.  Edmund's.  He  was  soon  recognised  by  a  clerk  of  Messrs.  Dalton  and 
Edwards,  and,  being  called  into  the  parlour  by  Mr.  Preston  one  morning, 
he  was  surprised  at  seeing  his  late  master,  who  snatched  the  watch  out  of 
his  fob,  and  promised  to  restore  it  to  the  owner.  Yaux  was  then  taken 
into  custody  ;  but  a  friend  of  his  grandfather  having  come  forward,  ani 
indemnified  Mr.  Dalton  for  his  loss,  he  was  suffered  to  go  at  large,  on  a 
promise  that  he  would  quit  London,  where  he  was  likely  to  come  to  dis- 
grace and  infamy,  and  endeavour  to  obtain  employment  in  the  country. 

The  country  had  no  charms  for  him,  however,  and  he  set  about  procur- 
ing a  situation  in  some  retail  shop  in  town,  for  the  sole  purpose  of  embez- 
zling the  receipts.  In  consequence  of  an  advertisement  in  a  newspaper, 
he  applied  to  a  J\Ir.  Gifford,  the  keeper  of  a  masquerade  warehouse,  and 
there  he  obtained  employment  upon  a  forged  representation  of  his  good 
character.  He  did  not  fail  at  this  place  in  collecting  a  good  booty,  and 
having  at  length,  by  means  of  stealing  goods  from  the  shop,  and  embez- 
zling mo  icy  which  he  had  received  on  his  master's  account,  secured  about 
sixty  pounds'  worth  of  property,  he  suddenly  absconded  and  commenced  a 
round  of  disslp  tion  and  gaiety.  He  had  been  at  large  scarcely  a  fortnight, 
however,  before  he  wa?  taken  into  custody  at  the  instance  of  his  late  master. 


494  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

and  ivpon  his  prosecution  was  committed  to  tlie  quarter  sessions,  but  there 
his  good  fortune  aided  him,  and  in  consequence  of  some  informality  in  the 
proceedings,  he  was  acquitted. 

Upon  a  second  appearance  at  tlie  same  har  he  was  not  quite  so  success- 
ful ;  and  it  appears  that  having  been  detected  in  the  act  of  picking  pocketf 
with  a  companion  named  Bromley,  tney  were  both  secured,  and  having 
been  convicted,  they  were  on  the  23rd  September,  1800,  sentenced  to 
seven  years'  transportation.  Vaux  was  sent  to  Port  Jackson  in  the 
following  ]May,  and  there  he  was  assigned  to  a  ]\Ir.  Baker,  a  store- keeper 
at  Hav%'kcsbury,  about  twenty-six  miles  from  Paramatta,  who  appointed 
liim  his  clerk.  In  consequence  of  his  good  conduct  during  the  ensuing 
three  years,  he  was  promoted  to  a  place  in  the  secretary's  office,  in  Sydney, 
but  there,  conspiring  with  his  fellows,  in  the  commission  of  various  frauds, 
he  was  discovered  and  sentenced  to  be  worked  in  a  road-gang.  During 
two  months  he  continued  in  Sydney  in  this  degraded  condition,  but  then 
he  was  drafted  to  Castle  Hill,  a  plantation  twenty-four  miles  in  the 
interior,  and  there,  after  about  ten  months'  service,  he  was  appointed 
clerk  to  the  superintendant  of  the  works.  Having  subsequently  served 
the  office  of  clerk  to  the  magistrates  at  Paramatta,  he  at  length,  on  the 
10th  February,  1807,  returned  to  England.  There  he  found  a  woeful 
change  haxl  taken  place,  his  father  and  his  grandmother  being  dead ;  and 
all  served  to  remind  him  of  the  sinful  course  of  life  he  had  led,  and  of  his 
fiillen  condition.  All  his  resolutions  against  returning  to  a  dishonest 
mode  of  living  were  however  unavailing,  and  at  length  he  became  a  pro- 
fessed and  a  professional  thief.  In  order  the  better  to  carry  on  his  new 
trade,  he  associated  himself  with  some  fellows  of  dissolute  habits,  but  at 
length  meeting  with  his  old  friend  Bromley,  he  resolved  to  quit  his  new 
companions  and  to  pursue  his  avocation  with  one  accomplice  only. 

In  reference  to  his  future  proceedings  he  says,  "  Having  withdrawn 
myself  from  my  late  companions,  I  now  became  very  circumspect  in  my 
proceedings  ;  and  as  Bromley  had  neither  the  appearance  nor  the  manners 
of  a  gentleman,  I  only  made  use  of  him  occasionally  in  the  course  of  my 
practice,  keeping  him  in  the  back-ground  to  receive  and  carry  any  articles 
which  I  purloined,  and  never  suffi^ring  him  to  converse  with  or  approach 
me,  except  in  private.  I  generally  spent  the  mornings,  that  is  from  about 
one  to  five  o'clock  p.  m.  (which  are  the  fashionable  hours  for  shopping)  in 
visiting  the  shops  of  jewellers,  watchmakers,  pawnbrokers,  &c.  Having 
conceived  hopes  that  this  species  of  robbery  would  turn  to  a  good  account, 
and  depending  upon  my  own  address  and  appearance,  I  determined  to 
make  a  circuit  of  the  town,  and  not  to  omit  a  single  shop  in  either  of  those 
branches  ;  and  this  scheme  I  actually  executed  so  fully,  that  I  believe  I 
did  not  leave  ten  shops  untried  in  all  London,  for  I  made  a  point  of  com- 
mencing every  day  in  a  certain  street,  and  going  regularly  through  it  on 
both  sides  of  the  way.  My  practice  was  to  enter  a  shop  and  request  to 
look  at  gold  seals,  chains,  brooches,  rings,  or  any  other  small  articles  of 
value  ;  and,  while  examining  them,  and  looking  the  shopkeeper  in  the 
face,  I  contrived  by  sleight  of  hand  to  conceal  two  or  tliree  (sometimes 
more)  in  the  sleeve  of  my  coat,  which  was  purposely  made  wide.  On  some 
occasions  I  purchased  a  trilling  article  to  save  appearances  ;  at  other  times 
I  took  a  card  of  the  shop,  promising  to  call  again  ;  and,  as  I  generally  saw 
the  remaining  goods  returned  to  the  window,  or  place  from  whence  they 


THE   NEW    NEWGAlli   CALENDAR.  495 

were  taken,  before  I  left  tlie  shop,  there  was  hardly  a  probability  of  my 
being  suspected,  or  of  the  property  being  missed.  In  the  course  of  my 
career  I  was  never  once  detected  in  the  fact,  though,  on  two  or  three  occa- 
sions so  much  suspicion  arose,  that  I  was  obliged  to  exert  all  my  effrontery 
and  to  use  very  high  language,  in  order,  as  the  cant  phrase  is,  to  bounce 
the  tradesman  out  of  it  ;  and  my  fashionable  appearance,  and  affected  anger 
at  his  insinuations,  had  always  the  effect  of  convincing  him  that  he  was 
mistaken,  and  inducing  him  to  apologise  for  the  affront  put  upon  me.  I 
have  even  sometimes  carried  away  the  spoil  notwithstanding  what  had 
passed  ;  and  I  have  often  gone  a  second  and  third  time  to  the  same  shop, 
with  as  good  success  as  at  the  first.  To  prevent  accidents,  however,  I 
made  it  a  rule  never  to  enter  a  second  shop  with  any  stolen  property 
about  me ;  for,  as  soon  as  I  quitted  the  first,  I  privately  conveyed  my 
booty  to  Bromley,  who  was  attending  my  motions  in  the  street,  and  herein 
I  found  him  eminently  useful.  By  this  course  of  depredation  I  acquired 
on  the  average  about  ten  pounds  a  week,  though  I  sometimes  neglected 
shopping  for  several  days  together.  This  was  not,  indeed,  the  only  pursuit 
I  followed,  but  was  my  principal  morning's  occupation;  though,  if  a 
favourable  opportunity  offered  of  getting  a  guinea  by  any  other  means,  I 
never  let  it  slip.  In  the  evenings  I  generally  attended  one  of  the  theatres, 
where  I  mixed  with  the  best  company  in  the  boxes,  and,  at  the  same  time 
that  I  enjoyed  the  amusements  of  the  place,  I  frequently  conveyed  pocket- 
books,  snuff-boxes,  and  other  portable  articles,  from  the  pockets  of  their 
proprietors  into  my  own.  Here  I  found  the  inconvenience  of  wanting  a 
suitable  companion,  who  might  have  received  the  articles  I  made  prize  of, 
in  the  same  manner  as  Bromley  did  in  the  streets ;  but  though  I  knew 
many  of  the  light-fingered  gentry,  whose  appearance  fitted  them  for  my 
company,  yet,  their  faces  being  well  known  to  the  police-officers,  who 
attended  the  theatres,  they  would  not  have  been  suffered  to  enter  the 
hciise  :  and  herein  I  possessed  an  advantage  which  many  of  these  gentry 
envied  me  ;  for  being  just  arrived  in  England,  and  a  new  face  upon  the 
town,  I  carried  on  my  depredations  under  the  very  noses  of  the  officers 
without  suspicion.  Having,  therefore,  at  first  no  associate,  I  was  obliged 
to  quit  the  theatre,  and  conceal  my  first  booty  in  some  private  spot, 
before  I  could  make  (with  prudence)  a  second  attempt.  Upon  the  whole, 
I  v^ras  very  successful  in  this  pursuit  also,  at  least  as  to  the  number  of 
articles  I  filched  ;  and  had  their  value  been  reasonably  proportionate  to 
what  I  expected,  I  need  not  long  have  followed  so  hazardous  an  employ- 
ment. I  have  very  frequently  obtained  nine  or  ten  pocket-books,  besides 
other  articles  in  an  evening ;  and,  these  being  taken  from  gentlemen 
evidently  of  fortune  and  fashion,  I  had  reason  to  expect  I  should  some 
time  meet  with  a  handsome  sum  in  bank-notes  :  but  fortune  did  not 
favour  me  therein,  for,  during  near  twelve  months'  almost  nightly  attend  • 
ance  at  one  or  other  of  the  public  places,  I  never  found  more  than  twenty 
pounds  in  a  book,  and  that  only  on  one  occasion.  I  several  times  got  five, 
ten,  or  eleven  pounds,  but  commonly  one,  two,  or  three  pounds;  and  most 
generally  four  books  out  of  five  contained  nothing  but  letters,  memoran- 
dums, and  other  papers  useless  to  me.  At  the  same  time  I  knew  frequent 
instances  of  the  common  street  pickpockets  getting  a  booty  of  fifty,  one 
hundred,  and  sometimes  three  or  four  hundred  pounds.  However,  I  never 
failed  to  pay  the  expenses  of  the  niglit ;  and  if  I  gainvd  nothing,  I  enjoyt  d 


496  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

at  least  a  fund  of  amusement,  wliich  was  to  me  the  higliest  gratilication. 
It  sometimes  happened  that  the  articles  I  got  (particularly  pocket-books) 
were  advertised  by  the  losers,  within  a  few  days,  as  "  Lost,"  and  a  reward 
offered  for  their  restoration  :  where  this  reward  was  worth  notice,  I  fre- 
quently restored  ttie  property  by  means  of  a  third  person  whom  I  could 
confide  in,  and  whom  I  previously  tutored  for  the  purpose. 

"  In  the  mean  time,  the  manner  in  which  I  spent  my  life,  abstracted 
from  the  disgraceful  means  by  which  I  supported  myself,  was  (as  I  have 
formerly  hinted)  perfectly  regular  and  inoffensive.  Tliough  I  lived  by 
de})redation,  yet  I  did  not,  like  the  abandoned  class  of  common  thieves., 
waste  my  money  and  leisure  time  in  profligate  debauchery,  but  applied 
myself  to  the  perusal  of  instructive  and  amusing  books,  my  stock  of  which 
I  daily  increased.  I  occupied  genteel  apartments  in  a  creditable  house,  the 
landlord  of  which  understood  me  to  hold  a  situation  under  goA'ernment ; 
and  every  part  of  my  conduct  at  home  tended  to  confirm  his  opinion  of  my 
respectability.  I  was  scrupulously  exact  in  paying  my  rent,  as  well  as 
the  different  tradesmen  in  the  neighbourhood  with  whom  I  had  occasion 
to  deal ;  nor  did  I  ever  suffer  any  person  of  loose  character  to  visit  me,  but 
studiously  concealed  from  those  of  my  acquaintance  my  place  of  residence. 
I  was  sometimes,  indeed,  so  imprudent  as  to  resort,  for  company's  sake,  to 
some  of  those  public-houses  frequented  by  thieves  and  other  dissolute 
characters,  the  landlord  of  which  is  himself  commonly  an  experienced  thief, 
or  returned  transport.  When  I  had  a  mind  to  relax  a  little,  or  grew  tired 
of  domestication,  I  disguised  my  appearance  as  much  as  I  could,  and  re- 
paired to  a  house  of  this  description,  sometimes  taking  my  Dulcinea  with 
lae,  whom  I  shall  shortly  introduce  to  the  reader,  and  whose  person  and 
dress  I  was  not  a  little  proud  of  exhibiting  in  public.  This  fondness  for 
liash-houses,  as  they  are  termed,  is  the  rock  on  which  most  persons  who 
live  by  depredation  unhappily  split,  and  will  be  found  in  the  sequel  to 
have  brought  me  to  my  present  deplorable  condition  ;  for  the  police-oflBcers, 
or  traps,  are  in  the  daily  habit  of  visiting  these  houses,  where  they  drink 
with  the  thieves,  &c.,  in  the  most  familiar  manner  ;  and,  I  believe,  often 
obtain  secret  information  by  various  means  from  some  parties  respecting 
the  names,  characters,  pursuits,  &c.,  of  others.  By  this  imprudent  con- 
duct I  also  became  personally  known  to  many  of  the  officers,  which  was 
jiroductive  of  great  danger  to  me  in  the  exercise  of  my  vocation  ;  whereas, 
liad  I  avoided  such  houses,  I  might  have  remained  unknown  and  unsus- 
pected by  them  for  a  series  of  years." 

The  Dulcinea  alluded  to  above  was  an  unhappy  girl  of  the  town,  whom 
he  took  into  keeping,  and  afterwards  married.  This  poor  creature  behaved 
to  him  in  the  most  exemplary  manner,  and  proved  by  her  conduct  that  she 
was  worthy  of  a  better  fate. 

Going  one  day  to  a  public  meeting  at  the  Mermaid  Tavern,  Hackney, 
he  picked  a  gentleman's  pocket  of  a  silver  snuft-box,  which  he  handed  to 
the  landlady.  The  box  was  missed  by  the  owner,  and  on  Vaux  claiming 
it,  he  was  taken  into  custody ;  but  such  is  the  glorious  uncertainty  of  the 
law,  that  he  was  acquitted  on  his  trial,  contrary  to  his  own  exi)ectation. 

"  The  next  adventure,"  says  Yaux,  "  I  shall  have  occasion  to  relate,  more 
fully  confirms  tlie  justice  of  the  remark,  that  the  connexions  formed  by 
persons  during  temporary  confinement  in  a  gaol  commonly  lead  to  further 
acts  of  wickedness,  and  frequently   entuil  on  the  parties  a  more  severe 


Q^Z^^y  l-^yUia^^t 


I>-^d'6 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  497 

piinisliment  than  that  wliicli  they  have  just  escaped.  This  was  exactly 
my  unhappy  case,  and  I  now  come  to  tlie  most  fatal  era  of  my  eventful 
life. 

"  In  the  same  ward  with  myself  were  confined  two  brothers,  very  gen- 
teel young  men,  who  had  been  recently  cast  for  death  for  privately  stealing 
some  valuable  rings,  &c.,  from  the  shop  of  a  jeweller  in  Leadenhall  Street. 
As  a  conformity  of  character,  or  similarity  of  pursuits,  is  the  strongest 
source  of  friendship,  so  these  persons  and  myself  had  become  very  inti- 
mately acquainted.  In  the  course  of  our  fi-equent  conversations  on  the  sub- 
ject with  which  we  were  all  three  alike  most  conversant,  the  brothers 
informed  me  that  they  had,  like  myself,  made  a  successful  tour  of  the 
jewellers'  shops  in  London  :  and  on  our  comparing  notes  as  to  the  parti- 
cular persons  we  had  robbed,  or  attempted  to  rob,  they  pointed  out  about 
half-a-dozen  shops,  which,  it  appeared,  I  had  omitted  to  visit,  arising  either 
from  their  making  no  display  of  their  goods,  or  from  their  being  situated 
in  private  streets,  where  I  had  no  idea  of  finding  any  such  trades.  Though 
at  that  time  neither  they  nor  myself  entertained  nmch  hope  of  my  acquittal, 
it  was  agreed  that,  in  the  event  of  my  being  so  fortunate  as  to  recover  my 
freedom,  I  should  pay  my  respects  to  the  several  tradesmen  I  had  so  over- 
looked ;  and  I  promised,  in  case  I  was  successful,  to  make  them  a  pecu- 
niary acknowledgment  in  return  for  their  information.  At  tlie  moment 
of  my  joyful  departure  from  Newgate,  they  accordingly  furnished  me  with 
a  list  of  the  shops  in  question,  and  gave  me  full  instructions  and  useful 
hints  for  my  guidance  therein.  They  particularly  pointed  out  a  Mr.  Bilger, 
a  goldsmith  and  jeweller  of  the  first  eminence  in  Piccadilly.  This  gentle- 
man, they  assured  me,  I  should  find,  in  the  technical  phrase,  ^  good  fiat. 
They  advised  me  to  bespeak  a  diamond  ring,  or  similar  article,  and  to  re- 
quest a  sight  of  some  loose  diamonds,  for  the  purpose  of  selecting  such 
stones  as  I  might  wish  to  have  set,  informing  me  that  he  was  generally 
provided  with  a  large  quantity,  which  he  would  not  fail  to  show  me,  and 
that  I  might  with  ease  purloin  a  good  number  of  them.  A  day  or  two 
after  my  release  I  made  the  prescribed  experiments,  and  was  fortunate 
enough  to  succeed  pretty  well  at  nearly  every  shop  ;  but  I  reserved  Mr. 
Bilger  for  my  final  essay,  as  he  was  the  principal  object  of  consideration, 
and  from  whom  I  expected  to  obtain  the  most  valuable  booty.  On  the 
day  se'nnight  after  my  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey,  I  prepared  in  due  form  to 
pay  him  a  visit.  About  five  o'clock  in  the  evening  I  entered  his  shop, 
dressed  in  the  most  elegant  style,  having  a  valuable  gold  watch  and  appen- 
dages, a  gold  eye-glass,  &c.  I  had  posted  my  old  friend  and  aid-de- 
camp, Bromley,  at  the  door,  in  order  to  be  in  readiness  to  act  as 
circumstances  might  require,  and  particularly  to  watch  the  motions 
of  Mr.  Bilger  and  his  assistants  on  my  quitting  the  premises.  On 
my  entrance  IMrs.  Bilger  issued  from  a  back  parlour  behind  the  shop, 
and,  politely  inquiring  my  business,  I  told  her  I  wished  to  see  Mr.  Bilger; 
she  immediately  rang  a  bell,  which  brought  down  her  husband  from  the 
upper  apartments.  He  saluted  me  with  a  low  bow,  and  handed  me  a  seat. 
I  was  glad  to  find  no  other  person  in  the  shop,  Mrs.  Bilger  having  again 
retired.  I  now  assumed  the  air  of  a  Bond  Street  lounger,  and  informed 
Mr.  Bilger  that  I  had  been  recommended  by  a  gentleman  of  my  acquaint- 
ance to  deal  with  him,  having  occasion  for  a  very  elegant  diamond  ring, 
and  requested  to  see  his  assortment.      Mr.  Bilger  expressed  his  concern 

VOL.  I.  3  s 


498  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

that  he  happened  not  to  have  a  single  article  of  that  description  by  him, 
but,  if  I  could  without  inconvenience  call  again,  he  would  undertake  in 
one  hour  to  procure  me  a  selection  from  his  working  jeweller,  to  whom  he 
would  immediately  despatch   a  messenger.     I  affected  to   feel  somewhat 
di;<appointed,  but  looking  at  my  watch,  after  a  moment's  reflection,  I  said, 
'  Well,  ]\Ir.  Bilger,  I  have  an  appointment  at  the  Cannon  Coffee-house, 
which  requires  my  attendance,  and  if  you  will  without  fail  have  the  articles 
ready,  I  may  probably  look  in  a  little  after  six.'      This  he  promised  faith- 
fully to  do,  declaring  how  much  he  felt  obliged  by  my  condescension  ;  and 
I  sauntered  out  of  the  shop,  Mr.  Bilger  attending  me  in  tiie  most  obsequious 
manner  to  the  outer  door.     After  walking  a  short  distance,  Bromley  tap- 
ped me  on  the  shoulder,   and  inquired  what  conduct    I   meant  next  to 
pursue ;  for  he  had  viewed  my  proceedings  through  a  glass-door  in  the 
shop,  and  saw  that  I  had  not  executed  my  grand  design.     I  related  to 
Bromley  the  result  of  my  conversation  with  Mr.  Bilger,  and  added  that  I 
meant  to  retire  to  the  nearest  public-house,  where  we  could  enjoy  a  pipe 
and  a  glass  of  negus  until  the  expiration  of  the  hour,  to  which  I  had 
limited  myself.     We  accordingly  regaled  ourselves  at  a  very  snug  house, 
nearly  opposite  Bilger's,  until  about  half-past  six,  when  I  again  repaired 
to  the  scene  of  action,  leaving   Bromley,  as  at  first,  posted  at  the   door. 
Mr.   Bilker  received  me  with  increased  respect,  and,  producing  a  small 
card  box,  expressed  his  sorrow  that  his  workmen  had  only  been  enabled  to 
send  three  rings  for  my  inspection  ;  but  that,  if  they  were  not  to  my  taste, 
he  should  feel  honoured  and  obliged  in  taking  my  directions  for  having  one 
made,  and  flattered  himself  he  should  execute  the  order  to  my  satisfaction. 
I  proceeded  to  examine  the  rings  he  produced,  one  of  which  was  marked 
sixteen  guineas,  another  nine  guineas,  and  the  third  six  guineas.     They 
were  all  extremely  beautiful ;  but  I  affected  to  consider  them  as  too  paltry, 
telling  Mr.  Bilger  that   I   wanted  one  to   present  to   a  lady,  and  that  I 
wished  to  have  a  ring  of  greater  value  than  the  whole  three  put  together, 
as  a  few  guineas  would  not  be  an  object  in  the  price.     Mr.  Bilger's  son, 
who  was  also  his  partner,  now  joined  us,  and  was  desired  by  his  father  to 
sketch  a  draught  in  pencil  of  some  fancy  rings,  agreeable  to  the  directions 
I  should  give  him.     The  three  rings  I  had  viewed  were  now  removed  to 
the  end  of  the  counter  next  the  window,  and  I  informed  the  young  man 
that  I  wished  to  have   something  of  a  cluster,  a  large  brilliant  in  the  cen- 
tre, surrounded  with  smaller  ones  ;  but  repeated  my  desire  that  no  expense 
might  be  spared  to  render  the  article  strictly  elegant,  and  worthy  a  lady's 
acceptance.     The  son  having  sketched  a  design  of  several  rings  on  a  card, 
I  examined  them  with  attention,  and  appeared  in  doubt  which  to  prefer, 
but  desired  to  see  some   loose   diamonds,  in  order  to  form  a  better  idea  of 
the  size,  &c.  of  each  ring  described  in  the  drawing.     Mr.  Bilger,  however, 
declared  he  had  not  any  by  him.     It  is  probable  he  spoke  the  truth  :  or 
he  might  have  lost  such  numbers  by  showing  them,  as  to  deter  him  from 
exliibiting  them  in  future.     Without  having  made  up  my  mind  on  the 
subject,  I  now  requested  to  see  some  of  his  most  fashionable  brooches  or 
shirt-pins.     Mr.    Bilger  produced  a  show-glass,  containing  a  variety  of 
articles  in  pearl,  but  he  had  nothing  of  the  kind  in  diamonds.     I  took  up 
two  or  three  of  the  brooches,  and  immediately  sunk  a  very  handsome  one, 
marked  three  guineas,  in  my   coat   sleeve.     I  next  purloined  a  beautiful 
clasp  for  a  lady's  waist,  consisting  of  stones  set  in  gold,  which  had  the 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  499 

brilliancy  and  appearance  of  real  diamonds,  but  marked  only  four  guineas. 
I  should  probably  have  gone  still  deeper,  but  at  this  moment  a  lady, 
coming  in,  desired  to  look  at  some  ear-rings,  and  the  younger  Mr.  Bilger 
immediately  quitted  his  father  to  attend  upon  her  at  the  other  end  of  the 
shop.  It  struck  me  that  now  was  my  time  for  a  decisive  stroke.  The 
card  containing  the  diamond  rings,  procured  from  the  maker,  lying  very 
near  the  show-glass  I  was  viewing,  and  many  small  articles  irregularly 
placed  round  about  them,  tlie  candles  not  throwing  much  light  upon  that 
particular  spot,  and  Mr.  Bilger's  attention  being  divided  between  myself 
and  the  lady,  to  whom  he  frequently  addressed  himself,  I  suddenly  took 
the  three  rings  from  the  card,  and  committed  tliem  to  my  sleeve  to  join  the 
brooch  and  lady's  clasp ;  but  had  them  so  situated  that  I  could  in  a  mo- 
ment have  released  and  replaced  them  on  the  counter,  had  an  inquiry  been 
made  for  them.  I  then  looked  at  my  watch,  and,  observing  that  I  was  going 
to  the  theatre,  told  Mr.  Bilger  that  I  would  not  trouble  him  any  further, 
as  the  articles  before  me  were  too  tawdry  and  common  to  please  me,  but  that 
1  would  put  the  card  of  draughts  in  my  pocket-book  ;  and,  if  I  did  not  meet 
with  a  ring  of  the  kind  I  wanted  before  Monday  or  Tuesday,  I  would 
certainly  call  again  and  give  him  final  directions.  I  was  then  drawing  on 
my  gloves,  being  anxious  to  quit  the  shop  while  I  was  well ;  but  Mr. 
Bilger,  who  seemed  delighted  with  the  prospect  of  my  custom,  begged  .so 
earnestly  that  I  would  allow  him  to  show  me  his  brilliant  assortment  of 
gold  watches  that  I  could  not  refuse  to  gratify  him,  though  I  certainly 
incurred  a  great  risk  by  my  compliance.  I  therefore  answered,  '  Really, 
Mr.  Bilger,  I  am  loath  to  give  you  that  unnecessary  trouble,  as  I  have, 
you  may  perceive,  a  very  good  watch  already,  in  point  of  performance, 
though  it  cost  me  a  mere  trifle — only  twenty  guineas ;  but  it  answers  my 
purpose  as  well  as  a  more  valuable  one.  However,  as  I  may  probably, 
before  long,  want  an  elegant  watch  for  a  lady,  I  don't  care  if  I  just  run 
my  eye  over  them.'  Mr.  Bilger  replied  that  the  greater  part  of  his  stock 
were  fancy  watches,  adapted  for  ladies  ;  and  he  defied  all  London  united 
to  exhibit  a  finer  collection.  He  then  took  from  his  window  a  show -glass, 
containing  about  thirty  most  beautiful  watches,  some  ornamented  with 
pearls  or  diamonds,  others  elegantly  enamelled,  or  chased  in  the  most  deli- 
cate style.  They  were  of  various  prices,  from  thirty  to  one  hundred 
guineas ;  and  the  old  gentleman  rubbing  his  hands  with  an  air  of  rapture, 
exclaimed,  '  There  they  are,  sir  ;  a  most  fashionable  assortment  of  goods ; 
allow  me  to  recommend  them,  they're  all  a-going,  sir — all  a-going.'  I 
smiled  inwardly  at  the  latter  part  of  this  speech,  and  thought  to  myself, 
'  I  wish  they  were  going,  with  all  my  heart,  along  with  the  diamond 
rings.'  I  answered  they  were  certainly  very  handsome,  but  I  would  defer 
a  minute  inspection  of  them  till  my  next  visit,  when  I  should  have  more 
time  to  spare.  These  watches  were  ranged  in  exact  order,  in  five  parallel 
lines  ;  and  between  each  watch  was  placed  a  gold  seal  or  other  trinket 
appertaining  to  a  lady's  watch.  It  was  no  easy  matter,  therefore,  to  take 
away  a  single  article  without  its  being  instantly  missed,  unless  the  econo- 
my of  the  whole  had  been  previously  deranged.  I  contrived,  however,  to 
displace  a  few  of  the  trinkets,  on  pretence  of  admiring  them,  and  ventured 
to  secrete  one  very  rich  gold  seal,  marked  six  guineas.  I  then  declared  I 
could  stay  no  longer,  as  I  had  appointed  to  meet  a  party  at  the  theatre ; 
but  that  I  Would   certainly  call  again  in   a  few  days,  and  lay  out  some 


500  THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

money  in  return  for  the  trouble  I  had  given.  Mr.  Bilger  expressed  his 
thanks  in  the  most  respectful  terms,  and  waited  upon  me  to  the  door, 
where  he  took  leave  of  me  with  a  very  low  conge,  a  la  mode  de  France,  of 
which  country  he  was  a  native.  I  now  put  the  best  foot  foremost,  and 
having  gained  a  remote  street,  turned  my  head,  and  perceived  Bromley  at 
my  heels,  who  seized  my  hand,  congratulating  me  on  my  success,  and 
complimenting  me  on  the  address  I  had  shown  in  this  exploit ;  for  he  had 
witnessed  all  that  passed,  and  knew  that  I  had  succeeded  in  my  object,  by 
the  manner  in  which  I  quitted  the  shop.  He  informed  me  that  Mr.  Bilger 
had  returned  to  his  counter,  and,  without  attending  to  the  arrangement  of 
the  articles  thereon,  had  joined  his  son,  who  was  still  waiting  upon 
the  lady,  and  that  he,  Bromley,  had  finally  left  them  both  engaged  with 
her." 

Such  was  his  rapacity,  that  he  renewed  his  visit  to  Mr.  Bilgers  shop ; 
but  the  reception  he  met  satisfied  him  that  he  was  suspected.  He,  how- 
ever, left  an  order  for  a  splendid  ring  ;  and,  while  the  jev^-eller's  sou,  as 
Vaux  thought,  was  taking  down  his  directions,  he  was  only  writing  a 
description  of  his  person,  and  a  handbill  in  a  few  days  was  widely  circu- 
lated amono-  the  pawnbrokers,  peace-officers,  &c.  A  day  or  two  after 
Vaux  called  at  Turner's — a  pawnbroker,  in  Brydges  Street,  Covent  Garden 
— to  redeem  some  article  he  had  pledged,  when  he  saw  such  manoeuvres 
in  the  shop  as  induced  him  to  make  a  precipitate  retreat,  and  go  into 
concealment. 

At  lenoth,  "  necessity,"  as  he  says  himself,  forced  him  out ;  and,  the  first 
niorht,  he  stole,  from  a  shop  in  Ludgate  Street,  property  to  the  amount  of 
four  or  five  pounds,  with  which  he  was  so  much  pleased  that  he  returned 
for  his  wife,  and  took  her  out  to  walk.  Contrary  to  her  earnest  remon- 
strance, they  went  to  a  flash-house,  near  Clare  Market,  where  the  landlord 
betrayed  him  into  the  hands  of  justice,  and  he  was  hurried  ofl:'  to  the 
watch-house.  Next  day  he  underwent  an  examination  at  Bow  Street,  and 
was  remanded.  During  the  interval  between  his  first  and  second  appear- 
ance he  had  completely  metamorphosed  his  person  by  cutting  his  hair  and 
whiskers,  and  putting  on  a  mean  suit  of  clothes.  But  all  would  not  do ; 
he  was  recognised  through  his  disguise,  and  fully  committed.  His  trial 
came  on  at  the  Old  Bailey,  February  the  loth,  1809,  and,  the  facts  being 
sworn  to,  he  was  found  guilty — death.  His  sentence  was  afterwards 
commuted  to  transportation  for  life,  preparatory  to  which  he  was  conveyed 
on  board  the  Retribution  hulk  at  Woolwich. 

"  I  had  now,"  says  Vaux,  "  a  new  scene  of  misery  to  contemplate  ;  and, 
of  all  the  shocking  scenes  I  had  ever  beheld,  this  was  the  most  distressing. 
There  were  confined  in  this  floating  dungeon  nearly  six  hundred  men,  most 
of  them  double-ironed,  and  the  reader  may  conceive  the  horrible  eflPects 
arisino-  from  the  continual  rattling  of  chains,  the  filth  and  vermin  naturally 
produced  by  such  a  crowd  of  miserable  inhabitants,  the  oaths  and  execra- 
tions constantly  heard  among  them  ;  and,  above  all,  from  the  shocking 
necessity  of  associating  and  communicating  more  or  less  with  so  depraved 
a  set  of  beings.  On  arriving  on  board,  we  were  all  immediately  stripped, 
and  washed  in  large  tubs  of  water ;  then,  after  putting  on  eacli  a  suit  of 
coarse  slop  clothing,  we  were  ironed,  and  sent  below,  our  own  clothes  being 
taken  from  us,  and  detained  till  we  could  sell  or  otherwise  dispose  of  them, 
as  no  person  is  exempted  from  the  obligation  to  wear  the  ship-dress.     On 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  501 

descending  the  hatchway,  no  conception  can  he  formed  of  the  scene  wliich 
presented  itself,  I  shall  not  attempt  to  descrihe  it ;  hut  nothing  short  ol 
a  descent  to  the  infernal  regions  can  be  at  all  worthy  of  a  comparison  with 
it.  I  soon  met  with  many  of  my  old  Botany  Bay  acquaintances,  who  were 
all  eager  to  offer  me  their  friendship  and  services, — that  is,  with  a  view  to 
rol)  me  of  what  little  I  had  ;  for  in  this  place  there  is  no  other  motive  or 
subject  for  ingenuity.  All  former  friendships  or  connexions  are  dissolved, 
and  a  man  here  will  rob  his  best  benefactor,  or  even  messmate,  of  an  article 
worth  one  halfpenny.  Every  morning,  at  seven  o'clock,  all  the  convicts 
capable  of  work,  or,  in  fact,  all  who  are  capable  of  getting  into  the  boats, 
are  taken  ashore  to  the  Warren,  in  wliich  the  Royal  Arsenal  and  other 
public  buildings  are  situated,  and  are  there  employed  at  various  kinds  of 
labour,  some  of  them  very  fatiguing ;  and,  while  so  employed,  each  gang 
of  sixteen  or  twenty  men  is  watched  and  directed  by  a  fellow  called  a  guard. 
These  guards  are  most  commonly  of  tiie  lowest  class  of  human  beings; 
wretches  devoid  of  all  feeling  ;  ignorant  in  the  extreme ;  brutal  by  nature, 
and  rendered  tyrannical  and  cruel  by  the  consciousness  of  the  power  they 
possess  :  no  others,  but  such  as  I  have  described,  would  hold  the  situation, 
their  v/ages  being  not  more  than  a  day-labourer  would  earn  in  London. 
Tiiey  invariably  carry  a  large  and  ponderous  stick,  with  which,  without 
the  smallest  provocation,  they  will  fell  an  unfortunate  convict  to  the  ground, 
and  frequently  repeat  their  blows  long  after  the  poor  sufferer  is  insensible. 
At  noon  the  working  party  return  on  board  to  dinner,  and  at  one  again  go 
on  shore,  where  they  labour  till  near  sun-set.  On  returning  on  board  in  the 
evening,  all  hands  are  mustered  by  a  roll,  and  the  wliole  being  turned  down 
below,  the  hatches  are  put  over  them,  and  secured  for  the  night.  As  to 
the  food,  the  stipulated  ration  is  very  scanty,  but  of  even  part  of  that  they 
are  defrauded.  Their  provisions,  being  sujiplied  by  contrnctors,  and  not 
by  government,  are  of  the  worst  kind,  such  as  would  not  be  considered 
eatable  or  wholesome  elsewhere  ;  and  both  the  weight  and  measure  are 
always  deficient.  The  allowance  of  bread  is  said  to  be  about  twenty  ounces 
per  day.  Three  days  in  the  week  they  have  about  four  ounces  of  cheese 
for  dinner,  and  the  other  four  days  a  pound  of  beef.  The  break fjist  is 
invariably  boiled  barley,  of  the  coarsest  kind  imaginable;  and  of  this  the 
pigs  of  the  hulk  come  in  for  a  third  part,  because  it  is  so  nauseous  that 
nothing  but  downright  hunger  will  enable  a  man  to  eat  it.  For  supper, 
they  have,  on  banyan  days,  burgoo,  of  as  good  a  quality  as  the  barley, 
and  which  is  similarly  disposed  of;  and  on  meat  days,  the  water  in  which 
the  beef  was  boiled  is  thickened  with  barley,  and  forms  a  mess  called 
'  smiggins,'  of  a  more  detestable  nature  than  either  of  the  two  former! 
The  reader  may  conceive  that  I  do  not  exaggerate  vi^hen  I  state  that  among 
the  convicts  the  common  price  of  these  several  eatables  is, — for  a  day's 
allowance  of  beef,  one  halfpenny  ; — ditto,  of  cheese,  one  halfpenny ; — ditto, 
of  bread,  three-halfpence  ;  but  the  cheese  is  most  commonly  so  bad  that 
they  throw  it  away.  It  is  manufactured,  I  believe,  of  skimmed  milk,  for 
this  particular  contract.  The  beef  generally  consists  of  old  bulls  or  cows 
who  have  died  of  age  or  famine  ;  the  least  trace  of  fat  is  considered  a 
phenomenon,  and  it  is  far  inferior  upon  the  whole  to  good  horse-flesh.  I  once 
saw  the  prisoners  throw  the  whole  day's  supply  overboard  the  moment  it 
was  hoisted  out  of  the  boat,  and  for  this  offence  they  were  severely  flogged. 
The  friends  of  these  uuhappy  persons  are  not  allowed  to  come  on  board. 


502  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

but  must  remain  alongside  during  their  visit ;  the  prisoners  are,  it  is  tru(\ 
suffered  to  go  into  their  boat,  but  a  guard  is  placed  within  hearing  of  their 
conversation  ;  and  if  a  friend  or  parent  has  come  one  hundred  miles,  they 
are  not  allowed  above  ten  minutes'  interview  :  so  that,  instead  of  consola- 
tion, the  visit  only  excites  regret  at  the  parties  being  so  suddenly  torn  asunder. 
All  letters,  too,  written  by  prisoners,  must  be  delivered  unsealed  to  the 
chief  mate  for  his  inspection,  before  they  are  sent  ashore  ;  and  such  as  he 
thinks  obnoxious  are  of  course  suppressed.  In  like  manner,  all  letters 
received  from  the  post-office  are  opened  and  scrutinised.  If  I  were  to  attempt 
a  full  desciption  of  the  miseries  endured  in  these  ships,  I  could  fill  a  volume; 
but  I  shall  sum  up  all  by  stating  that  besides  robbery  from  each  other, 
which  is  as  common  as  cursing  and  swearing,  I  witnessed  among  the  pri- 
soners themselves,  during  the  twelvemonth  I  remained  with  them,  one  deli- 
berate murder,  for  which  the  perpetrator  was  executed  at  Maidstone,  and 
one  suicide  ;  and  that  unnatural  crimes  are  openly  committed." 

From  the  misery  of  the  hulks  he  was  removed  on  the  15th  of  June  1810, 
for  the  second  time,  to  Botany  Bay.  His  wife,  who  had  all  along  mani- 
fested the  utmost  attention,  was  prevented  by  a  succession  of  unfortunate 
circumstances  from  seeing  him  previous  to  his  departure  ;  nor  does  it  appear 
that  he  knew  what  become  of  her  afterwards.  On  the  16th  of  the  folio w- 
ino-  December,  the  transport  arrived  at  Sydney  Cove,  where  Vaux  found 
that  the  report  of  his  exploits  in  London  had  preceded  him.  He  endea- 
voured to  make  interest  with  the  governor,  in  the  hope  of  being  employed 
as  a  clerk ;  but  this  being  his  second  visit,  he  was  listened  to  with  distrust, 
and  was  sent  up  the  country  to  a  settler,  who  used  him  with  great  bar- 
barity. To  escape  from  this  tyranny  Vaux  feigned  himself  sick,  and  thus 
procured  his  removal  to  the  hospital,  from  which  he  was  discljarged  in  a 
month,  and  appointed  overseer  to  a  town  gang.  He  now  resolved  to  lead 
a  correct  life,  and  establish,  if  possible,  a  character  for  himself,  seeing,  as 
he  says,  the  necessity  of  good  conduct,  from  the  consequences  that  invari- 
ably attend  on  an  improper  one.  If  we  believe  him,  he  adhered  firmly 
to  his  vows  of  rectitude ;  but  his  notorious  character  operated  against  him, 
and  he  fell  a  victim  to  prejudice  and  tlie  depravity  of  a  youth,  who  was  a 
veteran  in  iniquity.  This  young  villain's  name  was  Edwards.  He  was 
servant  to  Mr.  Bent  the  judge-advocate,  from  whom  he  purloined  bills  and 
money,  Vaux,  suspecting  his  dishonesty,  warned  him  of  his  danger  ;  but 
the  artful  thief  accounted  for  his  being  so  flush  in  money  by  the  presents 
he  was  in  the  habit  of  receiving  from  his  master's  visitors. 

One  evening  he  came  running  into  Vaux's  lodgings,  and  requested  of  him 
to  keep  some  articles  and  parcels  which  he  put  into  his  hand.  Vaux  at 
first  refused,  but  was  ultimately  prevailed  on  to  keep  thtm  for  a  few 
minutes.  Edwards  had  scarcely  departed  when  lie  thought  he  did  wrong, 
and  acquainted  his  landlord  witli  the  transaction.  That  person  desired  him 
to  go  immediately  and  deliver  the  property  up  to  the  judge-advocate  in  a 
public  manner,  as  tlie  only  way  left  him  to  escape  being  implicated  with 
Edwards,  and  with  this  advice  Vaux  resolved  to  comply,  but  having 
stopped  first  to  smoke  a  pipe,  before  he  had  finished  it,  two  officers  entered 
and  apprehended  him.  His  conduct  was  open,  and  his  landlord  deposed 
in  his  favour ;  but  Edwards  accused  him,  in  revenge  for  giving  up  the 
property,  of  being  an  accomplice,  and  he  was  finally  banished  to  the  Coal 
River,  where  he  "continued  doing  all  kind  of  work  for  two  years,  after 


TnE    NF.W    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  503 

which  he  was  permitted  to  return  to  Sydney,  where  he  was  once  more 
placed  in  the  town-j^ang. 

Again  he  renewed  his  vows  of  rectitude,  but  was  unable  to  obtain  any 
station  less  degrading  than  the  one  in  which  he  was  placed.  Tlie  picture 
before  him  was  disheartening  in  the  extreme — an  exile  for  life — and  com- 
pelled to  labour  at  the  basest  and  lowest  employment  of  mankind.  A 
British  sailor  took  compassion  on  him  and  offered,  in  1814,  to  conceal  him 
in  his  vessel,  until  she  should  sail,  and  he  embraced  the  generous  proposal ; 
but  after  lying  close  and  undiscovered  for  four  days,  some  one  on  board 
gave  information,  and  the  unfortunate  wretch  was  dragged  ashore, punished 
with  fifty  lashes,  and  sentenced  to  transportation  to  the  Coal  River  for  one 
year. 

"  In  a  few  days,"  says  he  in  his  Memoirs,  "  I  was  accordingly  embarked 
with  eleven  other  prisoners,  and  a  second  time  landed  at  Newcastle,  frcm 
whence  I  had  been  absent  nearly  twelve  months.  On  my  arrival,  it  hap- 
pened that  the  storekeeper  of  that  settlement  was  in  want  of  a  clerk,  and 
ho  applying  to  the  commandant  for  me,  I  was  appointed  to  that  situation, 
in  which  I  still  continue ;  and  having  scrupulously  adhered  to  my  former 
vows  of  rectitude,  and  used  every  exertion  to  render  myself  serviceable  to 
my  employer,  and  to  merit  his  good  opinion  as  well  as  that  of  the  com- 
mandant, I  have  had  the  satisfaction  to  succeed  in  these  objects  :  and  I  am 
not  without  hope  that,  when  I  am  permitted  to  quit  my  present  service 
and  return  to  Sydney,  my  good  conduct  will  be  rewarded  with  a  more 
desirable  situation.  I  have  now  been  upwards  of  seven  years  a  prisoner, 
and,  knowing  the  hopeless  sentence  under  which  I  labour,  I  shall,  I  trust, 
studiously  avoid  in  future  every  act  which  may  subject  me  to  the  censure 
of  my  superiors,  or  entail  upon  me  a  repetition  of  those  sufferings  I  have 
already  too  severely  experienced.  I  have  thus  dcFcribed  (perhaps  too 
minutely  for  the  reader's  patience)  the  various  vicissitudes  of  my  past  life. 
Whether  the  future  will  be  so  far  diversified  as  to  afford  matter  worthy  of 
being  committed  to  paper,  either  to  amuse  a  vacant  hour,  or  to  serve  as  a 
beacon  which  may  warn  others  to  avoid  the  rocks  on  which  I  have  unhap- 
pily split,  is  only  known  to  the  great  Disposer  of  events." 

The  "  Memoirs  written  by  himself,"  from  which  we  have  extracted  the 
most  interesting  passages,  here  terminate. 

"We  have  been  the  more  willing  to  give  the  adventures  of  this  notorious 
villain,  as  he  gives  them, — although  we  confess  that  we  are  of  opinion  that 
there  is  some  exaggeration  in  what  he  states — because,  however  great  may 
be  the  depravity,  of  which  he  admits  he  was  guilty,  his  punishments  and 
his  miseries  convey  a  moral,  most  forcibly  depicting  the  danger  of  such  a 
line  of  conduct  as  he  adopted.  His  memoirs  were  written  by  himself  in 
the  year  1816,  and  were  published  in  London  in  about  three  years  after- 
wards. Of  his  subsequent  career  we  know  little,  but  we  learn  by  recent 
accounts  received  from  Sydney,  that  this  hoary  old  sinner,  at  the  age  of  fifty- 
seven,  has  been  convicted  and  sentenced  to  an  imprisonment  of  two  years' 
duration,  upon  a  charge  of  indecently  assaulting  a  girl  of  tender  age 
Whatever  may  have  been  his  course  of  life  in  later  years,  however  frightful 
may  have  been  his  career  of  sin  in  his  younger  days,  w-e  hold  that  this 
new  offence,  of  which  he  has  been  found  guilty,  is  the  crowning  crime  of 
the  whole  ;  and  we  regret  that  the  human  heart  should  have  arrived  at  such 
a  degree  of  profligacy  as  to  admit  the  guilt  of  youth,  and  to  be  unable  to 
withstand  its  temptation,  in  old  age. 


604  THE    NKW  NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


JOHN  WHITMORE,  alias  OLD  DASH. 

EXECUTED    FOR    A    RAPE. 

The  summary  punishment  of  a  ravisher,  by  a  conscientious  Emperor  of 
the  Turks,  in  days  of  old,  if  now,  pei'cbance,  inflicted,  miglit  more  tend  to 
check  tlie  inordinate,  unhiwful  lust  of  men,  than  all  the  public  executions 
of  such  destroyers  of  the  peace  of  females. 

It  is  said  that  Mahmoud,  Sultan  of  Damascus,  one  niglit  while  he  was 
going  to  bed,  was  addressed  by  a  poor  villager,  who  complained  that  a 
young  Turk  of  distinction  had  broken  into  his  apartment,  and  forced  him 
to  abandon  his  wife  and  family  to  his  abuses.  Tiie  good  sultan  charged 
that,  if  the  Turk  returned,  he  should  immediately  give  him  notice  of  it. 
Three  days  after  the  poor  man  came  again  witii  the  same  complaint. 
Mahmoud  took  a  few  attendants  with  him,  and,  being  arrived  at  the  com- 
plainant's, commanded  the  liglits  to  be  extinguished,  and  rushing  in,  cut 
the  ravisher  to  pieces.  He  then  ordered  a  light,  to  see  whom  he  had  killed, 
and  being  satisfied,  he  fell  on  his  knees  and  returned  God  tlianks ;  after 
which  he  ate  heartily  of  tlie  poor  man's  bread,  and  gave  him  a  purse  of 
gold.  Being  asked  the  reason  of  this  extraordinary  behaviour,  he  replied, 
"  I  concluded  this  ravisher  was  one  who  might  fancy  himself  entitled  to 
my  protection,  and  consequently  might  be  no  other  than  my  son  ;  therefore, 
lest  the  tenderness  of  nature  should  enervate  the  arm  of  justice,  I  resolved 
to  give  it  scope  in  the  dark.  But,  when  I  saw  that  it  was  only  an  officer 
of  my  guards,  I  joyfully  returned  God  thanks.  Then  I  asked  the  injured 
man  for  food  to  satisfy  my  hunger,  having  had  neither  sleep  nor  sustenance 
from  the  moment  I  heard  the  accusation  till  I  had  thus  punished  the  author 
of  the  wrong,  and  showed  myself  wortliy  of  my  people's  obedience." 

Upon  the  same  principle  as  that  acted  upon  by  tlie  worthy  Turkish 
sultan,  the  hut  of  the  meanest  peasant  is,  by  the  law  of  England,  as  sacred 
as  the  most  gorgeous  palace,  and  the  chastity  of  his  wife  or  daughter  should 
be  held  inviolate.  The  instances  of  disobedience  to  the  laws  in  this  respect 
are  but  too  frequent,  and  in  no  case  have  circumstances  of  greater  atrocity 
appeared  than  in  that  which  we  shall  now  detail. 

John  Whitinore  was  capitally  indicted  for  a  rape  on  the  person  of  Mary, 
the  wife  of  Thomas  Brown,  on  the  24th  of  October,  1810,  on  the  Common 
between  Hayes  and  West  Bedford.  The  prisoner  was  a  labourer  in  the 
powder-mills  at  Harlington  Common  ;  and  the  prosecutrix,  who  lived  at 
Hayes,  having  one  of  her  sons  by  a  former  husband  living  as  servant  with 
Mr.  Potts,  a  farmer,  at  West  Bedford,  had  gone  thither  about  twelve 
o'clock  with  some  clean  linen  for  him.  She  stopped  at  a  public-house  in 
the  neighbourhood  whilst  he  changed  his  linen,  and  there  saw  the  prisoner, 
w^ho,  after  asking  her  several  questions,  told  her  she  had  come  much  the 
longest  way  about,  on  her  way  from  Hayes,  and  offered  to  show  licr  a 
much  shorter  cut  over  the  heath  on  her  return.  The  prosecutrix  thanked 
him,  and  accepted  his  offer.  He  accompanied  her  as  if  for  that  purpose, 
decoyed  her  two  miles  out  of  her  way  to  an  unfrequented  part  of  the  heath, 
amongst  some  bushes,  under  pretence  of  looking  after  a  stray  horse,  and 
ihere  brutally  violated  her  person. 
The  poor  woman,  who  was  forty-seven  years  of  age,  as  soon  as  she  could, 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  505 

ran  away  from  him,  over  tlie  licatli,  and  again  lost  her  way  ;  by  accident 
she  met  a  gentleman,  who  put  her  in  the  right  road,  and  she  reached  her 
home  about  eioht  o'clock  at  night.  She  was  afraid  to  tell  her  husband 
what  had  occurred  till  the  following  Sunday. 

Tlie  liusband  next  day  set  out  with  the  constable  in  search  of  the  pri- 
soner, from  the  description  given  by  his  wife,  and  on  Tuesday  traced  him 
to  a  public-house  at  Twickenham,  where  he  was  known  by  the  familiar 
appellation  of  "  Old  Dasher ;"  and  there,  after  a  stout  resistance,  he  waa 
taken  into  custody.  The  facts  were,  on  his  trial,  which  took  place  at  the 
Old  Bailey,  in  October  1810,  clearly  established  by  the  poor  woman,  and 
the  Common  Serjeant  having  summed  up  the  evidence,  the  prisoner  was 
convicted  and  received  sentence  of  death,  in  pursuance  of  which  he  was 
subsequently  executed. 


AGNES    ADAMS. 

IMPRISONED    FOR    UTTERIXG    A    FORGED    NOTE. 

For  three  or  four  years  previous  to  this  trial,  numberless  impositions 
had  been  practised  upon  the  unwary  in  the  metropolis,  by  the  passing  of 
])aper  manufactured  in  imitation  of  the  notes  of  the  Bank  of  England, 
which  were  traced  to  have  originated  in  the  Fleet  Prison,  a  receptacle  for 
debtors  only. 

The  notes,  it  seems,  were  printed  on  paper  similar  to  those  of  the  Bank 
of  England  ;  but  upon  the  slightest  inspection  they  were  easily  detected. 
The  great  success  of  sharpers  passing  them  chiefly  arose  from  the  hurry  of 
business,  and  from  the  novelty  of  the  fraud.  The  shopkeeper  would  see 
the  word  one,  two,  three,  &c.,  an  exact  imitation  of  tlie  genuine  notes,  but 
did  not  examine  farther,  or  he  would  have  found,  instead  of  pounds,  the 
counterfeit  expressed  pence ;  and  instead  of  "  Governor  and  Company  of 
the  Bank  of  England,"  the  words  "•  Governor  and  Company  of  the  Bank 
of  Fleet,"  substituted.  The  offence  of  publishing  these  notes,  however, 
was  not  deemed  a  forgery. 

The  circulation  of  Fleet  paper  was  generally  intrusted  to  profligate 
women,  who  cohabited  with  the  men  who  made  them.  This  mode  was 
less  suspicious,  and  in  a  single  year  had  been  carried  on  to  a  considerable 
amount. 

Of  tliis  description,  and  we  could  adduce  many  such,  was  Agnes  Adams 
who,  in  passing  one  of  such  notes,  filled  up  with  the  words  "  two  pence,"  as  a 
two-pound  Bank  of  England  note,  to  Mr.  Spratz,  a  publican  of  St.  John 
Street,  Clerkenwell,  was  by  him  detected,  seized,  prosecuted  and  convicted 
at  the  Middlesex  Sessions,  1811.  The  punishment  could  only  be  extended 
to  six  months'  hard  labour  in  the  House  of  Correction. 

The  fraternity  of  thieves  about  London  have  fabricated  cant  names  for 
the  different  articles  which  they  steal.  The  Fleet  notes  were  called  "  Flash 
Screens." 


8  7 


506  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

RICHARD  ARMITAGE  AND  CHARLES  THOMAS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGER!'. 

The  crime  for  which  these  men  justly  suflfered  was  a  forgery  of  the  very 
worst  description,  having  for  its  effect  a  scandalous  breach  of  public  trust 
— a  robbery  upon  tlie  very  corporation  which  they  were  bound  to  protect 
from  the  nefarious  attempts  of  others. 

It  appears  tliat  they  were  connected  with  a  person  named  Roberts,  who 
was  a])preliended  on  a  charge  of  swindling,  on  which  he  was  remanded  from 
the  police-office  to  Coldbath-Fields'  Prison,  in  the  year  1810.  In  a  few 
days  he  succeeded  in  making  his  escape  from  tlie  jail,  in  company  with  a 
man  named  Harper,  by  the  most  extraordinary  means.  From  the  evidence 
adduced  before  the  magistrates,  before  whom  an  inquiry  into  the  escape 
took  place,  it  appeared  that  the  prisoners  were  locked  up  in  the  usual  way 
at  nio-lit,  but  that  in  the  morning  they  were  found  to  have  escaped.  On 
the  jail  being  examined,  six  gates  which  had  been  locked  were  found 
standino-  open,  and  it  w^as  discovered  that  the  prisoners  had  completed  their 
design  by  scaling  the  outer  wall,  which  they  had  ascended  by  means  of  the 
scaffoldino-  round  a  lodge  which  was  in  the  course  of  being  built,  and  from 
which  tliey  had  reached  the  ground  by  means  of  a  rope  which  was  found 
still  hantrino-  on  the  outside.  The  most  anxious  inquiries  were  made  after 
Roberts,"but  it  was  not  until  tlie  month  of  April  1811  that  he  was  dis* 
covered  at  a  tavern  at  Vauxhall,  where  he  had  passed  himself  off  as  a  country 
attorney,  and  was  taken  into  custody.  He  then,  to  save  his  own  life,  im- 
peached the  partners  in  his  villany,  and  Armitage  and  Thomas,  who  were 
clerks  in  the  Bank  of  England,  were  in  consequence  secured.  Armitage 
was  first  taken,  and  he  was  examined  at  Marlborough-street,  and  committed 
for  trial  on  charges  of  forging  dividend  warrants  to  the  amount  of  £2400  ; 
and  Thomas  was  almost  immediately  afterwards  apprehended,  and  com- 
mitted on  the  same  charges. 

At  the  ensuing  Sessions  they  were  put  on  their  trial,  when  the  case 
proved  against  them  was,  that  they  were  bank  clerks  in  the  Imperial  An- 
nuity Office,  and  that  they  had  forged  a  warrant  to  obtain  the  dividends 
due  upon  a  sum  of  money  belonging  to  a  person  who  had  been  dead  three 
years,  and  whose  executors  had  not  applied  for  the  property.  In  pursuance 
of  the  warrants  forged  in  this  case  the  amount  paid  was  £360,  and  the 
prisoner  Thomas  signed  the  book  as  an  attesting  witness.  The  case  was 
proved  by  Roberts  and  his  wife,  whose  testimony,  however,  was  corrobo- 
rated by  that  of  other  witnesses,  and  the  prisoners  were  found  guilty  and 
were  sentenced  to  death. 

The  unhappy  men  were  executed  on  the  24th  of  June,  1811,  at  the  Old 
Bailey,  pursuant  to  their  sentence.  Armitage,  from  severe  illness,  was 
supported  to  the  scaffold  by  a  friend;  he  was  also  accompanied  by  a 
clergyman,  to  whose  admonitions  he  appeared  to  pay  great  attention.  His 
companion  was  a  catholic,  and  was  attended  by  a  priest  of  that  persuasion. 
He  exhibited  great  fortitude. 

The  secret  of  Roberts'  escape  was  not  discovered  for  a  considerable  time 
afterwards,  when  he  was  induced  to  confess,  that  through  the  means  of  a 
bribe  offered  to  the  person  who  swept  the  cells,  he  was  enabled  to  procure 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  507 

impressions  in  wax  of  the  keys  which  would  be  required  to  open  the  doora 
through  which  he  and  his  fellow-prisoner  would  have  to  pass.  Having 
obtained  these,  he  soon  got  keys  made,  and  he  was  assisted  in  his  flight  by 
this  "  friend  at  court."  It  was  supposed,  however,  that  he  had  some  other 
more  powerful  ally  than  a  sweeper,  and  considerable  changes  in  the 
management  of  the  jail  were  subsequently  made. 

The  punishment  for  the  crime  of  forgery,  a  few  years  only  before  this 
time,  was  much  less  severe  than  that  which  was  now  inflicted,  the  increase 
of  the  oftence  having  rendered  an  alteration  in  its  severity  necessary.  It 
would  appear,  however,  that  the  efforts  of  legislators  produced  any- 
thing but  the  desired  effect,  the  frequency  of  the  offence  being  increased 
instead  of  diminished.  The  ancient  punishment  for  this  crime  we  find 
thus  minutely  described  in  a  Loudon  periodical  publication  for  the  year 
]7ai  :— 

"•  June  2th. — This  day,  about  noon,  Japhet  Crook,  alias  St.  Peter  Stran- 
ger, was  brought  to  the  pillory  at  Charing  Cross,  according  to  his  sentence 
for  forgery.  He  stood  an  hour  thereon ;  after  which  a  chair  was  set  on 
the  pillory  ;  and  he  being  put  therein,  the  hangman  with  a  sort  of  pruning- 
knife  cut  off  both  his  ears,  and  immediately  a  surgeon  clapped  a  styptic 
thereon.  Then  the  executioner,  with  a  pair  of  scissors,  cut  his  left  nostril 
twice  before  it  was  quite  through,  and  afterwards  cut  through  the  right 
nostril  at  once.  He  bore  all  this  with  great  patience  ;  but  when,  in  pur- 
suance of  his  sentence,  his  right  nostril  was  seared  with  a  red-hot  iron,  he 
was  in  such  violent  pain  that  his  left  nostril  was  let  alone,  and  he  went 
from  the  pillory  bleeding.  He  was  conveyed  from  thence  to  the  King's 
Bench  Prison,  there  to  remain  for  life.  He  died  in  confinement  about  three 
years  after." 


JANE   COX. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 


The  practice  of  apothecaries  selling  poison  in  their  shops  to  strangers, 
who  purchase  it  under  the  pretence  of  its  having  to  be  employed  in  killing 
rats,  is  one  which  cannot  be  too  severely  reprobated,  and  even  punished. 
In  Mantua  of  old,  it  appears  from  Shakspeare's  Romeo  and  Juliet,  that  it 
was  an  offence  punishable  with  deatli,  for  the  Apothecary  says, 

"Such  mortal  drugs  I  have,  but  Mantua's  law 
Is  death  to  auy  he  that  utters  them  ;" 

and  the  peace  and  safety  of  society  might  be  secured,  and  crime  and 
suicide  rendered  much  less  frequent,  if  some  such  provision  were  made  in 
England. 

On  the  subject  of  selling  poison  for  the  purpose  of  committinfr  murder, 
we  find,  from  "  Hill's  Journey  through  Sicily  and  Calabria,"  that  in  the 
year  1791,  at  Palermo,  a  city  not  far  distant  from  Mantua,  an  old  woman 
was  executed  for  dealing  out  such  mortal  drugs. 

"  Many  people  in  this  town  and  neighbourhood,"  (Palermo,)  says  this 
author,  "  died  in  a  sudden  and  extraordinay  manner ;  they  were  generally 
seized  with  vomiting,  and  expired  in  a  few  hours.     A  young  woman  went 


508  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

to  an  officer  of  justice  to  make  some  complaints  concerning  her  husband  ; 
he  desired  her  to  be  reconciled,  and  refused  to  proceed  against  him,  upon 
which  she  turned  away  in  a  rage,  muttering  that  she  knew  how  to  be 
revenged.  The  magistrate  paid  attention  to  what  she  said,  and  gave 
orders  for  her  being  arrested  ;  when,  upon  strict  inquiry  concerning  the 
meaning  of  her  word,  she  confessed  that  it  was  her  intention  to  poison  her 
husband,  by  purchasing  a  bottle  of  vinegar  from  an  old  woman,  who  pre- 
pared it  for  tliat  ])ur2J0se.  In  order  to  ascertain  the  truth  of  this  story, 
another  woman  was  sent  to  the  old  jade,  to  demand  some  of  the  vinegar, 
which  was  sold  for  about  ten  pence  a  bottle.  '  AVhat  do  you  want  with 
it  ?'  said  the  vender :  '  Why,'  replied  the  other,  '  I  have  a  very  bad 
husband,  and  I  want  to  get  rid  of  him.'  Hereupon  the  old  woman, 
seventy-tv"o  years  of  age,  produced  the  fatal  dose ;  upon  which  she  was 
immediately  seized,  and  conducted  to  prison,  where  she  confessed  that  she 
had  sold  forty-five  or  forty- six  bottles.  Many  people  were  taken  up;  but 
as,  upon  further  inquiry,  it  was  discovered  that  several  of  the  nobility  had 
been  purchasers,  the  affair  was  dropped,  and  the  old  woman  alone  suffered 
death ." 

To  proceed,  however,  to  the  case  of  the  unfortunate  prisoner  whose  name 
heads  this  article.  On  the  9th  of  j^ugust,  1811,  she  was  indicted  at  the 
Assizes  for  the  county  of  Devon,  for  the  wilful  murder  of  John  Trenaman, 
an  infant  sixteen  months  old  ;  and  Ai"thur  Tucker  was  indicted  as  an 
accessory  before  the  fact. 

The  latter  was  a  respectable  farmer,  living  at  Hatherleigh,  in  Devon- 
shire ;  and  the  infant  was  his  natural  child.  It  appeared  that  Jane  Cox 
had,  on  the  2oth  of  May,  1811,  administered  to  the  child  a  quantity  of 
arsenic,  by  putting  it  into  the  child's  hands,  which  it  put  into  its  mouth 
and  ate,  and  in  consequence  died  in  aboiit  two  hours.  The  prisoner,  in 
her  written  confession,  had  implicated  Tucker,  as  having  persuaded  her  to 
commit  this  act,  and  stated  that  he  had  taken  the  arsenic  from  under  the 
roof  of  a  cottage,  and  given  it  to  her,  and  promised  her  a  one-pound  note 
if  she  would  administer  it  to  the  child. 

The  prisoner,  Jane  Cox,  after  a  trial  of  seven  hours  was  convicted  ;  but 
Tucker,  who  called  a  number  of  respectable  witnesses  who  gave  him  a  very 
high  character,  was  acquitted,  the  woman's  story  being  unsupported  by 
evidence,  and  being  disbelieved. 

On  Monday  the  l'2t\i  of  August,  1811,  pursuant  to  her  sentence,  the 
unfortunate  woman  was  brought  to  the  "  new  drop,"  the  place  of  execution, 
and  underw^ent  the  sentence  of  the  law. 

She  addressed  the  spectators  at  some  length,  and  in  a  very  audible 
manner;  she  repeated  her  former  confession,  with  some  further  particulars 
respecting  the  means  used  by  Tucker  to  prevail  on  her  to  commit  the 
horrid  deed,  for  which  she  acknowledged  she  ought  to  die,  but  lamented 
that  the  person  who  had  instigated  he^:  to  the  commission  of  it  was  not  also 
to  suffer  with  her. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  509 

MICHAEL  WHITING. 

EXECOTED    FOR    POISONING    HIS    BROTHERS-IN-LAW. 

Crime  has  different  shades  ;  but  a  deeper  dye  cannot  be  given  to  it,  than 
when  one  in  the  assumed  robe  of  sanctity  attempts  to  dip  his  hands  in 
human  blood,  particularly  when  that  blood  is  united  to  him  by  ties  of 
consanguinity. 

Michael  Whiting  lived  at  Downham,  where  he  occasionally  preached, 
being  a  Methodist  parson  ;  but  as  the  bounty  of  those  who  listened  to  his 
pious  exhortations  was  not  very  large,  he  endeavoured  to  add  to  hia 
resources  by  keeping  a  shop  in  which  he  sold  bread,  meal,  &c.  and  also 
drugs,  being  at  once  a  comforter  of  the  soul  and  body. 

Tliis  hypocrite  had  two  brothers-in-law,  named  George  and  Joseph 
Langman,  who  resided  on  a  small  farm  near  Downham.  They  were  both 
under  age,  and  had  two  sisters,  one  of  whom  was  married  to  Whiting,  and 
the  other,  aged  ten  years,  lived  with  her  brothers.  To  possess  himself  of  the 
small  estate  of  these  youths.  Whiting  had  recourse  to  a  most  diabolical  plan. 

The  little  sister  was  sent  to  his  sliop  for  some  bread,  and,  learning  from 
her  that  the  liousekeeper  of  the  brothers  was  about  going  from  home  for  a 
few  days,  he  affected  much  kindness,  and  promised  paying  them  a  visit. 
He  did  so,  and  with  unusual  liberality  brought  with  him  materials  for 
making  a  pudding  or  two,  observing  to  the  housekeeper,  "  Catherine,  be 
sure  you  make  the  boys  a  pudding  before  you  go."  After  doling  out  a 
few  texts  of  Scripture,  which  he  had  ready  on  all  occasions,  and  which  ha 
applied  with  about  as  much  judgment  as  Sauclio  Panza  did  his  proverbs, 
he  departed,  taking  with  him  the  little  girl,  tenderly  remarking  that  her 
sister  would  take  better  care  of  her  than  her  brothers,  durinof  the  house- 
keeper  s  absence. 

Catherine  made  the  puddings ;  but  remarked,  during  the  process,  that 
the  dough  would  not  properly  adhere,  and  when  she  departed  she  left  them 
in  a  kneading-trough.  The  brothers,  not  suspecting  that  any  mischief 
was  intended,  boiled  one  of  the  puddings  for  dinner,  and  when  properly 
done,  sat  down  to  partake  of  it ;  but  before  they  had  swallowed  three 
moutlifuls,  they  were  seized  with  violent  vomitings.  Suspecting  that  the 
pudding  was  poisoned,  they  threw  a  small  piece  of  it  to  a  sow  in  the  yard  ; 
which  she  had  scarcely  swallowed,  when  the  poor  animal  was  taken  sick, 
and  after  lingering  a  short  time  died. 

The  elder  brotlier,  by  the  application  of  proper  medicine,  soon  recovered  ; 
but  the  younger  lingered  for  a  long  time  ere  he  regained  his  health.  The 
pudding  was  now  analysed  by  a  professor  of  chemistry,  who  found  it  to 
contain  a  large  quantity  of  corrosive  sublimate  of  mercury,  and  no  other 
poisonous  ingredient, — a  fact  which  destroyed  the  defence  set  up  by 
Whiting,  that  he  had  laid  some  mia;  vomica  for  rats,  some  of  which  he 
supposed  had  got  among  the  meal. 

For  this  offence  Whiting  was  indicted  at  the  Isle  of  Ely  Assizes,  on 
Thursday  the  5th  of  March,  1811;  when,  in  addition  to  the  above  facts, 
it  was  proved  that,  in  the  event  of  the  Langmans'  death,  he  would  come  in 
for  their  property,  in  right  of  his  wife,  as  the  next  heiress  of  her  brothers. 

The  trial  lasted  till  six  o'clock  in  the  evening,  when  the  jury  retired, 
and,  after  a  deliberation  of  ten  minutes,  foimd  the  prisoner  Guilty,  when 
he  was  immediately  sentenced  to  be  hanged. 


510  THE   NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR. 


HARRIET  MAGNIS. 

TRIED    FOR    CHILD    STEALING. 

The  offence  for  which  this  woman  was  tried  was  one  which,  at  the  timo  of 
its  commission,  attracted  a  very  considerable  degree  of  attention.  The  child 
stolen  was  the  offspring  of  a  respectable  couple  living  in  Martin's-lane,  in 
the  City,  named  Dellow  ;  and  it  appears  that  he  was  playing  with  his  little 
sister  in  the  neighbourhood  of  his  mother's  house,  when  he  was  suddenly 
missed,  and  all  tidings  of  him  were  lost.  A  woman,  it  was  proved,  had 
been  seen  in  the  neighbourhood  immediately  before  the  child  was  lost,  and 
suspicion  rested  upon  her  ;  but  although  the  most  vigilant  search  was  made, 
her  person  could  never  be  identified. 

Suspicion  first  fell  upon  an  innocent  lady,  the  wife  of  a  surgeon  in  the 
navy,  and,  after  two  examinations  of  several  witnesses,  all  of  whom 
mistook  her  person,  she  was  committed  for  trial  at  the  Old  Bailey. 

On  her  trial,  however,  she  was  acquitted,  as  indeed  there  appeared  to  be 
no  proof  of  her  identity,  and  the  case  was  still  pervaded  by  the  same 
uncertainty  as  before. 

At  length  the  mystery  began  to  develop  itself.  The  first  information 
received  in  London  was  from  a  magistrate  in  Gosport,  acquainting  Mr. 
and  Mrs.  Dellow  of  the  discovery  that  their  child  was  safe  there,  and 
ready  to  be  delivered  to  its  parents.  The  father  instantly  set  off,  and  soon 
after  returned  home  with  his  son,  when  he  was  required  to  appear  before 
the  Lord  Mayor  of  London,  where  he  found  William  Barber,  the  keeper 
of  the  Gosport  prison,  ready  to  give  evidence  against  a  woman  of  that  town 
of  the  name  of  Harriet  INIagnis,  in  whose  possession  the  child  was  found. 

This  man  having  seen  a  hand-bill  describing  the  child,  got  information 
that  it  was  at  Gosport,  and  went  to  the  lodgings  of  Mrs.  Magnis,  who  lived 
in  a  very  respectable  way.  He  asked  her  if  she  had  a  child,  and  if  it  was 
her  own ;  to  which  she  replied,  rather  faintly,  that  it  was ;  but  upon  his 
saying  that  he  doubted  it,  and  desiring  to  see  the  child,  she  took  him  very 
readily  to  the  room  where  it  was  in  bed,  and  confessed  to  him  that  she  had 
found  the  boy  in  London. 

She  afterwards,  however,  confessed  the  whole  affair,  and  her  motive  for 
the  robbery.  She  said  that  her  husband,  who  was  a  gunner  on  board  one 
of  his  Majesty's  ships,  and  had  saved  a  considerable  sum  of  money  for  a  man 
in  his  station  of  life,  was  extremely  partial  to  children,  and  had  often  ex- 
pressed his  most  anxious  wish  to  have  a  little  darling,  as  he  used  to  term  it. 
His  wife,  not  less  anxious  to  gratify  him  in  this  respect,  wrote  to  him  while 
at  sea,  that  she  was  in  the  family  way.  The  gunner,  highly  delighted  that 
he  had  obtained  his  desired  object,  sent  home  the  earnings  of  many  a  cruise, 
amounting  to  three  hundred  pounds,  with  a  particular  charge  that  the 
infant  should  be  well  rigged,  and  want  for  nothing  ;  if  a  boy,  so  much  the 
better. 

The  next  letter  from  his  hopeful  wife  announced  the  happy  tidings  that 
his  first-born  was  a  son ;  and  that  she  would  name  him  Richard,  after  his 
father.  The  husband  expressed  his  joy  at  the  news,  and  counted  the 
tedious  hours  until  he  should  be  permitted  to  come  home  to  his  wife  and 
child. 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  T)!! 

At  home  he  at  length  arrived,  but  at  an  unfortunate  time,  when  the  dear 
Richard  was  out  at  nurse,  at  a  considerable  distance  ;  change  of  air  being 
necessary  to  the  easy  cutting  of  his  teeth.  The  husband's  time  being  short, 
he  left  England  with  a  heavy  heart,  without  being  able  to  see  his  offspring  ; 
but  he  was  assured  that  on  his  next  trip  to  Gosport  he  should  have  the 
felicity  he  liad  so  often  pined  for,  of  clasping  his  darling  to  his  bosom.  It 
was  not  until  November  1810  that  he  was  at  liberty  to  revisit  home,  when 
he  had  a^ain  the  mortification  to  find  that  his  son,  whom  he  expected  to  see 
a  fine  boy  of  three  years  old,  had  not  yet  cut  his  teeth,  or  that  he  was  from 
home  on  some  other  pretence.  The  husband,  however,  was  not  to  be  paci- 
fied thus  :  he  would  go  and  see  his  son,  or  his  sou  should  come  to  him. 
Mrs.  Magnis,  finding  him  determined,  thought  the  latter  the  much  better 
way,  and  accordingly  set  oft'  to  fetch  the  boy.  The  metropolis  occurred  to 
her  as  the  market  best  calculated  to  aft'ord  her  a  choice  of  children  ;  and, 
passing  down  Martin's-lane,  she  was  struck  with  the  rosy  little  citizen. 
Tommy  Dellow,  and  at  once  determined  to  make  him  her  prize.  He  was 
playing  with  his  sister  at  the  greengrocer's  shop-door,  into  which  Mrs. 
Magnis  went,  with  the  double  view  of  purchasing  some  apples,  and  carry- 
ing oft"  the  boy.  She  made  much  of  the  sister,  caressed  the  boy,  and  gave 
him  an  apple.  The  children  being  pleased  with  her  attention,  she  asked 
the  little  girl  to  show  her  to  a  pastry-cook's  shop  to  buy  some  cakes,  when 
she  got  clear  off"  with  the  boy,  and  left  the  girl  behind. 

Poor  Magnis  felt  a  parental  affection  for  the  boy  ;  and  when  the  impo- 
sition was  discovered  before  the  magistrate,  he  was  grieved  to  the  heart  at 
being  obliged  to  part  with  him  under  all  the  circumstances  of  the 
transaction. 

The  woman,  upon  evidence  being  produced  of  these  facts,  was  committed 
to  Winchester  jail  for  trial ;  but  at  the  assizes  she  escaped,  on  account  of 
her  being  indicted  in  the  wrong  county,  the  felony  having  been  committed 
in  London. 


BENJAMIN  WALSH,  ESQ.,  M.  P. 

TRIED    FOR    FELONY. 

The  name  of  Mr.  Walsh  was  long  known  in  the  City  as  that  of  a  daring 
mercantile  speculator ;  and  it  appears  that  having  thrown  himself  into  con- 
siderable difficulties,  he  succeeded  in  wiping  them  all  off  by  a  commission 
of  bankruptcy,  and  almost  immediately  afterwards  obtained  a  seat  in  Par- 
liament. 

Among  the  dignified  members  of  the  House  of  Commons,  Sir  Thomas 
Plomer  seemed  to  entertain  an  opinion  of  ^Ir.  Walsh  which  was  in  no  de- 
gree altered  by  his  recent  transactions,  and  he  intrusted  him  with  £22,000 
to  purchase  government  securities  for  him.  Mr.  Walsh,  however,  laid  out 
the  greater  part  of  the  money  in  the  stocks  of  the  United  States  of  America 
on  his  own  account,  and  endeavoured  to  flee  to  that  land  of  refuo-e  for  the 
guilty,  but  was  overtaken  by  the  arm  of  justice  at  the  very  port  from 
which  he  intended  to  sail  from  his  native  country.  He  was  unfortunately 
for  his  own  design  too  pertinacious  of  his  privilege  of  frankino-  letters,  ano. 
he  continued  even  while  flying  from  London,  when  one  would  have  supposed 


512  rnE  new  newgate  calendar. 

he  would  have  endeavoured  to  remaiu  unknown,  to  despatch  letters  to  his 
friends  indorsed  "Free,  B.  Walsh."  These  communications  being  stopped 
by  an  order  of  the  government,  the  course  of  his  flight  was  discovered,  and 
he  was  followed  to  Falmouth  by  a  Bow-street  runner,  and  the  solicitor  of 
Sir  Thomas  Plomer,  by  whom  he  was  secured  and  brought  to  London. 

He  was  indicted  at  the  ensuing  Old  Bailey  Sessions  for  the  offence  of 
stealing  the  money,  when  Mr.  Garrow  appeared  for  the  prosecution,  and 
Mr.  Scarlett  for  the  defence. 

Upon  the  witnesses  being  examined,  Sir  Thomas  Plomer  stated  that  he 
had  given  the  money  to  the  prisoner  for  the  express  purpose  of  purchasing 
exchequer  bills.  He  had  given  it  to  him  in  a  check,  for  which  he  got 
cash.  The  prisoner  did  afterwards  lodge  £6000  of  the  bills  at  Sir  Thomas's 
bankers. 

Mr.  Scarlett,  in  addressing  the  Court  for  the  defence,  hoped  he  should 
not  be  understood  to  entertain  any  other  sentiments  of  this  oifence  than 
a  conviction  of  the  moral  turpitude  of  the  prisoner ;  and  he  was  satisfied 
the  prisoner  himself  entertained  no  other  sentiment,  and  felt  all  the  contri- 
tion belonoinor  to  such  a  crime  ;  but  it  now  became  his  duty  to  make 
such  objections  as  occurred  to  him  :  — First,  there  could  be  no  charge  of 
this  sort  for  stealing  the  check,  for  it  was  in  evidence  that  the  prosecutor 
had  criven  it  to  the  prisoner  for  a  specific  purpose  ;  and  it  was  not  altogether 
misapplied,  for  he  had  purchased  some  exchequer  bills,  and  the  law  did 
not  allow  the  act  of  felony  to  be  in  part  separated.  The  second  objection 
was  under  the  statute  of  tlie  second  year  of  the  reign  of  George  II.  by 
which  the  security  intended  by  the  legislature  was  given  to  such  property  as 
was  still  available  to  the  party  prosecutor.  In  this  case  the  party  prose- 
cutor had  parted  with  all  control  over  the  check  by  delivering  it  to  the 
prisoner.  Thirdly,  the  felonious  intent  of  the  party  taking  was  not  in 
itself  suificient  to  constitute  a  felony  when  the  party  to  whom  the  property 
belonged  had  relinquished  his  control  over  it ;  and  in  support  of  'these 
objections,  he  referred  to  several  cases  in  point. 

After  some  observations  by  3Ir.  Garrow,  it  was  agreed  that  the  jury 
should  find  a  verdict  subject  to  the  future  opinion  of  the  twelve  judges 
upon  the  chief  baron's  report. 

The  chief  baron  acquiesced  in  this  arrangement,  and  then  adverted  to 
that  part  of  the  evidence  which  went  to  show  the  previous  intent  of  the 
prisoner  to  commit  the  felony  ;  observing,  at  the  same  time,  that  it  was 
impossible,  upon  such  evidence,  not  to  find  the  prisoner  guilty,  who,  in 
consequence  of  the  objections  made  by  his  counsel,  would  have  the  benefit 
of  the  judgment  of  the  twelve  judges  hereafter. 

The  jury  immediately  returned  a  verdict  of — Guilty. 

During  the  whole  of  the  trial  the  prisoner  was  much  affected. 

Tlie  result  of  the  argument  before  the  judges  was,  that  the  facts  proved 
did  not,  in  estimation  of  law,  amount  to  felony  ;  and  as  "Walsh  had  been 
convicted  of  that  offence,  he  received  a  free  pardon. 

The  Commons  expelled  him  from  his  seat  in  their  house  ;  and  he  was 
again  made  a  bankrupt,  whereupon  Sir  Thomas  found  himself  entitled 
rnly  to  a  pitiful  dividend  under  the  second  commission. 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  51^ 


THE  MURDER  OF  THE  MARRS  AND  WILLIAMSONS. 

The  close  of  the  year  1811  was  productive  of  two  scenes  of  blood, 
which  struck  horror  into  all  hearts ;  we  allude  to  the  murders  of  the  families 
of  the  Marrs  and  Williamsons,  in  Ratcliffe  Higliway,  which  were  accom- 
plished under  circumstances  of  tlic  most  frightful  atrocity,  and  of  the  most 
extraordinary  mystery. 

It  appears  that  Mr.  IMarr  was  a  linen-draper  in  a  respectable  way  of 
business  living  in  Ratcliffe  Highway,  and  that  his  household  establishment 
consisted  of  himself,  his  wife,  and  infant  child,  a  shop- boy  and  a  servant 
woman.  It  was  his  custom  to  close  his  shop  at  about  eleven  o'clock,  when 
he  and  his  assistant  proceeded  to  dispose  of  the  commodities  wuich  had 
been  exposed  for  sale  during  the  day  by  placing  them  on  the  shelves.  On 
a  dark  evening  at  the  beginning  of  the  month  of  December  1811,  he  was 
engaged  in  the  customary  manner,  his  shop  being  closed,  when  the  servant 
woman  was  despatched  to  procure  some  oysters  for  supper  from  a  neigh- 
bouring shop.  On  her  quitting  her  master's  house  she  left  the  door  a-jar, 
in  order  that  she  might  procure  a  ready  access  on  her  return,  and  she  went 
directly  to  the  house  of  a  person  who  resided  only  a  few  doors  off  to  pur- 
chase the  fish.  She  found,  however,  that  they  had  sold  the  whole  of  their 
stock,  and  slie  was  therefore  compelled  to  go  further;  and  having  purchased 
the  quantity  required,  and  had  tliem  opened,  she  returned  immediately 
to  the  residence  of  Mr.  Marr.  On  her  reaching  the  door,  she  found  that  it 
was  closed,  and  she  rang  the  bell.  No  answer  was,  however,  returned 
and  she  repeated  her  application  to  the  wire.  Still  no  one  came,  and  i 
watchman  coming  up  at  the  moment  inquired  what  she  was  doing  there? 
She  informed  him  of  the  errand  on  which  she  had  been  sent,  and  that  she 
could  not  obtain  an  entrance,  upon  which  he  pulled  the  bell  with  great 
Ariolence,  but  his  efforts  were  attended  with  no  better  effect  than  those  of 
the  servant  girl.  Some  alarm  was  now  begun  to  be  felt,  and  the  next-door 
neighbour  coming  out,  to  learn  the  cause  of  the  interference  of  the  consta- 
bles, three  or  four  persons  soon  collected,  amongst  whom  a  consultation  was 
held  as  to  the  best  mode  of  proceeding.  Various  courses  were  suggested, 
a  continued  application  to  the  knocker  and  bell  being  made  in  the  mean 
time ;  and  at  length,  no  answer  being  given,  it  was  determined  that  the  wall 
which  divided  IMr.  INIarr's  back  premises  from  those  of  the  adjoining  house 
should  be  scaled,  in  order  that  the  cause  of  the  silence  might  be  ascertained. 
The  watchman,  aided  by  the  strangers  who  had  collected  near  him,  soon 
made  an  entrance  into  ]\Ir.  ]\f  arr's  premises,  but  on  going  into  the  house  a 
sight  met  his  eyes,  before  which  the  stoutest  heart  would  have  quailed. 
The  murdered  remains  of  JVIr.  INIarr  and  his  shop-boy  lay  before  him  in 
the  shop ;  the  body  of  Mrs.  IMarr  was  in  the  passage,  and  that  of  the 
infant  in  its  cradle,  all  Avarm  and  all  steeped  in  gore. 

The  watchman,  having  recovered  from  the  effect  of  the  stupor  which 
this  horrid  sight  had  produced  in  his  mind,  immediately  ran  to  the  door, 
and  having  opened  it  gave  an  alarm  to  those  outside  of  the  frightful  murders 
which  had  been  committed.  An  apprehension  was  entertained  that  the 
assassins  might  still  be  employed  in  plundering  the  house,  and  instant  search 
was  made,  but  without  success  ;  and  it  was  ascertained  that  the  murderers, 
intimidated  probably  by  the  girl's  ringing  the  bell,  had  escaped  from  the 

VOL.  I.  3d 


514  THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR. 

back  window,  across  some  mud  which  lay  in  the  back  yard,  and  throngh 
a  way  whose  intricacies  coiild  have  been  threaded  by  none  but  persons  who 
had  previously  reconnoitred  the  situation.  In  the  mean  time  the  report  of 
the  murders  had  spread  like  wild-fire,  and  thousands  of  persons  collected 
round  the  house,  notwithstanding  the  late  hour  of  the  night  ;  but,  although 
many  volunteers  were  found,  and  an  instant  search  was  made  through  the 
vrhole  of  the  surrounding  district,  nothing  was  discovered  which  could  in 
the  remotest  degree  afford  a  clue  to  the  discovery  of  the  persons  implicated 
in  the  diabolical  transaction.  A  minute  examination  of  the  house  took 
place  when  daylight  afforded  an  opportunity  for  it  to  be  done  with  good 
effect,  and  then  a  ripping  chisel  or  hook,  such  as  are  used  by  carpenters 
and  joiners,  was  found  lying  near  the  body  of  Mr.  Marr,  and  some  marks 
of  blood  were  discovered  on  the  window,  through  which  the  murderers  had 
escaped;  but  nothing  was  found  which  could  induce  a  supposition  that  any 
goods  or  money  had  been  carried  off. 

In  the  mean  time  the  murders  had  caused  a  most  extraordinary  sensation 
throughout  the  metropolis,  and  various  reports  were  in  circulation  as  to  the 
manner  in  which  they  had  been  committed  ;  and  the  most  active  inquiries 
were  made  with  a  view  lo  the  collection  of  evidence  to  be  produced  before 
the  coroner's  jury.  Upon  an  inquest  being  held,  in  addition  to  the  facts 
above  detailed,  it  was  proved  by  the  servant  girl  that,  on  her  quitting  her 
employer's  house,  her  master  and  the  shop-boy  were  in  the  shop,  and  her 
mistress  and  the  child  were  in  the  kitchen  below ;  but  no  facts  were  proved 
which  could  at  all  lead  to  the  discovery  of  the  persons  implicated  in  the 
foul  deed.  From  the  testimony  of  the  girl  it  was  supposed,  that  very  soon 
after  she  had  quitted  home,  the  ruffians  had  entered  the  shop,  probably 
under  pretence  of  making  a  purchase,  and,  having  closed  the  door,  had 
attacked  jNIr.  Marr,  whom  they  had  knocked  down  and  there  killed  by 
cutting  his  throat.  They  had  next  seized  the  boy,  who  apparently  had 
made  some  resistance,  and  despatched  him  in  a  similar  manner ;  and  Mrs. 
IMarr  now  coming  up  stairs  to  inquire  into  the  cause  of  the  tumult  and 
confusion  which  was  doubtless  created,  she  was  in  turn  murdered  in  the  same 
manner  with  her  husband  and  the  shop-boy.  One  would  have  imagined 
that  the  infant  in  its  cradle  would  have  escaped  in  this  scene  of  carnage ; 
but  it  was  imagined  that  it  had  cried  at  being  so  long  left  alone,  and  the 
blood-thirsty  monsters,  afraid  lest  a  discovery  should  take  place  in  conse- 
quence of  its  calls,  descended  and  terminated  its  existence  by  cutting  its 
throat,  so  as  almost  to  sever  its  head  from  the  body.  There  being  no 
further  evidence  to  produce,  the  inquest  was  at  length,  after  several 
adjournments,  concluded,  and  a  verdict  of  "  Wilful  murder  against  some 
person  or  persons  unknown,"  was  returned. 

The  funeral  of  these  victims  of  villany  took  place  on  Sunday  the  15th  of 
December,  1811,  at  the  church  of  St.  George  in  the  East,  when  the  bodies 
of  the  family  of  ]\Ir.  Marr  were  deposited  in  one  grave,  in  the  presence  of 
their  sorrowing  friends,  and  of  an  immense  concourse  of  people,  by  whom 
the  utmost  respect  and  decorum  were  exhibited.  The  body  of  the  shop- 
boy  was  interred  by  his  friends. 

Would  that  our  tale  of  blood  could  terminate  here  !  It  is,  however,  our 
painful  task  to  inform  our  readers  of  other  murders,  taking  place  under 
precisely  similar  circumstances  with  those  of  the  Marr  family,  and  within 
ten  minutes'  walk  of  the  place  in  which  they  were  perpetrated. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  615 

The  horror  and  dismay  produced  by  the  atrocious  event  which  we  have 
just  detailed  had  not  yet  subsided  ;  the  exertions  of  the  police  to  discover 
the  parties  concerned  in  it  had  not  yet  been  abated  ;  the  earth  which  had 
been  thrown  over  the  graves  of  tlie  unhappy  victims  was  not  yet  settled, 
ere  the  neighbourhood  of  Ratcliflfe  Highway  was  again  the  scene  of  a  crime 
as  horrible  as  that  which  still  struck  terror  into  the  minds  of  all  persons. 

On  Thursday  night,  the  1 9th  of  December,  the  neighbourhood  of  New 
Gravel-lane  was  thrown  into  a  state  of  the  most  violent  confusion  by  loud 
cries  of  "  Murder  !  "  proceeding  from  the  King's  Arms  public-house, 
situated  at  No.  81  in  that  lane  The  recollection  of  the  late  event  wa? 
still  fresh  in  the  minds  of  all,  and  crowds  of  persons  instantly  ran  to  the 
spot  to  learn  the  cause  of  alarm,  rendered  doubly  appalling  by  recent  cir- 
cumstances. Nor  was  the  sight  which  met  their  eyes  at  all  calculated  to 
allay  the  apprehensions  which  had  been  raised.  A  man  almost  in  a  state 
of  nudity  was  seen  descending  from  the  second-floor  window  of  the 
house  mentioned  by  means  of  two  sheets  tied  together,  and  exclaiming, 
with  expressions  of  the  most  violent  agitation  and  terror,  "  They  are 
murdering  the  people  in  the  house."  On  his  reaching  the  extremity  of 
the  line  which  he  was  using,  he  was  still  eight  feet  from  the  ground  ;  but 
he  was  assisted  in  his  descent  by  the  watchman,  who  received  him  into 
his  arms,  and  he  then  repeated  the  alarm  which  he  had  already  given. 
The  greatest  horror  was  felt  at  what  was  supposed  to  be  a  repetition  of 
the  frightful  scene  which  had  been  so  recently  enacted,  and  a  short  con- 
sultation was  held  as  to  the  best  mode  of  affording  relief  to  the  inmates  of 
the  house.  It  was  determined  that  the  most  speedy  means  must  be  taken  ; 
and,  in  accordance  with  a  resolution  which  was  arrived  at,  an  entry  was 
forced  through  the  cellar  fltip.  A  man  named  Ludgate,  a  butcher  living 
in  Ashwell's  Buildings,  close  by,  and  a  Mr.  Hawse  and  a  constable,  were 
the  first  persons  who  entered  by  this  means  ;  and  almost  at  the  same  instant 
a  gentleman  named  Fox  obtained  admission  through  some  wooden  bars  at 
the  side  of  the  house,  with  a  cutlass  in  his  hand.  The  first  object  that  was 
seen  in  the  cellar  was  the  body  of  Mr.  Williamson,  which  lay  at  the  foot 
of  the  stairs ;  and  on  its  being  examined,  it  was  found  that  his  throat  was 
dreadfully  cut,  and  that  besides  his  leg  was  broken,  and  he  had  sustained 
a  severe  fracture  of  the  skull,  while  the  weapon  with  which  he  appeared 
to  have  been  attacked,  an  iron  crow-bar  or  maul,  was  lying  at  his  side. 
In  the  parlour,  the  body  of  Mrs.  Williamson  was  found  with  the  skull 
fractured  and  the  throat  cut,  the  blood  still  issuing  from  the  wound,  while 
at  her  side  lay  that  of  the  servant  woman,  whope  head  was  horribly 
bruised,  and  whose  throat  was  cut  in  a  similar  manner. 

Surgical  aid  was  instantly  procured;  but  upon  the  bodies  being  examined, 
it  was  found  that  the  vital  spark  had  fled. 

A  new  and  irresistible  feeling  of  horror  now  overspread  the  city  of 
London  and  its  vicinity,  and  the  utmost  apprehension  was  felt  at  this  new 
attack  upon  a  family  within  its  own  circle.  On  the  first  alarm  being 
given,  a  picquet  of  the  Tower  Hamlets'  Militia,  and  a  number  of  the 
Volunteer  Corps,  aided  by  the  inhabitants  and  the  constables,  made  a 
most  minute  search  in  all  quarters  for  the  offenders,  but  no  person  could 
be  discovered  to  whom  suspicion  could  attach.  Upon  the  premises  being 
examined,  in  which  the  diabolical  murders  had  been  committed,  it  was 
found  that  the  under  part  of  the  house  was  used  as  a  skittle-ground,  next 


51G  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

to  the  entrance  of  which  was  the  cellar-door  ;  and  from  the  bloody  marlvS 
which  appeared  on  both  doors,  it  was  obvious  that  the  murderers  had 
attempted  to  escape  by  both  those  means. 

It  was  discovered,  also,  that  the  villains  had  eventually  effected  their 
exit  from  the  house  by  means  of  a  back  window  which  looked  into  an 
open  space  belonging  to  the  London  Dock  Company,  from  which  there 
was  easy  access  to  many  different  streets  branching  off  in  various  direc- 
tions. The  wounds  on  the  heads  of  the  unfortunate  deceased,  it  was 
obvious,  had  been  inflicted  by  the  iron  crow-bar  which  had  been  found  ; 
and  from  their  position,  as  well  as  from  the  inclination  in  the  cuts  in  the 
throats  of  the  deceased  persons,  it  appeared  that  the  murderer  was  left- 
banded.  During  the  time  occupied  in  the  perpetration  of  the  horrid  deed, 
a  public-house,  almost  adjoining  that  of  ]\Ir.  Williamson,  was  filled  with 
people  drinking,  while  only  a  few  doors  on  the  other  side,  there  was  a  ren- 
dezvous for  seamen,  the  windows  of  both  of  which  looked  into  the  open 
ground  into  which  the  murderers  had  escaped. 

In  the  course  of  the  following  day  the  most  active  measures  were  taken 
to  secure  the  murderers.  Police  officers  were  despatched  in  all  directions  ; 
a  reward  of  100^  was  offered  by  the  parish  for  their  apprehension,  and  the 
magistrates  sat  at  Shadwell  Pollce-ofl&ce  during  the  whole  day,  ready  to 
receive  and  act  upon  any  information  which  might  be  brought  to  them. 
On  the  day  succeeding,  a  coroner's  inquest  was  held  upon  the  bodies  of  the 
deceased  persons,  when  Mr.  Anderson,  constable,  and  John  Turner,  the 
man  who  had  escaped  from  the  window,  were  examined. 

Mr,  Anderson  deposed  that  he  was  a  constable,  and  knew  Mr.  and  Mrs. 
Williamson  ;  they  were  highly  respected  in  the  neighbourhood,  and  for 
the  space  of  fifteen  years  kept  the  King's  Arms  public-house,  which  was 
the  resort  of  foreigners  of  every  description.  At  eleven  o'clock  every 
night  they  invariably  closed  their  house.  On  Thursday  night,  the  19th  of 
December  1811,  Mr.  Williamson  pursued  his  usual  course.  Ten  minutes 
before  eleven  witness  called  for  a  pot  of  beer.  During  the  time  Mrs. 
Williamson  was  drawing  the  beer,  Mr.  Williamson,  who  was  sitting  by 
the  fire,  said  to  him,  "  You  are  an  officer — there  has  been  a  fellow  listen- 
ing at  my  door  with  a  brown  coat  on  ;  if  you  should  see  him,  take  him 
into  custody,  or  tell  me."  He  answered  "  He  certainly  would,  for  his  and 
his  own  safety,"  and  then  retired.  Witness  lived  next  door  but  one  to  the 
deceased.  Between  twenty  and  thirty  minutes  after  he  left  the  King's 
Arms,  he  intended  to  go  for  another  pot  of  beer;  as  soon  as  he  got  out  of 
his  house  he  heard  a  noise,  when  he  saw  the  lodger  lowering  himself 
down  into  the  street  by  the  sheets.  He  ran  into  the  house  for  his  staff, 
and  proceeded  to  the  spot.  The  watchman  caught  the  lodger  in  his  arms, 
when  witness  and  others  broke  the  cellar-flap  open,  and,  having  descended, 
began  to  look  roimd  the  cellar;  on  coming  to  the  staircase,  tliey  saw  Mr. 
'v\^illiamson  lying  on  his  back,  with  his  legs  upon  the  stairs,  his  head 
downwards  :  by  his  side  was  an  iron  instrument,  similar  to  a  stonemason's 
crow,  about  three  feet  long,  in  diameter  three  quarters  of  an  inch  :  it  was 
much  stained  with  blood.  Mr.  AYilliamson  had  received  a  wound  on  the 
head,  his  throat  was  dreadfully  cut,  his  right  leg  was  broken  by  a  blow, 
and  his  hand  severely  cut.  From  these  marks  of  violence  witness  sup^ 
posed  jNIr.  Williamson  made  great  resistance,  as  he  was  a  very  powerful 
man.     They  then  proceeded  up  into  the  sitting-room,  where  they  saw  Mrs 


THE    NEAV   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  517 

Williamson  lying  on  her  left  side  ;  her  skull  was  fiactured,  and  her  throat 
cut  and  bleeding  most  profusely.  Near  to  her  was  the  servant  woman, 
lying  on  her  back,  with  her  head  under  tlie  grate ;  lier  skull  was  more 
dreadfully  fractured  than  that  of  her  mistress,  her  throat  most  inhumanly 
cut,  and  none  of  the  bodies  were  cold.  Witness  then  stated  that  the  pre- 
mises were  afterwards  examined,  and  it  was  discovered  that  the  murderers 
had  made  their  escape  from  a  back  w-indow  looking  into  a  piece  of  waste 
ground  belonging  to  the  London  Dock  Company.  The  sill  of  the  window 
was  stained  with  blood,  and  the  sash  remained  thrown  up.  The  distance 
whicli  the  villains  had  to  jump  did  not  exceed  eight  feet,  and  the  ground 
beneath  was  soft  clay  ;  so  they  could  sustain  no  injury  even  had  they 
fallen.  From  the  waste  ground  in  question  there  was  no  difficulty  what- 
ever in  escaping,  as  it  communicated  with  several  by-streets. 

John  Turner,  the  man  who  escaped  from  the  window,  and  who  was  a 
lodger  in  tlie  house,  deposed  as  follows  :— 

"  I  went  to  bed  about  five  minutes  before  eleven  o'clock ;  I  had  not 
been  in  bed  more  than  five  or  ten  minutes  before  I  heard  the  cry  of  '  We 
shall  all  be  murdered  ! '  which  I  suppose  was  the  cry  of  the  woman- 
servant.  I  went  down  stairs,  and  saw  one  of  tlie  villains  cutting  Mrs. 
Williamson's  throat,  and  rifling  her  pockets.  I  immediately  ran  up  stairs, 
took  up  the  sheets  from  my  bed,  fastened  them  together,  and  lashed  them 
to  the  bed-posts ;  I  called  to  the  watchman  to  give  the  alarm ;  I  was 
hanging  out  of  the  front  window  by  the  sheets ;  and  the  watchman 
received  me  in  his  arms,  naked  as  I  was.  A  great  mob  had  then  assembled 
opposite  the  door ;  and  as  soon  as  I  got  upon  my  legs  the  door  was  forced 
open :  I  entered,  and  found  the  bodies  lying  as  described.  There  was 
nobody  lodged  in  the  house  but  myself,  except  a  grand-daughter  of  Mrs. 
Ayilliamson.  I  have  lived  in  the  house  about  eight  months,  and  during 
that  time  I  have  found  the  family  to  be  the  most  peaceful  people  that 
could  keep  a  public-house.  The  man  whom  I  saw  rifling  Mrs.  William- 
son's pocket,  as  far  as  I  could  see  by  the  light  in  the  room,  was  about  six 
feet  in  height,  dressed  in  a  genteel  style,  with  a  long  dark  loose  coat  on.  I 
said  nothing  to  him  ;  but,  terrified,  I  ran  up  stairs,  and  made  my  escape 
as  already  mentioned.  When  I  was  down  stairs,  I  heard  two  or  three  very 
great  sighs;  and  when  I  was  first  alarmed,  I  heard  distinctly  the  words, 
'  We  shall  all  be  murdered.' "  Turner  further  deposed  that,  at  the  time  he 
went  to  Vied,  Mrs.  Williamson  was  on  the  stairs,  taking  up  a  silver  punch- 
ladle  and  watch,  which  were  to  be  raffled  for  on  the  following  Monday, 
into  her  bedroom  for  security. 

Other  witnesses  were  examined,  but  their  testimony  differed  in  no  mate- 
rial respects  from  that  of  the  persons  whose  evidence  we  have  detailed  ;  and 
tlie  jury,  as  in  the  case  of  Mr.  Marr,  returned  a  verdict  of  "  Wilful 
Murder  against  some  person  or  persons  unknown." 

After  the  termination  of  this  necessary  inquiry  before  the  coroner,  how- 
ever, the  most  minute  investigation  of  every  circumstance  connected  witb 
this  lamentable  affair  was  carried  on  by  the  magistrates  of  Shadwell. 
Many  persons  were  taken  into  custody,  but  discharged  for  want  of  evidence : 
])at  an  Irishman,  named  Cornelius  Driscoll,  was  detained  on  suspicion  of 
being  implicated  in  the  liorrid  deed,  on  account  of  a  pair  of  breeches  covered 
with  blood  being  found  in  his  possession. 

Of  all  the  persons  seized,  however,  suspicion  fell  strongest  upon  a  man 


5!8  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR, 

named  John  Williams,  who  cheated  justice  by  committing  suicide  before 
his  guilt  or  his  innocence  could  be  fully  established. 

This  man  was  apprehended  on  suspicion  of  being  concerned  in  the  mur- 
ders ;  and  on  his  examination,  John  Frederick  Ritchcn,  a  Dane,  who  was 
also  in  custody,  was  sworn  as  a  witness.  lie  stated  that  he  had  lodged  in 
the  Pear  Tree  public -house,  kept  by  Mr.  Vermillee,  with  the  prisoner,  for 
about  twelve  weeks  and  three  or  four  days,  but  knew  little  of  him  except 
in  the  light  of  a  fellow-lodger.  He  knew  that  he  was  acquainted  with 
two  men,  a  carpenter  and  a  joiner,  and  about  three  or  four  weeks  before  he 
had  seen  them  all  three  drinking  together  at  the  bar  of  the  public-house. 
On  the  night  of  the  murder  of  the  Marr  family  Williams  was  out,  and  a 
few  minutes  before  he  returned  there  was  a  knock  at  the  door,  which  Mrs. 
Vermillee  opened.  The  witness  had  gone  down  to  open  the  door,  but 
seeing  ]\Irs.  Vermillee,  he  went  up  to  his  own  room  ;  and,  when  there, 
heard  her  in  conversation  with  a  man,  whose  voice  resembled  that  of  one 
of  the  two  men  before  mentioned.  A  few  minutes  afterwards  Williams 
himself  came  in.  This  was  almost  half-past  one  o'clock.  Three  or  four 
days  before  Williams  was  taken  up,  he  observed  that  the  large  sandy- 
coloured  whiskers,  which  had  before  formed  a  striking  feature  in  his 
appearance,  had  been  cut  off.  About  eleven  o'clock  on  the  day  after  the 
nmrder  of  the  Marr  family,  the  witness  went  from  curiosity  to  examine 
the  premises,  which  he  entered,  and  saw  the  dead  bodies.  From  thence 
he  returned  to  the  Pear  Tree,  where  he  found  Williams  in  the  back  yard, 
washing  out  his  stockings,  but  he  did  not  tell  him  where  he  had  been. 
He  was  then  questioned  respecting  his  knowledge  of  the  maul,  which  is  a 
round  bar  of  iron  about  an  inch  in  diameter,  between  two  and  three  feet  in 
length,  flattened  at  the  end  into  the  shape  of  a  chisel,  but  not  with  a 
cutting  edge,  being  apparently  a  tool  for  caulking.  He  said  it  resembled 
one  he  had  seen  about  the  Pear  Tree  public-house,  but  he  could  not 
identify  it.  A  pair  of  blue  woollen  trousers,  and  also  a  pair  of  canvas 
trousers,  were  then  produced,  which  had  been  found  betw-een  the  mattress 
and  the  bed-clothes  of  the  hammock  in  which  the  witness  slept.  The  legs 
of  the  blue  trousers  had  evidently  been  washed,  for  the  purpose  of  cleaning 
tliem  from  mud,  of  which  the  appearances  were  still  visible  in  the  creases, 
which  had  not  been  efiectually  cleansed.  These  trousers  were  damp  at  the 
time  of  the  examination ;  the  canvas  trousers  were  also  damp,  but  they 
presented  no  particular  appearance.  The  witness  stated  that  both  these 
pairs  of  trousers  had  formerly  belonged  to  a  person  since  gone  to  sea,  and 
he  had  since  worn  them  himself. 

Mrs.  Orr,  residing  near  the  Pear  Tree,  stated,  that  on  the  Saturday 
before  IMarr's  murder,  about  half-past  one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  she 
was  getting  up  linen,  when  she  heard  a  noise  about  the  house,  as  if  a 
man  was  attempting  to  break  into  the  house.  She  was  frightened  and 
asked,  "Who  was  thei'e?"  A  voice  answered,  which  she  knew  to  be 
AVilliams's,  "  I  am  a  robber  ! "  She  answered,  "•  Whether  you  are  a  robber 
or  not,  I  will  let  you  in,  and  am  glad  to  see  you."  Williams  entered, 
seating  himself  till  the  watchman  was  calling  the  hour  of  past  two  o'clock. 
He  then  got  up  from  his  chaii',  and  asked  the  landlady  if  she  would  have 
a  glass.  She  assented,  but  as  he  would  not  go  for  it,  she  went  to  tlie 
Pear  Tree  public-house,  but  could  gain  no  admittance.  She  returned, 
when   Williams  inquii-ed  how  many  rooms  there  were  in  her  house,  and 


TUE  NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  519 

Jhe  situation  of  her  back  premises.  She  replied,  there  were  three  rooms, 
and  that  her  back  yard  communicated  with  Mrs.  Vermillce's  house.  The 
watcliman  came  into  Mrs.  Orr's  house,  although  Williams  resisted  it  for 
some  time,  and  he  told  her  that  he  had  picked  up  a  chisel  by  the  side  of 
her  window.  Williams  ran  out  unobserved  at  this  information ;  soon 
afterwards  he  returned.  The  watchman  was  going,  when  Williams  stopped 
him,  and  desired  him  to  go  to  the  Pear  Tree  and  get  some  liquor.  The 
house  was  then  open.  While  the  watchman  was  gone  for  the  liquor, 
Williams  took  up  the  chisel,  and  said,  "  D — n  my  eyes,  where  did  you  get 
this  chisel  ?"  Mrs.  Orr  did  not  part  with  it,  and  retained  the  instrument 
till  the  Monday  following.  Hearing  that  Williams  was  examined,  she 
went  to  Mrs.  Vermillee's,  and  sliowed  her  the  chisel. — Mrs.  Vermillee 
looked  at  it,  and  compared  it  with  the  tools  in  one  Patterson's  chest,  when 
it  was  found  to  bear  the  same  marks,  and  declared  that  it  was  taken  out  of 
her  house.  Mrs.  Orr  instantly  delivered  the  chisel  to  tiie  magistrates  of 
Shadwell-street  office,  as  being  a  further  trace  to  the  villany.  Mrs.  Orr 
said  she  knew  Williams  for  eleven  weeks ;  he  frequently  nursed  her  child, 
and  used  to  joke  with  her  daughter,  and  once  asked  her  whether  she 
should  be  frightened  if  he  came  in  the  dead  of  the  night  to  her  bedside  ? 
The  daughter  replied,  that  if  it  was  he  who  came,  she  should  not  be 
frightened.  They  both  thought  him  an  agreeable  young  man,  of  a  most 
insinuating  address. 

In  consequence  of  the  information  of  this  witness,  a  minute  examination 
of  the  ripping  chisel  found  at  Mr.  ]\Iarr's  took  place,  and  it  was  found  also 
to  be  marked  like  that  discovered  by  the  watchman  at  Mrs.  Orr's.  The 
husband  of  Mrs.  Vermillee  was  in  custody  on  suspicion  in  Newgate,  and 
he  was  consulted,  and  expressed  his  belief  that  it  was  taken  from  the  same 
tool  chest  as  that  chisel.  The  plot  now  seemed  to  thicken  against  the  pri- 
soner, and  little  doubt  was  entertained  of  his  connexion  with  the  carpenter 
and  joiner,  and  of  their  having  all  been  engaged  in  the  perpetration  of 
these  most  horrid  murders,  when  all  further  elforts  on  the  part  of  the  police 
were  checked,  by  his  adding  another  crime  to  those  which  it  was  fully 
believed  he  had  already  committed,  by  destroying  liimself. 

He  had  been  remanded  for  further  examination  to  Cold  Bath  Field?* 
Prison,  and  the  police  of  the  district  had  redoubled  their  exertions  to  detecW 
and  bring  to  justice  his  accomplices.  ]\Ir.  Vermillee  had  been  ordered  to 
be  set  at  liberty,  in  order  that  he  might  give  evidence  upon  the  day  of  the 
next  inquiry  before  the  magistrates,  when,  on  the  very  morning  on  which 
the  prisoner  was  to  be  carried  before  the  magistrates,  upon  the  gaolei 
going  to  call  him  from  his  cell,  in  order  that  he  might  prepare  himself  to 
be  carried  to  the  Police  Office,  he  was  found,  heavily  ironed  as  he  was, 
suspended  by  a  handkerchief  from  a  beam  in  the  apartment  in  which  he 
was  confined.  He  was  instantly  cut  down,  but  upon  his  body  being 
examined,  it  was  found  that  he  was  quite  dead  and  cold,-  and  that  he  had 
evidently  been  hanging  during  several  hours. 

The  excitement  produced  by  this  termination  of  the  investigation  would 
be  difficult  to  describe,  but  all  persons  now  expressed  their  full  belief  that 
tlie  deceased  prisoner  was  the  author  of  the  crimes  which  had  attracted 
such  universal  attention.  An  inquest  was  held  upon  his  body,  and  a  ver- 
dict of  felo  cle  se  was  returned  by  tlie  jury,  but  now  became  a  question, 
how  the  public  indignation  could  best  be  satisfied  ?     The  rule  in  such 


520  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

cases  was  that  the  deceased  should  be  buried  in  the  nearest  cross  roads,  but 
a  conference  was  held  with  the  Home  Secretary  by  Mr.  Capper,  the  magis- 
trate, with  the  view  of  ascertaining  how  far  tliis  regulation  might  be  de- 
parted from,  at  which  it  was  determined  that  a  public  exhibition  of  the 
body  should  be  made  through  the  neighbourhood  which  had  been  the  scene 
of  the  monster's  crimes.  In  conformity  with  this  decision,  on  the  31st  of 
December,  the  body  of  the  deceased  was  privately  removed  from  the  prison 
at  eleven  o'clock  at  night,  and  conveyed  to  St.  George's  watchhouse,  near 
the  London  docks,  and  on  the  following  (Tuesday)  morning,  at  half-past 
ten  o'clock,  a  procession  was  formed  in  the  following  order  : — 

Several  hundred  constables,  -witli  their  staves,  clearing  the  way. 
The  newly-formed  patrole,  with  drawa  cutlasses. 
Another  body  of  constables. 
Parish  oflBcers  of  St.  George's,  St.  Paul's,  and  Shadwell,  on  horseback. 
Peace-officers,  on  horseback. 
Constables. 
The  high  constable  of  the  county  of  Middlesex,  on  horseback. 
The  body  of  Williams, 
Extended  at  full  length  on  an  inclined   platform,  erected  on  the  cart,  about  four  feet  high  at 
the  head,  and  gradually  sloping  towards  the  horse,  giving  a  full  view  of  the  body,  which  wag 
dressed  in  blue  trousers  and  a  white  and  blue  stri])cd  waistcoat,  but  without  a  coat,  as  when 
found  in  the  cell.     On  the  left  side  of  the  head  the  fatal  maul,  and  on  the  right  the  ripping- 
chisel,  with  which  the  murders  viere  perpetrated,  were  exposed  to  view.     The  countenance  of 
Williams  was  ghastly  in  the  extreme,  and   the  whole  had  an  appearance  too  horrible  for 
description, 

A  strong  body  of  constables  brought  up  the  rear. 

The  procession  advanced  slowly  up  Ratcliffe  Highway,  accompanied  by 
an  immense  concourse  of  persons,  eager  to  get  a  sight  of  the  murderer's 
remains.  When  the  cart  came  opposite  to  the  late  Mr.  Marr's  house,  a 
halt  Avas  made  for  near  a  quarter  of  an  hour.  The  procession  then  moved 
down  Old  Gravel-lane,  along  Wapping,  up  New  Crane-lane,  and  into  New 
Gravel-lane.  AVhen  the  platform  arrived  at  Mr.  Williamson's  late  house, 
a  second  halt  took  place.  It  then  proceeded  up  tlie  hill,  and  again  entered 
Ratclifte  Highway,  down  which  it  moved  into  Cannon-street,  and  advanced 
to  St.  George's  turnpike,  where  the  New  Road  is  intersected  by  Cannon- 
street.  There  a  grave,  about  six  feet  deep,  had  been  prepared,  immediately 
over  which  the  main  water-pipe  runs.  Between  twelve  and  one  o'clock 
^he  body  was  taken  from  the  platform,  and  lowered  into  the  grave,  imnie- 
Uately  after  wliich  a  stake  was  driven  through  it ;  and,  the  pit  being 
jovered,  tliis  ceremony  concluded. 

During  the  last  half-hour  the  crowd  had  increased  immensely — they 
poured  in  from  all  parts,  but  their  demeanour  was  perfectly  quiet.  All 
the  shops  in  the  neiglibourhood  were  shut,  and  the  windows  and  tops  of 
the  houses  were  crowded  with  spectators.  On  every  side,  mingled  with 
execrations  of  the  mtirderer,  were  heard  fervent  prayers  for  the  speedy  de- 
tection of  his  accomplices. 

A  conclusive  evidence  of  the  guilt  of  this  wretched  suicide  was  after- 
wards found,  in  the  discovery  of  a  knife  which  he  always  carried  with  him, 
concealed  in  a  hole  in  the  room  which  he  occupied,  encrusted  with 
blood. 

Fearful  as  were  the  horrid  crimes  committed  by  this  blood-thirsty 
assassin,  they  were  not  without  their  good  effect  in  the  metropolis.  The 
sensation  produced  by  the  murders  awakened  the  apprehension  of  all  persons 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  521 

for  their  own  safety  ;  and  local  meetings  were  held  in  the  various  parishes 
ot  the  metropolis,  at  which  resolutions  were  passed,  in  pursuance  of  which 
a  system  of  police  was  established  far  more  complete  than  that  which 
before  existed,  although  still  infinitely  inferior  in  point  of  regularity  and 
competence  to  that  which  within  the  last  eleven  years  has  been  adopltii 
and  carried  out  to  the  admiration  of  the  civilised  world. 


WILLIAM  HEBBERFIELD. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

The  prosecution  of  this  prisoner  arose  out  of  a  desire  on  the  part  of  the 
Bank  of  England  to  put  a  stop  to  the  most  dangerous  and  hurtful  system 
of  forgery  wliich  existed  about  this  time  in  the  city  of  London. 

It  appears  that  the  prisoner  had  long  been  known  as  a  dealer  in  forged 
notes  ;  but  he  had  contrived  to  elude  the  vigilance  of  the  officers  employed, 
although  he  rendered  himself  liable  to  punishment  for  the  part  which 
he  took  in  a  conspiracy  for  aiding  the  escape  of  General  Austin,  a 
Frencli  officer,  a  prisoner  of  war  in  this  country,  on  his  parole,  for 
which  he  was  sentenced  by  the  Court  of  King's  Bench  to  two  years' 
imprisonment  in  Newgate.  Even  while  in  that  jail,  however,  he  conti- 
nued to  carry  on  the  trade  in  forged  notes ;  and  this  being  communicated 
to  the  officers  of  the  bank,  they  determined  upon  a  plan  to  secure  his  con- 
viction. A  prisoner  named  Barry,  who  was  in  tlie  House  of  Correction 
undergoing  an  imprisonment  for  passing  counterfeit  dollars,  was  selected  as 
the  agent,  and  on  the  •23d  of  September  he  was  conducted  in  a  hackney- 
coach  to  Newgate,  accompanied  by  Mr.  Weston,  the  principal  clerk  to 
Mr.  Freshfield,  the  bank  stjlicitor,  and  by  Beckett,  one  of  the  turnkeys,  by 
whom  he  was  provided  with  8/.  in  good  H.-notes.  On  their  arrival  at 
the  prison,  Barry  was  shown  into  the  prisoner's  room,  vrhere  he  found  a 
number  of  other  persons.  He  directly  went  to  the  prisoner,  and  without 
saying  anything,  gave  him  six  of  the  notes  which  he  had  received,  and 
which  were  all  mai'ked.  The  prisoner  returned  three,  saying  that  he 
should  not  have  enough  of  the  other  notes  until  the  next  day ;  but  in  lieu 
of  the  others,  which  he  kept,  he  handed  over  forged  notes  of  the  nominal 
value  of  (j^.  Barry  immediately  carried  these  notes  to  Mr.  Weston,  who 
remained  outside  ;  and  Beckett,  accompanied  by  Brown  and  another 
officer,  went  into  the  prisoner's  chamber,  and  asked  him  to  produce  what 
property  he  had  about  him.  The  prisoner  dii'ectly  took  from  one  pocket  a 
handful  of  gold,  from  another  a  pocket-book  filled  with  bank-notes,  from 
another  a  quantity  of  loose  bank-notes,  and  he  also  produced  a  stocking 
stuffiLid  with  the  like  currency.  Beckett,  on  examining  these  notes,  and 
not  perceiving  amongst  them  any  of  tlie  marked  ones  he  sought  for,  told 
the  prisoner  he  had  some  more,  and  desired  him  to  produce  them  ;  upon 
which  the  prisoner  took  some  other  notes  from  his  side-pocket,  and  laid 
them  on  the  bed  where  he  was  sitting.  Beckett  took  those  up,  and  they 
})roved  to  be  tlie  marked  notes.  He  said  these  were  what  he  wanted, 
and  returned  the  prisoner  the  rest  ;  upon  which  the  prisoner,  probably 
anticipatino-  his  purpose,  snatched  the  notes,  and  thrust  them  into  the  fire, 
Beckett's  assistant,  liowever,  rescued  them  from  the  flames,  and  they  were 

■^oL    I.  3  X 


522  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

proved  to  be  the  same  which  Barry  had  paid  him  just  before ;  and  th« 
notes  Barry  received  in  lieu  were  also  proved  to  be  forgeries. 

The  prisoner  upon  being  indicted  for  this  offence  was  found  guilty  aud 
sentenced  to  death,  in  pursuance  of  which  he  was  executed  on  the  2ud 
November  1811. 

So  great  was  the  increase  of  these  frauds  upon  the  public,  that  between 
the  year  1797  and  1811,  no  fewer  than  471  persons  were  prosecuted  to 
conviction  for  forging,  or  uttering,  or  possessing  forged  notes.  The  total 
amount  of  notes  tlius  put  off  it  is  of  course  impossible  to  calculate  with 
any  certainty,  but  discoveries  were  made  which  showed  the  system  to 
exist  to  an  extent  almost  incredible. 


JOHN  CLAYTON  AND  WILLIAM  JENKINS. 

EXECUTED    FOR    BURGLARY. 

The  activity,  daring,  and  ingenuity  of  the  London  "  cracksmen  "  is  well 
exemplified  in  the  following  case  : — 

It  appears  that  Reid,  a  constable  belonging  to  Perry's  party  of  patrole, 
received  information  from  a  person  technically  called  a  "  nose," — that  is,  an 
informer  or  spy, — that  a  set  was  made  at  the  house  of  a  Mrs.  INIartin,  a  lady 
residing  at  No.  4,  Bury  Street,  St.  James's,  by  a  party  of  thieves,  who  had 
derived  sufficient  knowledge  of  tlie  customs  of  the  house  from  the  servant 
girl,  Mary  Wakelin,  to  induce  them  to  suppose  that  the  robbery  would  be  a 
profitable  speculation.  Their  mode  of  making  themselves  acquainted  with 
this  circumstance  was  this  : — The  girl,  like  most  others  of  her  condition  and 
years,  was  vain  of  her  personal  charms,  and  the  prisoner  Clayton  was  a 
young  man  of  pleasing  manners  and  insinuating  address.  The  "crack" 
was  fixed  upon,  and  Clayton  was  set  to  Avork  upon  the  girl's  vanity,  and 
so  obtain  the  necessary  information  to  enable  his  assistants  and  associates 
to  complete  it  cleverly.  He  addressed  her  one  evening  at  the  public-house 
to  which  she  was  in  the  habit  of  going  to  fetch  her  mistress's  beer,  and 
having  passed  a  few  encomiums  upon  her  beauty,  was  soon  admitted  into 
conversation.  The  impression  which  he  made  was  not  imfavourable,  and 
he  was  too  good  a  judge  to  allow  an  opportunity  to  pass,  by  which  he 
might  benefit  himself.  Day  after  day  he  was  found  at  the  same  place, 
and  each  day  he  was  more  attentive  than  the  last ;  and  the  girl  at  length 
looked  upon  him  in  the  light  of  a  suitor.  He  informed  her  that  he  was  a 
trunk-maker  living  in  Oxford  Street,  and  in  return  obtained  information 
that  her  mistress  was  in  the  habit  of  visiting  the  theatres  or  some  other 
place  of  public  amusement  nearly  every  night.  He  did  not  fail  to  improve 
upon  his  acquaintance  at  every  fresh  interview,  and  at  length  a  Monday 
evening  was  fixed  upon,  when  the  lover  was  to  be  admitted  to  spend  an 
hour  with  the  oirl  in  the  kitchen  during  her  mistress's  absence.  It  was  at 
this  period  that  the  ofiicers  gamed  information  of  the  intended  robbery;  and 
they  in  consequence  obtained  permission  to  occupy  a  room  opposite  to  ]\Irs. 
IVlartin's  house,  from  which  they  could  witness  all  that  passed.  Half-past 
eight  o'clock  was  the  time  appointed  by  Mary  to  see  her  swain,  and  tho 
constables  took  care  to  be  as  punctual  as  he.  A  few  minutes  before  tho 
time,  accordingly,  they  saw  four  men  and  two  women  arrive  at  the  spot, 
from  whom  Clayton  separated  himself  and  went  and  knocked  at  the  door. 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  523 

ITe  was,  however,  doomed  to  be  disappointed.  The  mistress  was  iinweh' 
and  could  not  go  out,  and  therefore,  with  a  kiss  or  two,  and  an  aflectionate 
hug,  the  sweethearts  were  obliged  to  part,  not,  however,  without  fixino-  the 
next  Tuesday  to  carry  out  their  design,  Tuesday  night  came,  and  the 
officers  were  again  at  their  post ;  but  the  loving  pair  separated  after  taking 
a  little  gin  together.  Wednesday  evening  passed  in  the  same  manner, 
I\rrs.  Martin  being  still  too  unwell  to  go  out ;  and  notwitlistandino-  the 
most  praiseworthy  attention  on  the  part  of  the  supposed  trunk-maker  to 
his  inamorata,  every  evening  until  the  following  Tuesday  passed  in  the 
same  way,  the  professions  of  inviolable  attachment  made  by  the  tender- 
hearted youth  growing  each  night  more  strong,  and  his  anxiety  to  enter  the 
house  increasing  at  every  meeting.  On  the  Tuesday  night,  however,  the 
girl  told  Clayton  that  her  mistress  was  so  much  recovered,  that  she 
expected  she  would  be  well  enougli  to  go  the  following  night  to  the  play  , 
and  on  Wednesday  night,  about  eight  o'clock,  Mrs.  Martin,  accompanied 
by  a  male  and  female  friend,  went  in  a  coach  to  the  theatre.  In  a  few 
minutes  after,  the  servant  girl  came  out,  and  returned  shortly  with  Clayton, 
arm  in  arm  together.  They  talked  together  several  minutes  at  the  door, 
and  then  went  in.  In  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour  after,  Clayton  came  out, 
and  returned  in  about  five  minutes,  accompanied  by  another  man.  Clayton 
knocked  at  the  door,  and  the  girl  opened  it.  She  appeared  to  refuse  to  let 
the  other  man  in ;  but  Clayton  forced  open  the  door,  and  the  other  man 
rushed  in.  The  officers,  who  had  been  upon  the  close  watch  every  ni^rlit, 
then  went  over  to  the  house,  and  heard  all  three  talking  very  loud  in  the 
kitchen.  From  the  noise,  and  what  they  saw  through  a  keyhole,  they 
ascertained  that  the  two  men  were  dragging  the  girl  up  stairs  against  her 
will,  and  she  was  exclaiming,  "  Lord  have  mercy  upon  me !  what  shall  I 
do  ?"  One  of  the  men  told  her  if  she  made  such  a  noise  he  would  blow 
her  brains  out,  and  presented  a  pistol  to  her  head,  and  kept  it  there.  They 
forced  her  up  stairs,  and  the  officers  heard  doors  being  broken  open,  &c., 
and,  in  a  few  minutes  after,  the  second  man  came  down  stairs,  and  returned 
with  the  kitchen  poker.  They  then  heard  other  doors  break  open ;  but  not 
hearing  the  noise  of  the  girl  continued,  the  officers  were  afraid  she  was 
being  murdered,  and  were  proceeding  to  force  the  street-door  with  an  iron 
crow,  when  the  girl  exclaimed  it  was  her  mistress,  gave  a  sudden  spring, 
released  herself  from  her  assailants,  ran  down  stairs,  with  the  robbers  after 
her :  and  they  got  into  the  passage  just  as  the  officers  had  entered.  Clayton 
and  Jenkins  appeared  as  if  nothing  had  happened,  and  wanted  to  get  out ; 
but  Perry  and  Reid  seized  them.  The  villains  made  a  most  desperate 
resistance,  wliich  they  were  enabled  to  do,  being  very  tall,  stout,  powerful 
men ;  but  they  were  eventually  secured.  On  searching  Clayton,  a  large 
clasp  knife  and  a  bad  dollar  were  found.  On  Jenkins  were  found  a  pistol, 
two  bad  dollars,  &c.  On  examining  the  house,  the  officers  discovered  that 
a  large  quantity  of  property  had  been  packed  up,  ready  to  be  carried  off. 
Several  rooms  and  closets  were  broken  open,  and  the  thieves  were  in  the 
act  of  breaking  open  a  chest  when  they  were  disturbed. 

The  trial  of  tliese  desperadoes  came  on  at  the  Old  Bailey,  on  the  loth 
of  January,  when  Mary  Wakelin,  before  named,  deposed  that  she  first 
became  acquainted  with  the  prisoner  Clayton  about  eight  or  ten  days 
before  the  1st  of  January ;  he  then  came  to  her  mistress's  house,  when  she 
answered  the  door,  and  told  her  his  name  was  Wilson,  and  that  he  had 
a  letter  for  Mrs.  Martin,  which  was  the  name  her  mistress  went  by.     A 


5i'4  THE    MEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

night  or  two  afterwards  he  threw  things  down  the  area.  Her  mistress 
sent  her  out  with  a  message,  and  she  then  saw  Clayton,  who  asked  her  to 
take  something  to  drink,  which  she  at  first  refused ;  but  upon  his  insistinor 
they  went  and  had  something  to  drink.  She  saw  him  a  night  or  two 
afterwards  in  tlie  streets,  as  she  went  out  on  an  errand,  and  frequently  after 
t<;at;  but  she  never  saw  the  prisoner  Jenkins  till  the  night  of  the  1st  of 
January. 

The  jury  found  both  the  prisoners  Guilty,  and  they  were  sentenced  to 
leath. 

The  fearful  sentence  was  carried  into  effect  on  the  scaffold  before  the 
Debtor's  door,  Newgate,  on  the  19th  February  1812,  at  the  usual  hour, 
and  with  the  accustomed  solemnity.  Clayton  was  twenty-eight  years  of 
age,  and  Jenkins  thirty-five. 

After  the  culprits  had  been  divested  of  their  irons,  Clayton  observed  to 
Jenkins  it  was  an  awful  moment,  and  he  exhorted  him  to  cheer  his  spirits, 
and  die  witli  manly  fortitude — adding  that  the  sentence  was  just,  and 
trusting  their  example  would  v/arn  others  against  keeping  bad  company. 


DANIEL  DAWSON. 

EXECUTED    FOR    POISONING    RACE-HORSES. 

This  fellow  had  long  exercised  the  business  of  a  tout  to  betting-men  of 
an  inferior  class  on  the  Turf,  obtaining  for  them  such  information  from  the 
grooms  and  other  persons  employed  about  the  racing-stables  as  he  conceived 
they  might  deem  useful ;  when  having  got  together  a  little  money,  he 
thouo-ht  that  he  mioht  be  able  to  employ  his  information  to  his  own  advan- 
tage, and  he  therefore  turned  betting-man  himself.  He  was  a  man  utterly 
devoid  of  education,  and  therefore  unfit  to  mix  among  the  gentlemen  of  liis 
class ;  and  being  confined  to  the  society  of  grooms  and  other  persons  of  "low 
degree,"  he  imbibed  none  of  those  principles  of  "  honour  "  for  which  the 
speculators  on  racing  and  other  gambling  events  are  generally  proverbial. 
In  order  then  to  make  sure  of  winning  his  bets,  he  determined  to  render 
the  horses  unfit  for  running,  by  drugging  them.  In  this  practice  he  con- 
tinued until  April  1811,  when  he  conveyed  a  large  quantity  of  the  solution 
of  arsenic  into  a  watering  trough,  from  which  two  horses  belonging  to 
Lord  Foley  and  Sir  F.  Standish  had  to  drink. 

The  drug  being  too  powerful  to  produce  that  effect  only  Avhich  was 
requisite,  the  horses  died,  and  suspicion  falling  upon  Dawson  and  a  com- 
panion of  his  named  Cecil  Bishop,  they  were  taken  into  custody.  Bishop 
immediately  made  a  full  confession,  and  accused  Dawson  of  having  poisoned 
another  horse  in  the  year  1809,  belonging  to  a  Mr.  Adams  at  Royston, 
and  he  made  such  disclosures  as  established  a  chain  of  evidence  which  left 
no  doubt  of  the  truth  of  his  story.  He  was  therefore  admitted  as  a 
witness,  and  his  comp-anion  was  committed  to  take  his  trial  at  the  ensuing 
Lent  Assizes  at  Cambridge.  It  there  turned  out,  that  instead  of  being  a 
principal  as  he  was  charged,  he  was  an  accessary  only,  and  he  was 
acquitted  ;  but  he  was  detained  in  custody  upon  another  charge  of  poisoning 
race-horses  in  the  year  1809.  He  was  arraigned  upon  a  second  indictment 
therefore  at  the  Assizes  held  in  August  18T2,  and  upon  this  he  was  found 
guilty  and  sentenced  to  death.  For  some  time  after  his  conviction,  he 
entertained  hopes  that  his  life  would  be  spared,  and  Lord  Foley,  in  conse- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  525 

qiience  of  some  communications  which  he  received  from  him,  was  indnced 
to  second  his  application  for  mercy.  This,  however,  was  attended  with  no 
good  effect,  and  the  wretched  culprit  was  left  for  execution.  Determined 
not  to  throw  away  all  chances,  he  resolved  to  attempt  to  escape  from  cus- 
tody, and  he  wrote  to  his  wife  in  the  following  terms,  in  order  to  procure 
some  assistance  to  enable  him  to  complete  his  design. 

"  Dear  Wife, — I  learn  by  yours,  I  am  in  danger  ;  but  I  have  another 
way  of  escape  without  fear  of  being  discovered. — You  go  to  a  tool-shop, 
and  get  a  small  back  saw,  as  the  watch-makers  use,  the  smaller  the  better, 
to  convey  to  me  :  the  best  way  you  can  get  it  in  will  be  bet>veen  some 
turf,  with  some  black  thread  ;  if  you  can  find  a  better  way,  do  it ;  but  be 
careful,  for  all  the  danger  is  to  get  that  to  me,  for  I  have  but  one  bar  to 
cut,  and  I  am  in  town  by  four  o'clock  in  the  morning.  They  will  not  miss 
me  till  eight,  when  they  come  to  unlock  us.  I  shall  be  by  that  out  of  their 
reach.  Dear  girl,  bring  me  the  turf  six  pieces  at  a  time.  When  I  have  got 
the  saw,  I  must  have  some  friend  come  round  to  see  the  Castle,  but  take 
no  notice  of  me,  but  to  see  the  situation;  I  am  in  full  north;  and  come 
again  in  one  hour  after  we  lock  up  ;  bring  rope  enough  to  reach  over  the 
wall,  and  he  stand  on  the  other  side,  and  hold  it  till  I  am  up  the  wall. 
Fasten  a  large  spike  to  the  end  of  the  rope,  and  throw  it  over  the  wall,  and 
tie  knots  about  nine  inches  asunder  to  hold  by,  and  about  twenty-five  feet 
long.  There  is  no  danger  in  this,  for  there  is  nobody  inside  after  we  come 
to  bed.  A  rainy  night  will  be  best ;  but  I  will  let  you  know  the  night  by 
another  line.  Mr.  Prince  says  he  has  got  a  very  respectable  man,  who  will 
come  forward  and  swear  to  everything  of  the  concern,  all  but  seeing  it  put 
in.  If  anybody  can  be  found  to  write  to  Lord  F.  0.  (alluding  to  a  threat), 
it  will  have  great  effect.  Mr.  J.  B.  South-street  Grosvenor  Square,  Mr.  B. 
King's  J\Iews,  Elbs  (meaning  Tlieobald's)  Road,  Gray's-Inn  Lane,  have  a 
good  look  out,  if  there  is  any  danger.  I  shall  soon  be  along  with  you,  with 
a  little  of  your  assistance ;  by  applying  to  the  people  above  mentioned  you 
will  get  good  intelligence.  When  you  write,  direct  your  letters  to  Mrs. 
Howell's  sister.  When  you  come,  ask  me  for  my  pocket-book,  and  I  can 
give  you  all  at  once.  I  shall  call  them  things  breeches  and  coat,  so  you 
will  know." 

This  letter  was  detected  in  the  hand  of  his  wife,  by  the  jailer,  whose 
suspicions  were  excited  by  the  circumstance  of  their  parting  on  this  occa- 
sion with  more  than  usual  emotion  ;  and  baffied  in  all  his  schemes,  he  for  a 
time  indulged  the  criminal  design  of  taking  away  his  own  life,  but  fi'om 
which  he  was  persuaded  by  the  pious  exhortations  of  the  chaplain.  Seeing 
no  hopes  of  either  mercy  or  escape,  lie  resigned  himself  to  his  fate,  but 
persisted  in  denying  having  intended  to  destroy  the  horses,  as  he  only 
wanted  to  incapacitate  them  from  winning. 

Dawson  spent  his  last  days  in  all  the  fervency  of  prayer,  and  expressed 
his  pious  hope  in  the  forgiveness  of  the  Almighty.  The  last  parting  from 
his  wife  was  truly  affecting,  and  he  described  it  as  worse  than  death.  The 
night  before  his  execution  he  slept  soundly,  and  ate,  next  morning,  a  hearty 
breakfast.  Previous  to  his  receiving  the  sacrament  he  tied  a  yard  of  black 
ribbon  round  his  neck,  which,  at  his  dying  request,  was  conveyed  to  his 
afflicted  wife.  At  twelve  o'clock  he  was  led  to  the  platform,  on  the  top 
of  Cambridge  Castle,  and  was  turned  off  amidst  an  immense  concourse  of 
spectators,  it  being  market-day.     He  died  without  a  struggle. 


OZO  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 


THE  MARQUIS  OF  SLIGO. 

FINED     AND      IMPRISONED      FOR     ENTICING     SEAMEN     TO     DEiEaT 

HIS    majesty's    navy. 

In  1810,  the  noble  marquis,  tlien  a  thoughtless  young  man,  quitted 
college,  and  proceeded  on  his  travels,  visiting  those  places  in  person,  of 
whose  ancient  fame  and  greatness  he  had  read  so  much.  Being  partial  to 
marine  excursions,  and  willing  to  indulge  himself  in  one  in  the  3Iediter- 
ranean,  he  hired,  at  3Ialta,  a  brig  called  the  Pylades  ;  and  having  been 
introduced  to  Captain  Sprainger,  of  the  Warrior,  then  on  that  station,  he 
received  from  that  naval  officer  much  information  and  kindness. 

The  noble  marquis  being  frequently  rowed  to  and  from  the  "Warrior  by 
some  of  her  athletic  crew,  seems  to  have  thought  the  addition  of  a  few  of 
these  fine  fellows  a  desirable  acquisition  to  his  handful  of  Italians.  Accord- 
inofly  it  appears  that  he  succeeded  in  inducing  two  of  them  to  join  his 
crew,  upon  which  suspicion  fell  upon  his  lordship ;  for  it  was  sujiposed  no 
ordinary  inducement  had  been  held  out  to  them,  as  they  were  men  of  tried 
fidelity,  long  standing,  and  had  then  three  years'  arrears  of  wages  due  to 
them.  Captain  Sprainger  paid  the  marquis  a  visit  on  board  the  Pylades  ; 
and,  on  hinting  his  suspicions,  his  lordship  appeared  greatly  hurt  ;  upon 
which  the  captain,  from  their  intimacy,  contented  himself  with  cautioning 
his  noble  friend  upon  the  danger  of  having  deserters  on  board,  as  the  navy 
was  very  low,  being  nearly  two  thousand  under  its  complement.  He  then 
left  the  marquis,  and  from  his  own  ship  sent  him  a  description  of  the  men 
missing,  requesting  that  if  they  ofifered  themselves  to  his  lordship,  they 
might  be  sent  to  some  of  his  majesty's  ships  at  ^lalta. 

Next  day  the  Warrior  sailed ;  and  the  noble  marquis  resolved  that  his 
brig  should  be  a  letter  of  marque,  for  the  purpose  of  upholding  the  honour 
of  the  British  flag.  For  the  business  of  navigation,  a  comparatively  few 
men  would  have  done ;  but  in  this  new  capacity  he  required  at  least  forty. 
To  procure  these  was  no  very  difficult  task  on  a  station  where  men  were 
hourly  in  the  habit  of  quitting  their  ships ;  and  his  lordship's  servant,  in 
the  course  of  an  evening  or  two,  added  fourteen  brave  fellows  to  their 
complement. 

On  the  13th  of  May  his  lordship  sailed  to  Palermo,  and  from  thence  to 
Messina,  where,  on  pledging  his  word  of  honour  that  he  had  no  deserters  on 
board,  he  received  a  six  months'  protection  for  forty  men,  having  inserted 
false  names  for  the  men-of-war's  men.  The  Pylades  then  proceeded  on 
her  course,  and  on  the  30th  of  May  she  was  chased  by  the  Active,  an 
officer  of  that  ship  having  heard  that  deserters  were  on  board.  Ere  the 
boat  came  alongside,  his  lordship  ordered  the  men-of-war's  men  below, 
and,  though  a  search  took  place,  they  escaped  detection. 

The  marquis  next  sailed  to  Patmos,  where  ten  of  the  men  were  allowed 
to  go  on  shore,  and  that  evening  the  vessel  sailed  without  them.  The 
abandoned  men  appear  to  have  suffered  great  hardship  ;  and  at  Scio,  when 
accompanied  by  the  British  consul  to  the  Pylades,  his  lordship  refused  to 
receive  any  of  them  except  four,  who  were  useful  in  the  management  of  the 
vessel.  Some  of  the  men  returned  to  their  duty,  and  were  tried  by  a  court 
martial.     From  Constantinople  the  marquis  wrote  to  Captain  Sprainger, 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  527 

stating  that  he  found  he  had  some  of  liis  men  on  board,  and  that  he  was 
determined  to  send  them  on  shore  the  first  opportunity  ;  tliat  if  the 
business  was  brought  into  a  court,  he  would  do  tlie  best  to  defend  him- 
self; and  that,  at  the  worst,  he  had  an  ample  fortune,  and  could  pay  the 
fines. 

Tired  with  travelling,  his  lordship  returned  home,  and  soon  after  his 
arrival  in  England  he  Avas  indicted  for  enticing  British  seamen  from  their 
duty.  The  ti-ial  came  on  at  the  Old  Bailey,  December  16th  1812,  when, 
after  a  protracted  inquiry,  his  lordship  was  found  Guilty,  and  sentenced 
to  pay  a  fine  of  five  thousand  pounds,  and  to  be  imprisoned  four  months  in 
Newgate. 

Perhaps  it  is  not  the  least  curious  particular  attending  this  case,  that  his 
lordship's  mother,  the  Dowager  Marchioness  of  Sligo,  soon  after  her  son's 
trial,  was  married  to  Sir  William  Scott,  the  judge  who  passed  sentence  on 
the  youthful  marquis. 


JOHN  BELLINGHAM. 

KXECTJTED    FOR   THE    MURDER   OF    THE    RIGHT    HONOURABLE    SPENCER    PERCEVAL. 

On  the  11th  of  May,  in  the  year  1812,  an  event  occurred  which  excited 
universal  dismay  and  regret  in  the  minds  of  the  whole  of  the  British 
public — the  death  of  the  Right  Honourable  Spencer  Perceval,  then  Chan- 
cellor of  the  Exchequer,  by  the  hand  of  an  assassin. 

John  Bellingham,  the  author  of  this  crime,  was  brought  up  in  a  count- 
ing-house in  London,  and  afterwards  went  to  Archangel,  where  he  lived 
during  a  period  of  three  years  in  the  service  of  a  Russian  merchant. 
Having  returned  to  England,  he  was  married  to  a  Miss  Nevill,  the  daugh- 
ter of  a  respectable  merchant  and  ship-broker,  who  at  that  time  resided  at 
Newry,  but  who  subsequently  removed  to  Dublin.  Bellingham,  being  a 
person  of  active  habits  and  of  considerable  intelligence,  was  subsequently 
employed  by  some  merchants  in  the  Russian  trade,  by  whom  he  was 
induced  again  to  visit  Archangel,  and  he  in  consequence  proceeded  thither, 
accompanied  hf  his  wife,  in  the  year  1804.  His  principal  dealings  were 
with  the  firm  of  Dorbecker  and  Co.;  but  before  twelve  months  had  expired, 
a  misunderstanding  arose  between  them,  and  each  party  made  pecuniary 
claims  upon  the  other.  The  subject  was  referred  by  the  Governor-General 
to  the  decision  of  four  merchants,  two  of  whom  Bellingham  was  allowed 
to  select  from  his  countrymen  resident  on  the  spot,  and  by  the  award  of 
these  arbitrators  Bellingham  was  found  to  be  indebted  to  the  house  of 
Dorbecker  and  Co.  in  the  sum  of  two  thousand  roubles  ;  but  this  sum  he 
refused  to  pay,  and  appealed  to  the  senate  against  the  decision. 

In  the  mean  time,  a  criminal  suit  had  been  instituted  against  him  by  the 
owners  of  a  Russian  ship  which  had  been  lost  in  the  White  Sea.  They 
accused  him  of  having  written  an  anonymous  letter  to  the  underwriters  in 
London,  stating  that  the  insurances  of  that  ship  were  fraudulent  transac- 
tions ;  in  consequence  of  which  the  payment  for  her  loss  was  resisted.  No 
satisfactory  proof  being  adduced,  Bellingham  was  acquitted  :  but  before 
the  termination  of  the  suit,  he  attempted  to  quit  Archangel,  and  being 
stopped  by  the  police,  whom  he  resisted,  he  was  taken  to  prison,  but  was 


£28  THE    XEW  NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

soon  after  liberated,  through  the  influence  of  the  British  consul,  Sir 
Stephen  Shairp,  to  whom  he  had  made  application,  requesting  to  be  pro- 
tected from  what  he  considered  the  injustice  of  tlie  Russian  authorities. 

Soon  after  this  the  senate  confirmed  the  award  of  the  arbitrators,  and 
Bellingliam  was  delivered  over  to  the  College  of  Commerce,  a  tribunal 
established,  and  acknowledged  by  treaty,  for  taking  cognizance  of  commer- 
cial matters  relating  to  British  subjects.  He  was  to  remain  in  custody 
till  he  discharged  the  debt  of  the  two  thousand  roubles  ;  but  his  confine- 
ment was  by  no  means  severe;  for  he  had  permission  to  walk  wherever  he 
pleased,  attended  by  an  ofiicer  belonging  to  the  college.  Lord  Granville 
Leveson  Gower  being  at  this  time  ambassador  at  the  Russian  Court, 
Bellingliam  made  frequent  application,  and,  at  various  times,  received 
from  his  secretary  small  sums  of  money  to  support  him  durino-  his  con- 
finement. One  night,  in  particular,  he  rushed  into  his  lordship's  house  at 
St.  Petersburgh,  and  requested  permission  to  remain  all  nio-ht,  to  avoid 
being  secured  by  the  police,  whom  he  had  escaped.  This  was  granted, 
although  Lord  Gower  had  no  authority  to  protect  him  from  a  legal  arrest  ; 
but  it  appears  he  was  afterwards  retaken,  and  being  confined  by  the 
authorities  of  the  country,  the  British  ambassador  could  have  no  pretence 
to  solicit  his  release.  His  lordship,  however,  in  a  conversation  with  the 
minister  for  foreign  aflairs,  expressed  a  personal  wish  that  the  Russian 
Government,  seeing  no  prospect  of  recovering  the  money  from  Bellinorham, 
would  liberate  him  on  condition  of  his  immediately  retarnino-  to  England  ; 
but  we  are  not  told  what  effect  was  produced,  as  Lord  Gower  soon  after 
quitted  the  Russian  Court. 

The  foregoing  is  taken  from  the  statement  published  by  Lord  Gran- 
ville Leveson  Gower,  in  his  own  justification,  against  the  charge  made 
against  him  by  Bellingham  on  his  trial ;  and  we  hope,  for  the  lionour  of 
our  country,  that  it  is  correct ;  and  we  must  confess  that  a  review  of  all 
the  circumstances  tends  to  confirm  its  accuracy.  Our  ambassador,  it  is 
admitted,  had  the  case  investigated ;  and  as  his  refusal  to  interfere  was 
subsequently  confirmed  by  that  of  the  English  Government,  it  is  evident 
that  Bellingham  could  have  had  no  just  cause  of  complaint,  or,  at  least, 
none  of  a  nature  to  call  for  diplomatic  negotiation  or  pecuniary  recom- 
pense. In  justice  to  the  unfortunate  man,  we  shall,  when  we  come  to  his 
trial,  give  his  own  statement,  and  leave  the  reader  to  draw  his  own  con- 
clusion. 

Bellingham  having,  by  some  means  or  other,  procured  his  liberation,  in 
the  year  1809  returned  to  England,  and  at  Liverpool  commenced  the 
business  of  an  insurance  broker.  It  appears,  however,  that  from  a 
constant  recital  of  the  circumstances  which  had  occurred  in  Russia,  his 
complaints  were  aggravated  in  his  own  mind  into  grievances,  and  he  at 
lenoth  beijan  to  talk  of  demandincr  redress  from  the  Government  for  what 
he  termed  and  appeared  to  consider  the  culpable  misconduct  of  their 
ofiicer.  Lord  Gower,  and  his  secretary,  in  omitting  to  defend  his  rights  as 
a  British  subject ;  and  he  eventually  wrote  to  the  Marquis  Wellesley, 
setting  forth  the  nature  of  his  case,  and  the  grounds  upon  which  he 
expected  that  some  compensation  would  be  made.  By  the  noble  marquis 
he  was  referred  to  the  Privy  Council,  and  by  that  body  to  the  Treasury  ; 
but  his  efforts  being  unattended  with  success  in  either  quarter,  he  deter- 
mined to  proceed  to   the  Chancellor  of   the  Exchequer  (Mr.  Perceval), 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  529 

with  a  view  to  obtain  his  sanction  and  support  for  his  demand.  Mr. 
Perceval,  however,  having  made  himself  master  of  the  case  submitted  to 
him,  declined  to  interfere,  and  Mr.  Bellingham  was  then  advised  by  his 
friends  that  the  only  resource  left  to  him  was  a  petition  to  parliament. 
As  an  inhabitant  of  Liverpool,  he  applied  to  General  Gascoyne,  then 
member  for  tliat  city,  to  present  a  petition  to  the  house  of  commons  ;  but 
that  honourable  gentleman  having  ascertained  upon  inquiry  that  tlie  case 
was  unsupported  by  tlie  Cliancellor  of  the  Exchequer,  he  refused  to  have 
anything  to  do  with  it.  Driven  now  to  pursue  a  course  quite  unusual  in 
such  cases,  he  petitioned  the  Prince  Regent,  but  from  him  he  was  referred 
again  to  the  Treasury,  and  he  again  received  an  intimation  that  all  appli- 
cations from  him  must  be  futile.  Three  years  had  now  been  spent  in 
these  constant  and  fruitless  attacks  upon  the  government,  but  the  unfortu- 
nate and  misguided  gentleman  appeared  even  yet  to  cherish  hopes  that  his 
case  would  be  attended  to.  On  one  occasion,  it  is  reported  that  he  carried 
his  wife,  who  had  in  vain  striven  to  wean  him  from  what  she  considered 
to  be  his  malady,  and  another  lady,  to  the  secretary  of  state's  office  for  the 
purpose  of  showing  them  the  success  with  which  his  exertions  were 
attended  ;  and  although  he  then,  as  he  had  before,  received  a  flat  denial  of 
his  claims,  yet  he  continued  to  assure  them  that  he  did  not  in  the  least 
doubt  that  ere  long  all  his  hopes  would  be  made  good,  and  he  would 
receive  compensation  for  his  sufferings. 

He  now  adopted  a  new  and  certainly  an  unprecedented  mode  of  attack. 
He  wrote  to  the  police  magistrates  of  Bow-street  in  the  following  terms  : — 
"  To  their  Worships,  the   Police  Magistrates  of  the  Public  Office  in 
Bow-street. 

"  Sirs, — I  much  regret  its  being  my  lot  to  have  to  apply  to  your 
worships  under  most  peculiar  and  novel  circumstances. — For  the  particu- 
lars of  the  case,  I  refer  to  the  enclosed  letter  of  Mr.  Secretary  Ryder,  the 
notification  from  Mr.  Perceval,  and  my  petition  to  parliament,  together 
with  the  printed  papers  herewith.  The  affair  requires  no  further  remark, 
than  that  I  consider  his  majesty's  government  to  have  completely  endea- 
voured to  clos^  the  door  of  justice,  in  declining  to  have,  or  even  to  permit, 
my  grievances  to  be  brought  before  parliament,  for  redress,  which  privilege 
is  the  birthright  of  every  individual.  The  purport  of  the  present  is, 
therefore,  once  more  to  solicit  his  majesty's  ministers,  through  your 
medium,  to  let  what  is  right  and  proper  be  done  in  my  instance,  which 
is  all  I  require.  Should  this  reasonable  request  be  finally  denied,  I  shall 
then  feel  justified  in  executing  justice  myself — in  which  case  I  shall  be 
ready  to  argue  the  merits  of  so  reluctant  a  measure  with  his  majesty's 
attorney-general,  wherever  and  whenever  I  may  be  called  upon  so  to  do 
In  the  hopes  of  averting  so  abhorrent,  but  compulsive  an  alternative,  I 
have  the  honour  to  be.  Sirs,  your  very  humble  and  obedient  servant, 

"  John  Bellingham. 

"  No.  9,  New  Millman-street,  March  23,  1812." 

This  letter  was  at  once  conveyed  to  the  members  of  the  government,  but 
it  was  treated  by  ihem  as  a  mere  threat,  and  no  furtlier  notice  was  taken 
of  it,  than  on  Mr.  Bellingham's  again  presenting  himself,  by  a  fresh  refusal 
being  given  to  him  by  Mr.  Read.  Once  more  he  applied  to  the  Treasury, 
and  again  he  was  told  that  he  had  nothing  to  expect ;  and  according  to  his 
VOL.  I.  3  y 


530  THK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

statement.  Mr.  Hill,  whom  he  now  saw,  told  him  that  he  might  "  resort  to 
whatever  measures  he  tliouglit  fit."  This  he  declared  he  considered  "  a 
carte  hlanche  to  take  justice  into  his  own  hands,"  and  he  accordingly  deter- 
mined to  take  such  measures  of  revenge  as  he  madly  supposed  would 
ettectually  secure  that  attention  and  consideration  for  his  case,  which  he 
detmed  it  had  not  received,  and  to  which  it  was  in  his  opinion  fully 
entitled. 

This  unhappy  determination  heing  made,  he  began  to  make  the  necessary 
preparations  for  the  foul  deed  which  he  contemplated.  His  first  step  was 
to  make  himself  acquainted  with  the  persons  of  those  ministers  who  had 
seats  in  the  House  of  Commons,  and  for  this  purpose  he  nightly  visited  the 
House  and  there  usually  took  his  seat  in  the  gallery  appropriated  to 
strangers  ;  and  having  obtained  a  general  knowledge  of  their  persons,  he 
afterwards  posted  himself  in  the  lobby  of  the  House,  in  order  to  be  able  to 
identify  them.  He  then  purchased  a  pair  of  pistols,  with  powder  and  ball, 
and  had  an  additional  pocket  made  in  his  coat  for  carrying  them  the  more 
conveniently. 

On  the  evening  of  the  llth  of  May,  1812,  he  took  his  station  behind 
the  folding-doors  leading  into  the  body  of  the  House,  and  at  five  o'clock, 
as  ]\Ir.  Perceval  advanced  up  the  lobby,  he  presented  one  of  his  pistols  and 
fired.  His  aim  was  true,  and  the  ball  entered  the  left  breast  of  his  victim 
and  passed  through  his  heart.  Mr.  Perceval  reeled  a  short  distance,  and 
exclaiming  "  Murder  !"  in  a  low  tone  of  voice,  he  fell  to  the  ground.  He  was 
instantly  picked  up  by  Mr.  Smith,  the  member  for  Norwich,  and  another 
gentleman,  and  carried  into  the  office  of  the  speaker's  secretary,  where  he  ex- 
pired almost  immediately.  Loud  cries  of  "  Shut  the  door — let  no  one  out," 
were  heard  immediately  after  the  shot  was  fired,  and  several  persons  ex- 
claimed, "  Where's  the  murderer  ?"  Bellingham,  who  still  held  the  pistol 
in  his  hand,  answered,  "  I  am  the  unfortunate  man,"  and  he  was  inmiedi- 
ately  seized  and  searched.  Mr.  V.  G.  Dowling  was  among  the  first  who 
^•ent  up  to  him  ;  and  on  his  examining  his  person,  he  found  in  his  left-hand 
trousers  pocket  a  pistol  loaded  with  ball  and  primed.  There  were  also 
found  upon  him  an  opera-glass,  with  which  he  had  been  accustomed  to 
examine  the  persons  of  the  members  of  the  House  while  sitting  in  the 
gallery,  and  a  number  of  papers.  Upon  his  being  interrogated  as  to  his 
motives  for  committing  such  an  act,  he  replied,  ^  Want  of  redress,  and 
denial  of  justice." 

During  the  momentary  confusion  which  followed  the  firing  of  the  pistol,  he 
made  no  attempt  to  escape  ;  and  though  when  taken  into  custody  he 
betrayed  some  agitation,  he  soon  recovered  his  self-possession,  and  with 
great  calmness  answered  every  question  put  to  him. 

Durino;  his  examination  before  the  magistrates  UD-stairs  in  the  House 
of  Commons,  he  still  retained  his  self -possession,  and  even  corrected  a  wit- 
ness as  to  an  omission  in  liis  evidence.  He  persisted  in  denying  any  per- 
gonal enmity  to  Mr.  Perceval,  for  whose  death  he  expressed  tlie  greatest 
sorrow,  separating,  by  a  confusion  of  ideas,  the  man  from  the  minister ;  and 
seemed  to  think  lie  had  not  injured  the  individual,  though  he  had  taken 
away  the  life  of  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer. 

This  event  excited  the  greatest  sensation  in  the  country.  A  cabinet 
council  was  called,  and  the  mails  were  stopped,  until  instructions  were  pre- 


■^UjtriJm  na/ic/iy  c^  <jy-e- 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  53 i 

pared  to  secure  tranquillity  in  the  districts ;  for  at  first  it  was  apprehended 
that  the  assassin  was  instii^ated  hy  ])olitical  motives,  and  that  he  was  con- 
nected with  some  treasonahle  association. 

Measures  being  provided  for  securing  order  through  the  country  and  the 
metropolis,  Bellingham  was  removed,  under  a  strong  military  escort,  about 
one  o'clock  in  the  morning,  to  Newgate,  and  conducted  to  a  room  adjoining 
the  chapel.  One  of  the  head  turnkeys,  and  two  other  persons,  sat  up  with 
him  all  night.  He  retired  to  bed  soon  after  his  arrival  at  the  jail  ;  but  he 
was  disturbed  during  the  night,  and  had  no  sound  sleep.  He  rose  soon 
after  seven  o'clock,  and  requested  some  tea  for  breakfast,  of  which,  how- 
ever, he  took  but  little.  No  private  persons  were  admitted  to  see  him,  but 
he  was  visited  in  the  course  of  the  day  by  the  sheriffs  and  .some  other 
public  functionaries.  He  conversed  very  cheerfully  with  the  slu'riffs  and 
others  who  were  in  his  room,  and  expressed  no  regret  for  the  deed  which  he 
had  perpetrated,  conceiving  himself,  as  he  stated,  justified  in  what  he  had 
done;  and  that  it  now  only  remained  for  the  laws  of  his  country  to  deter- 
mine the  nature  of  his  guilt,  which  he  did  not  seem  to  view  in  a  criminal 
liyht.  He  stated  that  the  question  would  soon  be  tried,  when  it  would 
be  seen  how  far  he  was  justified.  He  considered  the  whole  as  "  a  private 
matter  between  him  and  the  government,  who  gave  him  a  carte  llanche  to 
d(j  his  worst,  which  he  had  done." 

Alderman  Combe,  as  one  of  the  committing  magistrates,  was  very  active 
in  his  endeavours  to  trace  Bellingham's  connexions  and  habits,  and  for 
that  purpose  went  to  the  house  of  a  respectable  woman  where  he  lodged  in 
Kew  Millman-street,  but  could  learn  from  her  nothing  that  indicated  any 
conspiracy  with  others.  His  landlady  represented  him  as  a  quiet  inoffen- 
sive man,  though  at  times  rather  eccentric,  which  she  instanced  by  observ- 
ing, that  when  he  had  lodged  there  only  three  weeks,  at  ids.  &d.  per  week, 
she  was  surprised  to  find  that  he  had  given  her  servant-maid  half- a-guinea 
for  herself.  On  being  told  the  deed  which  he  had  perpeti-ated  at  five 
o'clock,  on  Monday  the  11th  of  May,  181:^,  she  said  that  was  impossible; 
for  that  she  had  met  him  a  few  minutes  befoi'e  that  time,  when  he  told  her, 
that  he  had  just  been  to  buy  a  prayer-book.  She  represented  him  as  of 
a  religious  turn  of  mind. 

In  jail  the  prisoner  requested  to  have  pen,  ink,  and  paper,  to  write  some 
letters  to  his  friends ;  and  he  accordingly  wrote  one  to  his  family  at  Liver- 
pool, which  was  delivei-ed  open  to  Mr.  Newman.  The  following  was  sent 
to  Mrs.  Roberts,  No.  9,  New  IMillman-street,  the  lady  at  whose  house  he 
lodged.  It  will  serve  to  show  the  state  of  his  mind  in  the  miserable  situa- 
tion to  which  he  had  reduced  himself : 

"  Tuesday   morning,   Old  Bailey. 

"  Dear  MADAM,-^Yesterday  midnight  I  was  escorted  to  this  neigh- 
bourhood by  a  noble  troop  of  Light  Horse,  and  delivered  into  the  care  of 
Mr.  Newman  (by  Mr.  Taylor,  the  magistrate,  and  M.  P.)  as  a  state  pri- 
soner of  the  first  class.  For  eight  years  I  have  never  found  my  mind  so 
t^-anquil  as  since  this  melancholy  but  necessary  catastrophe  :  as  the  merits 
or  demerits  of  my  peculiar  case  must  be  regularly  unfolded  in  a  criminal 
court  of  justice  to  ascertain  the  guilty  party,  by  a  jury  of  my  country.  I 
have  to  request  the  favour  of  you  to  send  me  three  or  four  shirts,  some 
cravats,  handkerchiefs,  night-caps,  stockings,  &c.,  out  of  my  drawers, 
together  with  comb,  soap,  tooth-brush,  with  any  other  trifle  that  presents 


532  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

itself  which  you  think  I  may  have  occasion  for,  and   inclose  them  in  my 
leather  trunk,  and  the  key  please  to  send  sealed,  per  bearer  ;  also  my  grtal  • 
coat,  flannel  gown,  and  black  waistcoat:  wliich  will  much  oblige, 
"  Dear  madam,  your  very  obedient  servant, 

"  John  Bellingham. 
"  To  tlie  above  please  to  add  the  prayer-books. 

"  To  Mrs.  Roberts." 

Soon  after  two  o'clock  the  wretched  prisoner  ate  a  hearty  dinner,  and 
requested  that  in  future  he  might  dine  at  about  the  same  hour  ;  and  after 
passing  the  rest  of  tlie  day  in  a  tranquil  manner,  he  retired  to  bed  at  twelve, 
and  slept  until  seven  tlie  next  morning,  being  attended  by  two  persons 
during  the  night.  He  breakfasted  at  about  nine  o'clock,  and  appeared 
perfectly  composed  ;  and  on  the  sheriffs  revisiting  him,  accompanied  by 
several  gentlemen,  he  was  found  to  be  unaltered  in  his  demeanour.  On 
liis  being  spoken  to  on  the  subject  of  his  trial,  he  conversed  with  apparent 
indifference ;  but  on  the  melancholy  fact  of  Mr.  Perceval's  murder  being 
alluded  to,  he  became  less  tranquil,  persisted  in  vindicating  the  act,  and 
said  that  when  his  trial  came  on  before  a  j  ury  of  his  countrymen,  it  would 
be  for  them  to  determine  how  far  a  minister  of  the  crown  was  justified  in 
refusing  justice  to  an  injured  individual ;  and  he  declared  that  if  he  had  a 
thousand  lives  to  lose,  he  would  have  risked  them  in  pursuit  of  justice  in 
the  same  way.  He  spoke  of  the  result  of  his  trial  with  the  utmost  confi- 
dence ;  and  on  his  being  asked  whether  he  had  any  commands  to  his  wife 
at  Liverpool,  he  declared  that  he  had  not,  and  that  in  a  day  or  two  he 
should  join  her  in  that  city. 

On  tiie  15th  of  May,  1812,  four  days  after  the  death  of  Mr.  Perceval, 
the  trial  of  the  prisoner  came  an  at  the  Old  Bailey.  The  judges  at  ten 
o'clock  took  their  seats  on  each  side  of  the  lord  mayor ;  and  the  recorder, 
the  Duke  of  Clarence,  the  Marquis  Wellesley,  and  almost  all  the  aldermen 
of  the  city  of  London,  occupied  the  bench.  The  court  was  crowded  to 
excess,  and  no  distinction  of  rank  was  observed;  so  that  members  of 
the  house  of  commons  were  forced  to  mingle  in  the  throng.  There  were 
also  present  a  great  number  of  ladies,  all  led  by  the  most  intense  curiosity 
to  behold  the  assassin,  and  to  hear  what  he  might  urge  in  defence  or  in 
palliation  of  his  atrocious  act. 

At  length  Bellingham  appeared,  and  advanced  to  the  bar  w-ith  a  firm 
step,  and  quite  undismayed.  He  bowed  to  the  court  most  respectfully, 
and  even  gracefully  ;  and  it  is  impossible  to  describe  the  impression  which 
his  appearance,  accompanied  by  this  unexpected  fortitude,  produced.  He 
was  dressed  in  a  light  brown  surtout  coat,  and  striped  yellow  waistcoat ; 
his  iiair  plainly  dressed,  and  without  powder. 

Before  the  prisoner  was  called  on  regularly  to  plead,  Mr.  Alley,  his 
counsel,  made  application  to  have  the  trial  postponed,  for  the  purpose  of 
procuring  proofs  of  his  client's  insanity,  which  was  alleged  in  two  affida- 
vits he  held  ;  and  he  said  that  he  had  no  doubt,  if  time  were  allowed, 
that  the  prisoner  could  be  proved  to  be  insane.  Mr.  Alley  was  here  inter- 
rupted by  the  court,  who  refused  to  hear  him  until  the  prisoner  had  first 
pleaded. 

When  the  indictment  was  read,  the  usual  question,  "Guilty,  or  not 
guilty?"  was  put  to  Bellingham  ;  when  he  addressed  the  court  : — "  I^Iy 
lords, — Before  I  can  plead  to  this  indictment,  I  must  state,  in  justice  to 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  533 

myself,  that  by  hurrying  on  my  tricil  I  am  placed  in  a  most  remarkable 
situation.  It  so  happens  that  my  prosecutors  are  actually  the  witnesses 
against  me.  All  the  documents  on  which  alone  I  could  rest  my  defence 
have  been  taken  from  me,  and  are  now  in  possession  of  the  crown.  It  is 
only  two  days  since  I  was  told  to  prepare  for  my  defence;  and  when 
I  asked  for  my  papers,  I  was  told  they  could  not  be  given  up.  It  is 
therefore,  my  lords,  rendered  utterly  impossible  for  me  to  go  into  my  jus- 
tification ;  and  under  the  circumstances  in  which  I  find  myself,  a  trial  is 
absolutely  useless.  The  papers  are  to  be  given  to  me  after  the  trial,  but 
how  can  that  avail  me  for  my  defence  ?  I  am,  therefore,  not  ready  for  my 
trial," 

The  attorney-general  was  proceeding  to  explain  to  the  court  what  had 
been  done  with  reference  to  the  prisoner's  papers,   when — 

Chief-justice  Mansfield  interrupted  him,  observing,  it  was  necessary 
the  prisoner  should  first  plead. 

The  prisoner  was  again  interrogated,  when  he  pleaded  "  Not  guilty  "  to 
both  counts  of  the  indictment. 

The  attorney-general — "  I  will  now  answer  what  has  fallen  from  the 
prisoner.  He  says,  that  he  has  been  denied  access  to  his  papers.  It  is 
true  that  government,  for  the  purposes  of  justice,  has  retained  them — but 
it  is  also  true,  that  he  has  been  informed  that  if  he  asked  for  them  at  the 
time  of  his  trial  they  should  be  ready  ;  and  any  of  them,  which  he  might 
think  useful  to  his  defence,  should  be  given  to  him  :  and  in  the  mean 
time,  if  he  considered  it  necessary,  he  might  have  copies  of  them.  This 
we  are  ready  to  verify  on  oath." 

The  clerk  of  the  arraigns,  Mr.  Shelton,  chen  read  the  indictment,  which 
charged  the  prisoner  in  the  usual  way  with  the  murder  of  the  Right  Hon, 
Spencer  Perceval,  with  which  he  was  also  charged  on  the  coroner's  inqui- 
sition. 

Mr.  Abbott  having  opened  the  case. 

The  Attorney-general  addressed  the  jury.  He  said  that  a  lamentable 
and  painful  task  devolved  upon  him  to  state  to  the  jury  the  circumstances 
of  this  horrid  murder, — a  crime  perpetrated  on  a  man  whose  whole  life, 
he  should  have  thought,  would  have  guarded  and  protected  him  against 
such  an  attack — who,  he  was  sure,  if  enough  of  life  had  been  left  him  to 
See  by  whose  hand  he  had  fallen,  would  have  spent  his  last  moment  in 
uttering  a  prayer  for  the  forgiveness  of  his  murderer.  But  it  was  not  a 
time  for  him  to  dwell  on  the  public  loss,  which  had  been  sustained, — its 
brightest  ornament  had  been  torn  from  the  country — but  the  country  had 
done  justice  to  his  memory.  These  were  not  considerations,  however,  by 
which  they  must  be  swayed.  It  was  not  revenge,  nor  was  it  resentment, 
that  ought  to  have  any  influence  on  their  consideration  of  the  question. 
They  Avere  to  satisfy  public  justice — to  take  care,  by  their  verdict,  that  the 
public  should  not  be  exposed  to  such  horrid  crimes.  With  respect  to  the 
prisoner,  he  knew  nothing  ;  nor  did  he  know  how  his  life  had  been  spent, 
except  so  far  as  related  to  the  circumstances  of  the  case.  He  had  been  in 
business,  and  had  acted  as  a  merchant,  in  the  course  of  which  be  had  shown 
himself  a  man  of  sound  understanding  in  every  act  which  he  performed  ; 
and  he  had  not  only  conducted  his  own  affairs  with  understanding,  but  he 
had  been  selected  by  other  persons  to  manage  theirs.  Having  stated  the 
main  facts  of  the  case  as  we  have  already  detailed  them,  he  entreated  the 


534  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

jury  to  consider  it  not  as  the  murder  of  so  eminent  a  person,  but  as  the 
murder  of  a  common  individual — to  suppose  the  meanest  subject  to  have 
suffered  as  Mr.  Perceval  had  suffered,  and  to  return  their  verdict  as  they 
would  upon  that  case.  "Was  he  or  was  he  not  guilty  ? — to  that  point  they 
must  direct  their  attention,  and  he  knew  of  no  reason  to  cause  even  a  doubt. 
But  what  remained?  This  only, — the  attempt  which  had  been  made  that 
day  to  put  off  the  trial  of  the  prisoner,  on  the  ground  of  his  being  fit  for 
this  or  any  other  crime,  as  he  was  afflicted  with  insanity.  Let  them  con- 
sider this  a  little.  The  prisoner  was  a  man  conducting  himself  like  others 
in  all  the  ordinary  circumstances  of  life — who  carried  on  business,  none 
of  his  family  or  friends  interfering — no  pretence  being  suggested  that  he 
was  unable  to  superintend  his  own  affairs.  What  clearer  proofs,  then, 
could  be  given  to  show,  contrary  to  the  defence  set  up,  that  he  was  not 
what  the  law  called  non  compos  mentis — that  he  was  an  accountable 
being  ?  He  knew  the  cases  where  the  plea  of  insanity  would  be  received 
— where  for  instance  a  murder  was  committed  by  a  person  whose  mental 
infirmity  might  be  considered  as  very  nearly  the  absence  of  all  mind. 
Against  their  defence  there  was  no  argument.  But  he  was  this  day  to 
learn,  whether  the  wickedness  of  the  act  which  the  prisoner  was  called  on 
to  answer  was  to  be  considered  an  excuse  for  its  perpetration.  Travelling 
through  his  whole  life,  what  ground  could  they  adduce  for  such  a  plea  ? 
His  every  act  appeared  rational,  except  one  ;  and  that  was  only  irrational, 
because  it  was  so  horrid  that  the  imagination  of  man  could  not  fancy  to 
itself  the  existence  of  so  atrocious  a  deed.  But  how  far  must  this  argu- 
ment go  ?  It  must  arrive  at  this  conelusion — that  every  act  of  gross  and 
unusual  atrocity  would  carry  its  defence  along  with  it,  that  every  act  of 
peculiar  horror  would  have  within  itself  a  certain  defence,  for  the  barba- 
rity of  the  deed  would  be  considered  as  a  proof  that  the  mind  which 
directed  it  was  not  in  a  state  of  sufficient  security  to  judge  whether  the 
action  was  right  or  wrong  ;  and  if  the  mind  possessed  tlie  power  of  forming 
that  judgment,  the  prisoner  was  criminally  accountable  for  the  act.  A 
man  might  be  infirm  in  mind,  insufficient  to  dispose  of  his  property,  or  to 
judge  of  the  claims  of  his  respective  relatives ;  and  if  he  were  in  that 
situation,  the  management  of  his  affairs  might  be  taken  from  him  and 
vested  in  trustees  :  but  such  a  man  was  not  discharged  from  criminal  acts 
because  he  could  not  transact  civil  business.  ]\Iany  cases  had  occurred 
within  his  memory  in  courts  of  law,  in  which  it  was  proved  that  a  person 
in  many  respects  had  evinced  symptoms  of  insanity  up  to  a  certain  time  ; 
but  the  question  then  was,  whether  that  insanity  was  of  such  a  descrip- 
tion as  precluded  or  permitted  the  knowledge  of  right  or  wrong  ?  In  every 
one  of  the  cases  which  recurred  to  his  memory,  though  a  certain  degree  of 
madness  was  proved,  still  as  the  parties  seemed  to  have  sufficient  sense  to 
distinguish  right  from  wrong  at  the  time  of  the  perpetration  of  the  acts 
charged  against  them,  they  were  held  to  be  criminally  accountable.  Here 
there  was  no  deficiency  of  understanding  whatever — no  opinion  of  others 
to  that  effect  was  adduced ;  on  the  contrary,  he  was  entrusted  with  the 
management  of  his  own  and  others'  affairs.  The  question  was,  whether  at 
the  time  the  murder  was  perpetrated  he  possessed  sufficient  sense  to  distin- 
guish between  right  and  wrong  ?  What  conclusion  could  they  draw  in 
favour  of  the  idea  which  had  been  sussested?  Let  them  take  from  their 
lecoUection  the   frishtful  nature  of  the  act  with  the  commission  of  which 


THE    NEW    iNEWGATE    CALENDAR.  535 

he  was  charged,  let  them  take  from  it  its  accumulated  horrors,  and  the 
prisoner  stood  before  tliem  in  a  state  of  sanity,  and  fully  accountable  for 
the  act,  of  which,  he  thought,  little  doubt  could  be  entertained  he  had 
been  guilty. — The  learned  gentleman  concluded  by  expressing  his  satisfac- 
tion at  the  fact  that  the  prisoner  stood  alone  on  that  occasion  ;  that  he  was 
unconnected  with,  and  unaided  and  uninfluenced  by  any  other  person  or 
party  in  the  country,  and  that  this  deed  could  not  therefore  be  attributed 
to  any  but  the  personal  feelings  which  he  entertained  towards  his 
majesty's  government.  On  him,  and  on  him  only,  did  the  disgrace  which 
he  had  excited  rest,  and  the  character  of  the  country  was  en*:rely  free 
from  any  participation  in  it. 

The  first  witness  called  on  the  part  of  the  crown  was — 
Mr.  William  Smith  (M.  P.  for  Norwich),  who,  being  sworn,  deposed  as 
follows  : — 

He  was  on  his  way  to  attend  the  House  of  Commons  on  the  evening  of 
Monday,  the  1 1th  of  May,  and  was  going  through  the  lobby  towards  the 
door  of  the  house,  when  he  heard  the  report  of  a  pistol,  which  appeared  to 
have  been  fired  close  to  the  entrance-door  of  the  lobby.  Immediately 
on  the  report,  he  turned  towards  the  place  from  whence  the  noise  appeared 
to  proceed,  and  observed  a  tumult,  and  probably  a  dozen  or  more 
persons  about  the  spot.  Almost  in  the  same  instant  he  saw  a  person  rush 
hastily  from  among  the  crowd,  and  heard  several  voices  cry  out,  "  Shut 
the  doors — let  no  one  escape."  The  person  came  towards  him  from  the 
crowd,  looking  first  one  way,  then  another,  rather  like  one  seeking  for 
shelter  than  tlie  person  wounded.  But  taking  two  or  three  steps  towards 
tlie  witness,  he  reeled  by  him,  and  almost  instantaneously  fell  on  the  floor 
with  his  face  downward.  Before  he  fell,  witness  heard  him  cry,  though 
not  very  distinctly  ;  and  in  what  he  uttered,  he  heard  the  word  "murder  !" 
or  something  very  like  it.  When  he  first  fell,  witnoss  thought  that  he 
might  have  been  slightly  wounded,  and  expected  to  see  him  make  an  eff"ort 
to  rise ;  but  gazing  on  hirn  for  a  few  moments,  he  observed  that  he  did 
not  stir  at  all,  and  he,  therefore,  immediately  stooped  down  to  raise  him 
from  the  ground,  requesting  the  assistance  of  a  gentleman  close  by  him  for 
the  purpose.  As  soon  as  they  had  turned  his  face  upwards,  and  not  till 
then,  he  found  tliat  it  was  Mr.  Perceval.  They  then  took  him  into  their 
arms,  and  carried  him  into  the  office  of  the  speaker's  secretary,  where 
they  seated  themselves  on  the  table,  with  Mr.  Perceval  between  them, 
also  sitting  on  the  table,  and  resting  on  their  arms.  His  face  was  now 
perfectly  pale,  the  blood  issuing  in  small  quantities  from  each  corner  of 
his  mouth,  and  probably  in  two  or  three  minutes  from  the  firing  of  the 
pistol  all  signs  of  life  had  ceased.  The  eyes  of  the  unfortunate  gentleman 
were  open,  but  he  did  not  appear  to  know  witness,  nor  to  take  any 
notice  of  any  person  about  him,  nor  did  he  utter  the  least  articulate  sound 
from  the  moment  he  fell.  A  few  convulsive  sobs,  which  lasted  perhaps 
three  or  four  moments,  together  with  scarcely  a  perceptible  pulse,  were  the 
only  signs  of  life  which  appeared  then,  and  those  continued  but  a  very 
short  time  longer  ;  and  when  witness  felt  Mr.  Perceval's  pulse  for  the  last 
time,  just  before  Mr.  Lynn,  the  surgeon,  arrived,  it  appeared  to  him  that 
he  was  quite  dead.  Witness  remained  supporting  the  body  until  it  was 
conveyed  into  the  speaker's  house,  but  he  was  unable  to  give  nnv 
account  of  what  passed  in  the  lobby. 


536  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Mr.  William  Lynn,  a  surgeon  in  Groat  George-street,  deposed  tliat  he 
"was  called  to  the  deceased,  but  on  his  arrival  he  was  quite  dead.  There 
was  blood  upon  his  white  waistcoat  and  shirt;  and  upon  his  examining  the 
body,  lie  found  that  tliere  was  an  o]>ening  in  the  skin.  He  probed  the 
wound  three  inches  downwards,  and  entertained  no  doubt  that  the  pistol- 
ball  passed  into  the  heart,  and  was  the  cause  of  death. 

]\ir.  Henry  Burgess,  a  solicitor  who  was  in  the  lobby,  stated,  that  after 
aving  seen  Mr.  Perceval  fall,  as  had  been  already  described,  he  heard 
acme  one  exclaim,  "  That's  the  man  !  "  and  saw  a  hand  pointing  towards 
the  bench  by  the  fire-place,  which  is  on  one  side  of  the  lobby.  He  imme- 
diately went  over  to  the  bench,  and  saw  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  sitting  on 
it  in  great  agitation.  There  were  one  or  two  persons  by  him  ;  he  looked  at 
his  hands,  and  saw  his  left  hand  on  the  bench  ;  and  near  or  under  his  other 
hand  he  saw  a  pistol,  which  he  took,  and  asked  the  prisoner  what  had 
induced  him  to  do  such  a  deed  ?  He  replied,  "  Want  of  redress  of 
grievances,  and  refusal  by  government,"  or  words  to  that  effect.  Witness 
then  said  to  the  prisoner,  "  You  have  another  pistol  ?  "  He  replied,  "  Yes." 
Witness  asked  if  it  was  loaded?  to  which  he  answered  in  the  affirmative. 
Witness  then  saw  some  person  take  the  other  pistol  from  his  person.  The 
pistol  which  witness  took  from  the  prisoner  was  warm,  and  appeared  as  if 
it  had  been  recently  discharged.  The  lock  was  down  and  the  pan  open. 
(Here  the  pistol  was  produced,  and  recognised  by  the  witness.)  He  then 
stated,  that  he  put  his  hand  into  the  right  waistcoat-pocket  of  the  prisoner, 
from  which  he  took  a  small  penknife  and  a  pencil,  and  from  his  left-hand 
waistcoat-pocket  he  took  a  bunch  of  keys  and  some  money.  The  prisoner 
was  detained  in  custody,  and  examined  shortly  afterwards  above  stairs  in 
the  House  of  Commons  before  the  magistrates.  Witness  related  in  the 
presence  of  the  prisoner,  on  that  occasion,  the  facts  which  he  had  now 
detailed.  When  he  had  concluded,  the  prisoner  made  an  observation  to 
this  effect,  as  well  as  he  could  recoUect.  "  I  wish  to  correct  Mr.  Burgess' 
statement  in  one  point ;  but  I  believe  he  is  perfectly  correct  in  every  other. 
Instead  of  my  hand  being,  as  Mr.  Burgess  stated,  upon  or  near  the  pistol, 
I  think  he  took  it  from  my  hand,  or  upon  it." 

James  Taylor,  a  tailor,  at  No.  11,  North  Place,  Gray's- Inn  Lane,  de- 
posed that  he  had  been  employed  by  the  prisoner  to  repair  some  clothes. 
He  was  afterwards  in  Guildford  Street,  when  the  prisoner  called  him,  and 
took  him  to  his  lodgings  in  Millman  Street,  and  there  directed  him  to  put 
a  side-pocket  into  a  coat,  which  he  gave  him,  of  a  particular  length  which 
he  pointed  out.  He  completed  the  job  on  the  same  night,  and  carried  the 
coat  home. 

Mr.  John  Morris  stated  that  he  often  attended  in  the  gallery  appro- 
priated for  strangers,  and  went  down  to  the  House  on  Monday,  the  1 1th 
of  May,  for  that  purpose.  He  passed  into  the  lobby  about  the  hour  of  five 
in  the  afternoon.  He  observed  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  standing  in  the 
lobby  near  the  outer  door ;  he  was  standing  beside  that  part  of  the  door 
which  is  generally  closed.  It  was  a  double  door,  and  one  half  was  usually 
closed,  within  which  half  the  prisoner  was  standing,  and  any  one  to  have 
entered  the  lobby  must  have  passed  him  at  arm's  length.  He  observed  the 
prisoner  as  if  watching  for  somebody  coming,  and  he  appeared  to  look 
anxiously  towards  the  door.  As  well  as  the  witness  recollected,  the  pri- 
soner had  his  right  hand  within  the  left  breast  of  his  coat.   Witness  passed 


'I  HE    NKW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  5J^7 

un  to  the  staircase  of  the  gallery,  and  almost  immediately  after  he  got  into 
the  upper  lohby,  he  hoard  the  report  of  a  ])istol,  and  found  soon  after  that 
it  was  connected  with  the  fatal  event  which  occurred  on  that  evening.  lie 
had  frequently  seen  the  prisoner  before  in  the  gallery,  where  gentlemen 
who  report  the  parliamentary  proceedings  resorted,  and  about  the  passages 
of  the  House  of  Commons. 

John  Vickery,  a  Bow  Street  officer,  said  that  he  went  on  Monday  after- 
noon to  New  Millman  Street,  to  the  lodgings  of  the  prisoner,  which  he 
searched,  and  found,  in  the  bed-room  up  stairs,  a  pair  of  pistol-bags,  and 
in  the  same  drawer  a  small  powder-flask,  and  some  powder  in  a  small 
})aper,  a  box  with  some  bullets,  and  some  small  flints  wrapped  in  paper. 
There  was  also  a  pistol-key  to  unscrew  the  pistol  for  the  purpose  of  load- 
ing, and  some  sand-paper  and  a  pistol-mould.  The  witness  on  comparing 
the  bullet  found  in  the  loaded  pistol  with  the  mould,  and  the  screw  with 
the  pistols,  found  them  all  to  correspond. 

31r.  Vincent  George  Dowling  was  next  called.  He  stated  that  he  was 
in  the  gallery  on  the  afternoon  in  question,  and  ran  down  into  the  lobby 
on  hearing  the  report  of  a  pistol.  He  saw  the  prisoner  at  the  bar  sitting 
on  a  stool,  and  going  to  him,  he  seized  him  and  began  to  search  his  person. 
He  took  from  his  left-hand  small-clothes  pocket  a  small  pistol,  which  lie 
produced,  and  which,  on  his  examining  it,  he  found  to  be  loaded  with 
powder  and  ball.  It  was  primed  as  well  as  loaded.  The  pistol  which  had 
been  discharged  and  that  which  he  took  from  the  prisoner  were  in  his 
belief  a  brace  ;  they  were  of  the  same  size  and  bore,  and  were  marked 
with  the  same  maker's  name.  The  witness  had  seen  the  prisoner  several 
times  before  in  the  gallery  and  in  the  avenues  of  the  house,  and  to  the  best 
of  his  recollection  the  last  time  he  saw  him  was  six  or  seven  days  before 
the  death  of  Mr,  Perceval.  He  was  frequently  in  the  gallery  during  the 
debates,  and  upon  several  occasions  entered  into  conversation  with  the 
witness.  He  had  often  asked  for  information  as  to  the  names  of  the  gen- 
tlemen speaking,  and  also  as  to  the  persons  of  the  members  of  his  majesty's 
government. 

Othe"  witnesses  from  Newgate  produced  the  coat  worn  by  the  prisoner 
at  the  time  of  his  ajiprehension,  and  it  was  identified  by  Taylor  as  the 
same  into  which  he  had  put  the  side-pocket. 

Lord  Chief-justice  Mansfield  then  addressed  the  prisoner,  and  told  him, 
that  the  case  on  the  part  of  the  crown  being  now  gone  through,  the  period 
was  come  for  him  to  make  any  defence  he  might  wish  to  offer. 

The  prisoner  asked  whether  his  counsel  had  nothing  to  urge  in  his 
defence  ? 

Mr.  Alley  informed  him  that  his  counsel  were  not  entitled  to  speak. 

The  prisoner  then  said  that  the  documents  and  papers  necessary  to  his 
defence  had  been  taken  out  of  his  pocket,  and  had  not  since  been  restored 
to  him. 

Mr.  Garrow  said,  that  it  was  the  intention  of  the  counsel  for  the  crown 
to  restore  him  his  papers,  having  first  proved  them  to  be  the  same  which 
were  taken  from  him,  and  had  not  suff'ered  any  subtraction ;  and  that  his 
solicitor  already  had  copies  of  them. 

General  Gascoigne  and  j\lr.  Hume  (M.  P.  for  Weymouth)  proved  that 
tiie  papers  were  those  which  had  been  taken  from  the   person  of  the  pri- 

VOL.  I.  y  z 


538  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

goner,  anrl  that  they  had  been  in  tlieir  custody  ever  since,  and  had  suffered 
uo  subtraction. 

Tlie  papers  were  then  handed  to  the  prisoner,  who  proceeded  to  arrange 
and  examine  them. 

The  prisoner,  who  had  been  hitherto  sitting,  now  rose,  and,  bowing 
respectfully  to  the  court  and  jury,  Avent  into  his  defence,  in  a  firm  tone  of 
voice,  and  without  any  appearance  of  embarrassment.  He  spoke  nearly 
to  the  following  effect : — 

"  I  feel  great  personal  obligation  to  the  attorney-general  for  the 
objection  which  he  has  made  to  the  plea  of  insanity.  I  think  it  is  far 
more  fortunate  that  such  a  plea  as  that  should  have  been  unfounded,  than 
that  it  should  have  existed  in  fact.  I  am  obliged  to  my  counsel,  how- 
ever, for  having  thus  endeavoured  to  consult  my  interest,  as  I  am  con- 
vinced the  attempt  has  arisen  from  the  kindest  motives.  That  I  am  or 
have  been  insane  is  a  circumstance  of  which  I  am  not  apprised,  except  in 
the  single  instance  of  my  having  been  confined  in  Russia  ;  how  far  that 
may  be  considered  as  affecting  my  present  situation,  it  is  not  for  me  to  deter- 
mine. This  is  the  first  time  tliat  I  have  ever  spoken  in  public  in  this  way. 
I  feel  my  own  incompetency,  but  I  trust  you  will  attend  to  the  substance, 
rather  than  to  the  manner,  of  my  investigating  the  truth  of  an  affiiir 
which  has  occasioned  my  presence  at  this  bar.  1  beg  to  assure  you  that 
the  crime  which  I  have  committed  has  a^risen  from  compulsion  rather 
than  from  any  hostility  to  the  man  whom  it  has  been  my  fate  to  destroy. 
Considering  the  amiable  character  and  imiversally  admitted  virtues  of 
Mr.  Perceval,  I  feel,  if  I  could  murder  him  in  a  cool  and  unjustifiable 
manner,  I  should  not  deserve  to  live  another  moment  in  tliis  world. 
Conscious,  however,  that  I  shall  be  able  to  justify  everything  which  I 
have  done,  I  feel  some  degree  of  confidence  in  meeting  the  storm  which 
assails  me,  and  shall  now  proceed  to  unfold  a  catalogue  of  circumstances 
whijh,  while  they  harrow  up  my  own  soul,  will,  I  am  sure,  tend  to  the 
extenuation  of  my  conduct  in  this  honourable  court.  This,  as  has  already 
been  candidly  stated  by  the  attorney-general,  is  the  first  instance  in  which 
any  the  slightest  imputation  has  been  cast  upon  my  moral  character. 
Until  this  fatal  catastrophe,  which  no  one  can  more  heartily  regret  than  I 
do,  not  excepting  even  the  family  of  Mr.  Perceval  himself,  I  have  stood 
alike  pure  in  the  minds  of  those  who  have  known  me,  and  in  the  judg- 
ment of  my  own  heart.  I  hope  I  see  this  affair  in  the  true  light.  For 
eight  years,  gentlemen  of  the  jury,  have  I  been  exposed  to  all  the  miseries 
which  it  is  possible  for  human  nature  to  endure.  Driven  almost  to  despair, 
I  sought  for  redress  in  vain.  For  this  affair  I  had  the  carte  lAanche  of 
government,  as  I  will  prove  by  the  most  incontestible  evidence,  namely, 
the  writing  of  the  secretary  of  state  himself.  I  come  before  you  under 
peculiar  disadvantages.  Many  of  my  most  material  papers  are  now  at 
Liverpool,  for  which  I  have  written  ;  but  I  have  been  called  upon  my  trial 
before  it  was  possible  to  obtain  an  answer  to  my  letter.  Without 
witnesses,  therefore,  and  in  the  absence  of  many  papers  necessary  to  my 
justification,  I  am  sure  you  will  admit  I  have  just  grounds  for  claiming 
some  indulgence.  I  must  state  that  after  my  voyage  to  Archangel,  I 
transmitted  to  his  royal  highness  the  Prince  Regent,  through  Mr. 
Windle,  my  solicitor,  a  petition,  and  in  consequence  of  there  being  no 
reply  I  came  to  London   to  see  the  result.     Surprised  at   the  delay,  and 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  539 

conceiving  that  the  interests  of  my  country  were  at  stake,  I  considered 
this  step  as  essential,  as  well  for  the  assertion  of  my  own  right  as  for  the 
vindication  of  the  national  honour.  I  waited  upon  Colonel  MacMahon, 
who  stated  that  my  petition  had  been  received,  but,  owing  to  some  acci- 
dent, had  been  mislaid.  Under  these  circumstances,  I  drew  out  another 
account  of  the  particulars  of  the  Russian  affair ;  and  this  may  be  consi- 
dered the  commencement  of  that  train  of  events  which  led  to  the  afflicting 
and  unhappy  fate  of  Mr.  Perceval." 

The  prisoner  then  read  various  documents  containing  the  statement 
the  whole  of  his  affairs  in  Russia  ;  and  in  the  course  of  narrating  these 
hardships,  took  occasion  to  explain  several  points,  adverting  with  great 
feeling  to  the  unhappy  situation  in  which  he  was  placed,  from  the  circum.- 
stance  of  his  having  been  lately  married  to  his  wife,  then  about  twenty 
years  of  age,  with  an  infant  at  her  breast,  and  who  had  been  waiting  for 
him  at  St.  Petersburgh,  in  order  that  she  might  accompany  him  to  England, 
— a  prey  to  all  those  anxieties  which  the  unexpected  and  cruel  incarcera- 
tion of  her  husband,  without  any  just  grounds,  was  calculated  to  excite. 
(He  was  here  much  affected  )  He  also  described  his  feelings  at  a  subse- 
quent period,  when  his  wife,  from  an  anxiety  to  reach  her  native  country 
(England)  when  in  a  state  of  pregnancy,  and  looking  to  the  improbability 
of  his  liberation,  was  obliged  to  quit  Petersburgh  unprotected,  and  under- 
take the  voyage  at  the  peril  of  her  life  ;  while  Lord  L.  Gower  and  Sir  S. 
Shairp  suffered  him  to  remain  in  a  situation  worse  than  death.  "  My 
God  !  my  God  !"  he  exclaimed,  "  what  heart  could  bear  such  excruciatino- 
tortures,  without  bursting  with  indignation  at  conduct  so  diametrically 
opposite  to  justice  and  to  humanity.  I  appeal  to  you,  gentlemen  of  the 
jury,  as  men — I  appeal  to  you  as  brothers — I  appeal  to  you  as  Christians 
— whether,  imder  such  circumstances  of  persecution,  it  was  possible  to 
regard  the  actions  of  the  ambassador  and  consul  of  my  own  country  with 
any  other  feelings  but  those  of  detestation  and  horror  !  In  using  lano-uaL'e 
thus  strong,  I  feel  that  I  commit  an  error ;  yet  does  my  heart  tell  me,  that 
towards  men  vv^ho  lent  themselves  thus  to  bolster  up  the  basest  acts  of 
persecution,  there  are  no  observations,  however  strong,  which  the  strict 
justice  of  the  case  would  not  excuse  my  using.  Had  1  been  so  fortunate 
as  to  have  met  Lord  Leveson  Gower  instead  of  that  truly  amiable  and 
highly-lamented  individual,  Mr.  Perceval,  he  is  the  man  who  should  have 
received  the  ball!" 

The  prisoner  then  went  on  to  state  that  on  his  coming  to  England  he 
had  represented  his  hardships  to  the  Marquis  Wellesley,  from  whose 
secretary  he  received  the  following  answer  : — 

"  Foreign  Office,  January  31,  1810. 

"  Sir, — T  am  directed  by  the  Marquis  Wellesley  to  transmit  to  you  tho 
papers  which  you  sent  to  this  office,  accompanied  by  your  letter  of  the 
27th  of  last  month  ;  and  I  am  to  inform  you,  that  his  majesty's  govern- 
ment is  precluded  from  interfering  in  the  support  of  your  case,  in  some 
measure,  by  the  circumstances  of  the  case  itself,  and  entirely  so  at  tho 
pre?"nt  moment  by  the  suspension  of  intercourse  with  the  cour^  of  St. 
Petersburgh. 

"  I  am,  <S:c. 
(Signed)  "Culling  Charles  Smith." 


540  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

'■'•  I  would  beg  to  know  (he  continued)  what  course  it  was  possible  for 
me,  after  receiving  this  letter,  to  pursue  ?  If  his  majesty's  government 
thus  refused  me  redress,  what  must  be  my  next  step  ?  Tiie  only  thing  I 
could  do  was,  to  bring  a  serious  charge  against  Sir  Stephen  Shairp  and 
Lord  Leveson  Gower ;  which  I  accordingly  did,  by  addressing  a  complete 
statement  of  my  case  to  the  privy  council,  from  whom  I  received  the 
following  answer : — 

«  '  Council  Office,  'Whiteliall,  May  16,  1810. 

"  '  Sir, — I  am  directed  by  the  lords  of  the  council  to  acquaint  you,  that 
their  lordships  having  taken  into  consideration  your  petition  on  the  subject 
of  your  arrest  in  Russia,  do  not  find  that  it  is  a  matter  in  which  their 
Lordships  can,  in  any  manner,  interfere. 

'  I  am.  Sir,  &c. 

'  W.  Fawkner.' 

"•  Having  then  understood  that  any  remuneration  which  I  might 
conceive  myself  entitled  to,  I  could  only  procure  throxigh  the  medium 
of  parliament,  I  applied  myself  to  several  members  of  parliament,  to 
ascertain  what  line  of  conduct  I  ought  to  pursue  in  order  to  obtain  that 
desirable  end.  These  gentlemen  told  me,  that  I  should  make  application 
to  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer — thus  petitioning  for  leave  to  bring  in 
a  petition  upon  a  subject  which,  being  well  founded,  became  a  matter  of 
riorht,  and  not  of  favour.  In  consequence,  however,  of  this  advice,  I  did 
write  a  letter  to  Mr.  Perceval,  from  wliom  I  received  an  answer  dated 
Downing  Street,  27th  May  181U,  as  follows: — 

"  '  Sir, — I  am  desired  by  ]\Ir.  Perceval  to  state  to  you,  in  reply  to  your 
letter  of  j-esterday,  that  the  time  for  presenting  private  petitions  has  long 
since  passed  ;  and  that  Mr.  Perceval  cannot  encourage  you  to  expect  his 
sanction  in  introducing  into  the  house  a  petition  which  ]\Ir.  Perceval 
thinks  is  not  of  a  nature  for  the  consideration  of  parliament. 

'  I  am,  &c. 

'  Thomas  Brooksbank.' 

"  I  apprehend,  however,  tliat  this  information  is  not  founded  in  fact :  if 
I  am  wrong,  I  see  several  gentlemen  round  me,  connected  with  the  house 
of  commons,  who  will  set  me  right.  That  there  is  no  particular  time 
limited  for  the  presentation  of  private  petitions,  and  that  they  might  be 
brouoht  forward  at  any  period  of  the  session,  I  am  inclined  to  think  the 
usages  of  the  house  will  permit.  The  latter  clause  of  Mr.  Perceval's 
letter,  which  states  that  my  claims  are  not  of  a  nature  for  the  consideraticm 
of  parliament,  appears  to  me  inexplicable.  If  they  are  not  referred  to 
that  branch  of  the  legislature,  to  whose  consideration  then  ought  they  to 
be  submitted  ?  Yet  thus  was  I  bandied  about  from  man  to  man,  and 
from  place  to  place.  Suppose  tliis  had  been  the  case  with  either  of  you, 
gentlemen  of  the  jury,  and  tliat  your  sufferings  had  been  equal  to  mine, 
what  would  have  been  your  feelings  ?  It  is  the  duty  of  every  individual 
to  apply  through  the  proper  channel  for  redress,  and  througii  what  other 
channel  ought  you  to  apply  but  through  the  heads  of  government  ? 
Upon  this  occasion,  however,  tliose  whose  duty  it  was  to  have  redressed 
my  grievances  treated  them  with  indifference,  and  were  deaf  to  the  dictates 
of  justice.  In  consequence  of  this  denial  on  the  part  of  Mr.  Perceval  to 
investigate  a  business  in  which  the  national  honour  was  concerned,  I  was 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  541 

left  at  a  loss  how  to  act,  or  what  course  to  pursue  :  I,  therefore,  returned 
home,  and  remained  inactive  for  nearly  eighteen  months,  when,  finding  tliat 
I  could  no  longer  hold  up  against  the  ruinous  effects  of  those  failures  which 
were  the  consequence  of  the  injustice  with  which  I  had  been  treated,  every 
one  coming  upon  me  for  that  which  I  was  unable  to  pay,  and  my  family 
borne  down  by  the  deepest  affliction  at  the  distresses  to  which  tliey  were 
exposed,  I  found  it  necessary  to  renew  my  applications,  which  I  did  to  the 
treasury,  and  submitted  to  them  a  petition,  reiterating  those  claims  I  had 
90  unsuccessfully  made  before.     To  this  application  I  received  for  answer — 

"  '  Treasury  Chambers,  Feb.  24,  18  0. 
"'Sir, —  Having  laid  before  the  lords  commissioners  of  his  majesty's 
treasury  your  petition  of  the  16th  instant,  submitting  a  statement  of 
losses  sustained  by  you  in  Russia,  and  praying  relief,  I  am  commanded  by 
their  lordships  to  return  to  you  the  documents  transmitted  therewith,  and 
to  acquaint  you  that  my  lords  are  not  able  to  afford  you  any  relief. 
'  I  am,  &c. 

'  Geo.  Harrison.' 

"  I  next  made  application  to  his  royal  highness  the  Prince  Regent  to 
have  my  affairs  laid  before  parliament,  explaining  anew  the  disgraceful 
conduct  of  tlie  consul  and  ambassador  at  Russia,  who,  by  suffering  me  to 
be  so  persecuted,  had  been  guilty  of  an  act  which  brought  eternal  disgrace 
on  the  country.  (Here  he  read  documents  similar  to  the  former,  and 
repeated  all  the  statements  respecting  the  manner  in  which  he  had  been 
treated  in  Russia.)     The  answer  I  received  was  as  follows  : 

"  'Whitehall,  Feb.  18,  1812, 
"  '  Sir, — I  am  directed  by  Mr.  Secretary  Ryder  to   acquaint  you  that 
your  petition  to  his  royal  highness  the  Prince  Regent  has  been  referred,  by 
the  command  of  his  royal  highness,  for  the  consideration  of  the  lords  of 
his  majesty's  most  honourable  privy  council. 
'  I  am,  &c. 

'J.  Beckett.' 
"  After  this  I  made  application  to  the  privy  council  office,  and  had 
communications  with  Lord  Chetwynd  and  Mr.  BuUer,  the  two  clerks  of 
that  council,  who  informed  me  that  I  had  nothing  to  expect  from  their 
decision.  I  then  applied  to  know  the  reason  in  writing,  why  the  privy 
council  declined  to  act  in  obedience  to  the  instructions  of  his  royal  high- 
ness the  Prince  Regent ;  which  request  I  was  informed  by  Mr.  Litchfield 
could  not  be  complied  with. 

"Under  these  circumstances,  I  commimicated  the  whole  to  his  royal  high- 
ness, and  enclosed  to  him  a  petition  to  be  laid  before  parliament.  (The 
petition  was  here  read,  and  the  answer  of  Mr.  Beckett,  dated  March  9, 
1812,  stating  that  his  royal  highness  had  signified  no  commands  thereupon, 
and  returning  the  petition  accordingly.)  So  baffled  (he  pursued),  what 
could  a  man  do  ?  Reduced  to  the  last  extremity  of  distress  without  having 
been  guilty  of  a  single  political  crime  which  could  call  for  reprehension, 
here  I  was  forced  to  the  commission  of  that  melancholy  act  (burstino- 
into  tears)  which  I,  as  well  as  my  country,  have  so  sincerely  to  regret. 
My  wife  and  my  ])Oor  children  crying  for  the  means  of  existence,  what 
alternative  had  I  but  to  seek  redress  by  some  such  dreadful  act  as  that 
for  which  I  have  now  to  answer  ?  His  majesty's  ministers,  referring  me 
backwards  and  forwards  like  a  shuttlecock,  without  showing  the  slightest 


540  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALK.NDAU. 

dispositi  m  even  to  regard  my  wTongs  as  deserving  of  the  smallest  consi- 
deration, in  duty  to  myself,  I  was  forced  to  seek  justice,  and  aveno-e  my 
own  cause.  1  was  told  I  could  not  get  my  case  before  parliament 
without  the  sanction  of  his  majesty's  ministers.  To  General  Gascoigne, 
tor  the  politeness  and  attention  with  which  he  heard  my  statement,  and 
the  disposition  he  evinced  to  relieve  me  were  it  in  his  power,  I  have  to 
express  my  gratitude.  He  informed  me,  if  any  of  his  majesty's  ministers 
would  sanction  my  claims,  and  that  I  was  able  to  authenticate  the  parti- 
culars I  had  related,  he  should  be  happy  to  meet  my  wishes  by  layina  my 
petition  before  the  house.  Supposing  now  that  I  should  feel  little  diffi- 
culty in  obtaining  such  sanction,  and  satisfied  that  by  a  journey  to  Liver- 
pool I  should  be  able  to  produce  documents  which  would  fully  establish 
the  truth  of  every  word  I  had  uttered,  I  began  to  hope  that  the  ooal  of  my 
long-hoped-for  wishes  was  now  in  view.  I,  therefore,  directed  a  letter  to 
Mr.'  Ryder,  requesting  the  permission  I  understood  to  be  essential  to  my 
purpose.  Here,  however,  my  expectations  were  again  blasted,  and  those 
flattering  dreams  of  success  which  had  filled  my  mind  with  joy  were 
dashed  for  ever  from  my  reach  ;  and  this  letter  at  once  showed  me  that  I 
had  no  justice  to  look  for."     Here  he  read  the  letter  as  follows  : — 

"  AVhitehall,  March  20,  1812. 
"  Sir, — I  am  directed  by  Mr.  Secretary  Ryder  to  acknowledge  the 
receipt  of  your  letter  of  the  17th  instant,  requesting  permission,  on  the 
part  of  his  majesty's  ministers,  to  present  your  petition  to  the  house  of 
commons  ;  and  in  reply  I  am  to  acquaint  you,  that  you  should  address 
your  application  to  the  right  hon.  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer. 
'•  I  am,  S:c. 

"  J.  Beckett." 

"  At  last,  then,  I  was  told  I  had  nothing  to  expect,  and  was  forced 
reluctantly  to  notice  in  a  more  determined  manner  the  ill-treatment  I  had 
received.  To  this  end  I  enclosed  the  particulars  of  my  case  to  the  magis- 
trates of  Bow  Street.  (The  prisoner  then  read  the  letter  which  we  have 
already  given.) 

"  In  the  course  of  two  days  I  called  again  at  Bow  Street  for  an  answer  to 
this  letter,  when  I  received  a  little  memorandum,  in  Mr.  Reid's  writing,  in 
which  h-e  states  that  he  cannot  interfere  in  my  affairs,  and  that  he  had 
felt  it  his  duty  to  communicate  the  contents  of  my  packet  to  the  secretary 
of  state.  Had  he  done  otherwise  he  would  hare  been  extremely  reprehen- 
sible, as  events  have  turned  out  so  calamitously — events  which  go  to  my 
heart  to  allude  to.  (Much  afiected.)  At  last,  in  reply  to  a  letter  of  the 
lath  of  April,  I  received  a  final  and  direct  answer,  which  at  once  convinced 
me  tliat  I  had  no  reason  to  expect  any  adjustment  whatever  of  those  claims 
which  I  had  on  his  majesty's  government,  for  my  criminal  detention  in 
Russia.     It  was  in  these  terms  : — 

"'Whitehall,  April  18,1812. 
"'  Sir, — I  am.  directed  by  Mr.  Secretary  Ryder  to  acknowledge  the  receipt 
of  your  letter  of  the  13th  instant,  requesting  to  be  informed  in  what  stage 
your  claim  on  his  majesty's  government  for  criminal  detention  in  Russia 
now  is.  In  reply,  I  am  to  refer  you  to  my  several  letters  of  the  18tli  of 
February,  9th  and  20th  of  3Iarch,  by  which  you  have  been  already  in- 
formed that  your  first  petition  to  his  royal  highness  the  Prince  Regent, 
praying  for  remuneration,  had  been  referred  to  the  consideration  of  the 
lords  of  the  council.     That  upon  your  second  memorial,  praying  his  royal 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  54'i 

highness  to  give  orders  that  the  suhject  should  be  brought  before  parlia- 
ment, his  royal  higliness  had  not  been  pleased  to  signify  any  commands. 
And,  lastly,  in  answer  to  your  application  to  Mr.  Ryder,  requesting  per 
mission  on  the  part  of  his  majesty's  ministers  to  present  your  petition  to 
the  house  of  commons,  you  were  informed  that  your  application  should  be 
addressed  to  the  right  hon.  the  chancellor  of  the  exchequer. 
'  I  am,  &c. 

'  J.  Beckett.' 

"  After  this,  on  personal  application  at  the  office  of  the  secretary  of 
state,  and  intimating  my  intention  to  take  justice  in  my  own  hand,  I  Vv'as 
told,  by  the  moutli  of  jNIr.  Hill,  that  I  was  at  liberty  to  take  such 
measures  as  I  thought  proper.  Wlio  then  is  to  be  reprobated  in  this  case  ? 
— those  who  were  regardless  of  every  feeling  of  honour  and  of  justice,  or 
him  who,  spurred  on  by  injury  and  neglect,  and  with  a  due  notice  of  lii? 
intentions,  pursued  the  only  course  likely  to  lead  to  a  satisfactory  termina- 
tion of  calamities  which  had  weighed  him  down  to  the  lowest  ebb  of 
misery  !  I  will  now  only  mention  a  few  observations  by  way  of  defence. 
You  iiave  before  you  all  the  particulars  of  this  melancholy  transaction. 
Believe  me,  gentlemen,  the  rashness  of  which  I  have  been  guilty  has  not 
been  dictated  by  any  personal  animosity  to  JMr.  Perceval,  rather  than 
injure  whom,  from  private  or  malicious  motives,  I  would  sutFer  my  limbs  to 
be  cut  from  my  body.     (Here  the  prisoner  seemed  again  much  agitated.) 

"  If,  whenever  I  am  called  before  the  tribunal  of  God,  I  can  appear 
with  as  clear  a  conscience  as  I  now  possess  in  regard  to  the  alleged  charge 
of  the  wilful  murder  of  the  unfortunate  gentleman,  the  investigation  of  whose 
death  has  occupied  your  attention,  it  would  be  happy  for  me,  as  essentially 
securing  to  me  eternal  salvation  ;  but  that  is  impossible.  That  my  arm  has 
been  the  means  of  his  melancholy  and  lamented  exit,  I  am  ready  to  allow. 
But  to  constitute  murder,  it  must  clearly  and  absolutely  be  proved  to  have 
arisen  from  malice  prepense,  and  with  a  malicious  design,  as  I  have  no 
doubt  the  learned  judjje  will  shortly  lay  down,  in  explaining  the  law  on 
the  subject.  If  such  is  the  case,  I  am  guilty  ;  if  not,  I  look  forward  with 
confidence  to  your  acquittal. 

"  That  the  contrary  is  the  case  has  been  most  clearly  and  irrefutably 
proved ;  no  douljt  can  rest  upon  your  minds,  as  my  uniform  aud  unde- 
viating  object  has  been  an  endeavour  to  obtain  justice,  according  to  law, 
for  a  series  of  the  most  long-continued  and  unmerited  suffijrings  that  were 
ever  submitted  to  a  court  of  lavv,  without  having  been  guilty  of  any  other 
crime  than  an  appeal  for  redi'ess  for  a  most  flagrant  injury  offered  to  my 
sovereign  and  my  country,  wherein  my  liberty  and  property  have  fallen 
a  sacrifice  for  the  continued  period  of  eight  years,  to  the  total  ruin  of  my- 
self and  family  (with  authenticated  documents  of  the  truth  of  the  allega- 
tions), merely  because  it  was  Mr.  Perceval's  pleasure  that  justice  should 
not  be  granted,  sheltering  himself  witli  the  idea  of  there  being  no  alterna- 
tive remaining,  as  my  petition  to  parliament  for  redress  could  not  be  brought 
(as  having  a  pecuniary  tendency)  without  the  sanction  of  his  Majesty's 
ministers,  and  that  he  was  determined  to  opjaose  my  claim,  by  ti'ampling 
both  on  law  and  right. 

"■  Gentlemen,  where  a  man  has  so  strong  and  serious  a  criminal  case  to 
bring  forward  as  mine  has  been,  the  nature  of  which  was  ]nirely  national, 
it  is  the  bouuden  duty  of  government  to  attend  to  it ;  for  justice  is  a  matter 


544  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

of  n'fjlit,  and  not  of  favour.  And  when  a  minister  is  so  unprincipled  and 
presumptuous  at  any  time,  but  especially  in  a  case  of  such  urgent  necessity, 
to  set  himself  above  both  the  sovereign  and  the  laws,  as  has  been  the  case 
with  Mr.  Perceval,  he  must  do  it  at  his  personal  risk  ;  for  by  the  law  he 
cannot  be  protected. 

"  Gentlemen,  if  this  is  not  fact,  the  mere  will  of  a  minister  would  be 
law ;  it  would  be  this  thing  to-day  and  tlie  other  thing  to-morrow,  aa 
either  interest  or  caprice  might  dictate. — What  would  become  of  our 
liberties  ?  Where  would  be  the  purity  and  the  impartiality  of  the  justlctf 
we  so  much  boast  of? — To  government's  non-attendance  to  the  dictates  of 
justice  is  solely  to  be  attributed  the  melancholy  catastrophe  of  the  unfortu- 
nate gentleman,  as  any  malicious  intention  to  his  injury  was  the  most 
remote  from  my  heart.  Justice,  and  justice  only,  was  my  object,  whicti 
government  uniformly  objected  to  grant ;  and  the  distress  it  reduced  me 
to,  drove  me  to  despair  in  consequence ;  and,  purely  for  the  purpose  of 
havincr  this  singular  aftair  legally  investigated,  I  gave  notice  at  the  public 
otfice.  Bow  Street,  requesting  the  magistrates  to  acquaint  his  majesty's 
ministers,  that  if  they  persisted  in  refusing  justice,  or  even  to  permit  me  to 
brinof  my  just  petition  into  parliament  for  redress,  I  should  be  under  the 
imperious  necessity  of  executing  justice  myself,  solely  for  the  purpose  of 
ascertainino-,  through  a  criminal  court,  whether  his  majesty's  ministers 
have  the  power  to  refuse  justice  to  a  well-authenticated  and  irrefutable  act 
of  oppression,  committed  by  tlie  consul  and  ambassador  abroad,  whereby 
my  sovereion's  and  country's  honour  were  materially  tarnished,  by  my 
person  endeavouring  to  be  made  the  stalking-horse  of  justification,  to  one 
of  the  greatest  insults  that  could  be  offered  to  the  crown.  But  in  order  to 
avoid  so  reluctant  and  abhorrent  an  alternative,  I  hoped  to  be  allowed  to 
brino-  my  petition  to  the  house  of  commons — or  that  they  would  do  what 
was  rioht  and  proper  themselves.  On  my  return  from  Russia,  I  brought 
most  serious  charges  to  the  privy  council,  both  against  Sir  Stephen 
Shairp  and  Lord  Granville  Leveson  Gower,  when  the  affair  was  deter- 
mined to  be  purely  national,  and  consequently  it  was  the  duty  of  his 
majesty's  ministers  to  arrange  it  by  acting  on  the  resolution  of  the  council. 
Suppose,  for  instance,  the  charge  I  brought  could  have  been  proved  to  be 
erroneous,  should  not  I  have  been  called  to  a  severe  account  for  my  con- 
duct? Bat,  being  true,  ought  not  I  to  have  been  redressed  ? 

"  After  the  notice  from  the  police  to  government,  Mr.  Ryder,  conscious 
of  the  truth  and  cruelty  of  the  case,  transmitted  the  affair  to  the  Treasury, 
referring  me  there  for  a  final  result.  After  a  delay  of  some  weeks,  the 
Treasury  came  to  the  resolution  of  sending  the  affair  back  to  the  secretary 
of  state's  office  ;  at  the  same  time  I  was  told  by  a  Mr.  Hill,  that  he 
thought  it  would  be  useless  my  making  further  application  to  government, 
and  that  I  was  at  liberty  to  take  such  measures  as  I  thought  proper  for 
redress. 

"  i>Ir.  Beckett,  the  under- secretary  of  state,  confirmed  the  same,  adding 
that  Mr.  Perceval  had  been  consulted,  and  could  not  allow  my  petition  to 
come  forward.  This  direct  refusal  of  justice,  with  a  carte  hlanchi' 
to  act  in  whatever  manner  T  thought  proper,  were  the  sole  causes  of  the 
fatal  catastrophe— and  they  have  now  to  reflect  on  their  own  impure  con- 
duct for  what  has  hajipened. 

"  It  is  a  melancholy  fact,  that  the  warping  of  justice,  including  all  the 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  645 

^ariims  ramifications  in  wliicli  it  operates,  occasions  more  misery  in  the 
world,  in  a  moral  sense,  than  all  the  acts  of  God  in  a  physical  one,  witli 
which  he  punisiies  mankind  for  their  transgressions ;  a  confirmation 
of  which,  the  single,  hut  strong,  instance  before  you  is  one  remarkable 
proof. 

"  If  a  poor  unfortunate  man  stops  another  upon  the  highway,  and  robs 
him  of  but  a  few  shiUings,  he  may  be  called  upon  to  forfeit  his  life.  But 
I  have  been  robbed  of  my  liberty  for  years,  ill-treated  beyond  precedent, 
torn  from  my  wife  and  family,  bereaved  of  all  my  property  to  make  good 
the  consequences  of  such  irregularities,  deprived  and  bereaved  of  everythino- 
that  makes  life  valuable,  and  then  called  upon  to  forfeit  it,  because  Mr. 
Perceval  has  been  pleased  to  patronize  iniquity  that  ought  to  have  been 
punished,  for  the  sake  of  a  vote  or  two  in  the  House  of  Commons,  with, 
perhaps,  a  similar  good  turn  elsewhere. 

"  Is  there,  gentlemen,  any  comparison  between  the  enormity  of  these  two 
offenders  ?  No  more  than  a  mite  to  a  mountain.  Yet  the  one  is  carried 
to  the  gallows,  while  the  other  stalks  in  security,  fancying  himself  beyond 
the  reach  of  law  or  justice  ;  the  most  honest  man  suffers,  while  the  other 
goes  forward  in  triumph  to  new  and  more  extended  enormities. 

"  "We  have  had  a  recent  and  striking  instance  of  some  imfortunate  men 
who  have  been  called  upon  to  pay  their  lives  as  the  forfeit  of  their  alle- 
giance, in  endeavouring  to  mitigate  the  rigours  of  a  prison.  But,  gentlemen, 
where  is  the  proportion  between  the  crimes  for  which  they  suffered,  and 
what  the  Government  has  been  guilty  of,  in  withholding  its  protection 
from  me  ?  Even  in  a  Crown  case,  after  the  years  of  sufferintrs,  I  have  been 
called  upon  to  sacrifice  all  my  property,  and  the  welfare  of  my  family,  to 
bolster  up  the  iniquities  of  the  Crown  ;  and  then  am  prosecuted  for  my  life, 
because  I  have  taken  the  only  possible  alternative  to  bi'ing  the  affair  to  a 
public  investigation,  for  the  purpose  of  being  enabled  to  return  to  the 
bosom  of  my  family  with  some  degree  of  comfort  and  honour.  Every  man 
within  the  sound  of  my  voice  must  feel  for  my  situation ;  but  by  you, 
gentlemen  of  the  jury,  it  must  be  felt  in  a  peculiar  degree,  who  are 
husbands  and  fathers,  and  can  fancy  yourselves  in  my  situation. — I  trust 
that  this  serious  lesson  will  operate  as  a  warning  to  all  future  ministers, 
and  lead  them  to  do  the  thing  that  is  right,  as  an  unerring  rule  of  conduct ; 
for,  if  the  superior  classes  were  more  correct  in  their  proceedings,  the  exten- 
sive ramifications  of  evil  would,  in  a  great  measure,  be  hemmed  up — and  a 
notable  proof  of  the  fact  is,  that  this  court  would  never  have  been  troubled 
with  the  case  before  it,  had  their  conduct  been  guided  by  these  principles. 

"  I  have  now  occupied  the  attention  of  the  court  for  a  period  much 
longer  than  I  intended  ;  yet,  I  trust,  they  will  consider  the  awfulness  of 
my  situation  to  be  a  sufiicient  ground  for  a  trespass,  which,  under  other 
circumstances,  would  be  inexcusable.  Sooner  than  suffer  what  I  have  suf- 
fered for  the  last  eight  years,  however,  I  should  consider  five  hundrea 
deaths,  if  it  were  possible  for  human  nature  to  endure  them,  a  fate  far 
more  preferable.  Lost  so  long  to  all  the  endearments  of  my  family, 
bereaved  of  all  the  blessings  of  life,  and  deprived  of  its  greatest  sweet, 
liberty,  as  the  weary  traveller,  who  has  long  been  pelted  by  the  pitiless 
storm,  welcomes  the  much  desired  inn,  I  shall  receive  death  as  the  relief  of 
all  my  sorrows.  I  shall  not  occupy  your  attention  longer  ;  but,  relying  on 
the  justice  of  God,  and  submitting  myself  to  the  dictates  of  your  conscience, 

VOL.    I.  -V    A 


546  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

I  submit  to  the  fiat  of  my  fate,  firmly  anticipating  an  acquittal  from  a 
charge  so  abhorrent  to  every  feeling  of  my  soul." 

Here  the  prisoner  bowed,  and  his  counsel  immediately  proceeded  to  call 
the  witnesses  for  the  defence. 

Anne  Billet,  wlio  appeared  under  the  strongest  impressions  of  grief,  being 
sworn,  deposed,  that  she  lived  in  the  county  of  Southampton  ;  she  came  to 
London  in  consequence  of  having  read  in  the  newspapers  of  the  prisoner 
having  been  apprehended  for  the  murder  of  ]\Ir.  Perceval.  She  wag 
induced  to  come  to  town,  from  a  conviction  that  she  knew  more  of  him 
than  any  other  friend.  She  knew  him  from  a  child.  He  resided  latterly 
at  Liverpool,  from  whence  he  came  at  Christmas  last.  She  knew  him  to 
be  a  merchant.  His  father  died  insane  in  Titchfield-street,  Oxford-road  ; 
she  firmly  believed  that,  for  the  last  three  or  four  years,  the  prisoner  was 
in  a  state  of  derangement,  respecting  the  business  which  he  had  been 
pursuing.  She  had  not  seen  him  for  twelve  months  until  the  present 
moment.  She  always  thought  him  deranged  when  his  Russian  affairs  were 
the  subject  of  conversation. 

When  cross-examined  by  Mr.  Garrow,  she  deposed,  that  when  in 
London  with  the  prisoner  about  twelve  months  since,  he  was  going  to 
different  government  offices  to  seek  redress  of  his  grievances.  He  was 
then  in  a  state  of  derangement,  as  he  had  been  ever  since  his  return  from 
Russia.  There  was  one  instance  which  occurred  at  the  period  to  which  she 
was  alluding,  which  strongly  confirmed  her  in  the  opinion  of  his  insanity. 
About  Christmas  he  told  his  wife  and  witness,  that  now  he  was  come  from 
Russia  lie  had  realised  more  than  100,000Z.,  with  which  he  intended  to 
buy  an  estate  in  the  west  of  England,  and  to  have  a  house  in  London. — 
He  admitted  that  he  had  not  got  tlie  money,  but  said  it  was  the  same  as 
if  he  had,  for  he  had  gained  his  cause  in  Russia,  and  our  government  would 
make  good  all  the  loss  he  had  sustained.  He  repeatedly  said  to  her  and  to 
his  wife  that  this  was  assuredly  the  fact.  Upon  one  occasion  he  took  Mrs. 
Bellingham  and  the  witness  to  the  secretary  of  state's  office,  where  they  saw 
Mr.  Smith,  who  said  if  he  had  not  ladies  with  him  he  would  not  have  come 
to  him  at  all. — The  prisoner  told  Mr.  Smith,  that  the  reason  why  he 
brought  them  was,  to  convince  them  that  his  claims  were  just,  and  that  he 
would  very  shortly  receive  the  money.  Mr.  Smith  t(jld  him  he  could  say 
nothing  upon  this  subject  ;  he  had  already  sent  him  a  letter  alleging  that 
he  had  nothing  to  expect.  The  prisoner  tlien  requested  Mr.  Smith  would 
answer  him  one  question — "  ]\Iy  friends  say  I  am  out  of  my  senses ;  is  it 
your  opinion  that  I  am  so  ?"  Mr.  Smith  said  it  was  a  very  delicate  question, 
and  one  he  did  not  wish  to  ansv/er.  Having  tlien  departed,  when  they  got 
into  the  carriage  which  waited  for  them,  he  took  hold  of  his  wife's  hand 
and  said,  "  I  hope,  now,  my  dear,  you  are  convinced  all  will  now  end  as 
we  wish.'  Since  that  period  she  knew  that  he  had  been  pursuing  his  object 
aloiie^  his  wife  remaining  at  Liverpool. 

Other  witnesses  were  called,  who  deposed  to  like  facts  and  to  their 
belief  in  the  insanity  of  the  prisoner,  but  Lord  Chief  Justice  Mansfield 
having  summed  up  the  case,  the  jury,  after  a  consultation  of  two  minutes 
and  a  half  in  the  box,  expressed  a  wish  to  retire  ;  and  an  officer  of  the 
court  being  svt'orn,  accompanied  them  to  the  juiy-room.  As  they  passed 
out,  the  prisoner  regarded  them  separately  with  a  look  of  mingled  confi- 
dence and  complacency.     They  were  absent  fourteen  minutes  ;  and,  on 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  54" 

their  return  into  coi;rt,  their  countenances,  acting  as  indices  to  their  minds, 
at  once  unfolded  the  determination  to  which  they  had  come.  Tlie  prisoner 
again  directed  his  attention  to  them  in  the  same  manner  as  hefore. 

The  names  being  called  over,  and  the  verdict  asked  for  in  the  usual 
form,  the  foreman  in  a  faltering  voice,  announced  the  fatal  decision  of — 
Guilty. 

The  prisoner's  countenance  here  indicated  surprise,  unmixed,  however, 
with  any  demonstrations  of  that  concern  which  the  awfulness  of  his  situa- 
tion was  calculated  to  produce. 

The  Recorder  then  passed  the  awful  sentence  of  death  on  the  prisoner  in 
the  most  feeling  manner,  and  he  was  ordered  for  execution  on  the  follow- 
ing Monday,  his  body  to  be  anatomised.  He  received  the  sentence  with- 
out any  emotion. 

From  the  time  of  his  condemnation,  the  unfortunate  convict  was  fed 
upon  bread  and  water.  All  means  of  suicide  were  removed,  and  he  was 
not  allowed  to  be  shaved ;  a  prohibition  which  gave  him  much  concern, 
as  he  feared  he  should  not  appear  as  a  gentleman.  He  was  visited  by  the 
ordinary  on  Saturday,  and  some  religious  gentlemen  called  on  him  on  Suk- 
day,  with  whose  conversation  he  seemed  greatly  pleased.  He  appeared 
naturally  depressed  by  his  situation  ;  but  persisted  in  a  resolute  denial  of 
his  guilt.  He  frequently  said  that  he  had  prepared  himself  to  go  to  his 
Fatlier,  and  that  he  should  be  pleased  when  the  hour  came. 

Being  informed,  by  JNIr.  Newman,  that  two  gentlemen  from  Liverpool 
had  called,  and  left  word  that  his  wife  and  children  would  be  provided  for^ 
he  seemed  but  little  affected ;  but,  having  requested  pen,  ink,  and  paper, 
he  wrote  the  following  letter  to  his  wife  : — 

"  My  Blessed  Mary, — It  rejoiced  me  beyond  measure  to  hear  you 
are  likely  to  be  well  provided  for.  I  am  sure  the  public  at  large  will  par- 
ticipate in,  and  mitigate,  your  sorrows  ;  I  assure  you,  my  love,  my  sin- 
cerest  endeavours  have  ever  been  directed  to  your  welfare.— As  we  shall 
not  meet  any  more  in  this  world,  I  sincerely  hope  v^re  shall  do  so  in  the 
world  to  come.  My  blessing  to  the  boys,  with  kind  remembrance  to  Miss 
Stephens,  for  whom  I  have  the  greatest  regard,  in  consequence  of  her 
uniform  affection  for  them.  With  the  purest  intentions,  it  has  always  beea 
my  misfortune  to  be  thwarted,  misrepresented,  and  ill-used  in  life ;  but, 
however,  we  feel  a  happy  prospect  of  compensation  in  a  speedy  translation 
to  life  eternal. — It's  not  possible  to  be  more  calm  or  placid  than  I  feel,  and 
nine  hours  more  will  waft  me  to  those  happy  shores  where  bliss  is  withouV 
alloy. — Yours  ever  affectionate, — John  Bellingham." 

That  the  unfortunate  man  was  afflicted  with  a  strangs  malady,  which 
occasionally  rendered  him  incapable  of  correct  conclusions,  must  be  evident 
from  the  following  note,  which  he  wrote  the  night  preceding  his  execu- 
tion : — "  I  lost  my  suit  solely  through  the  improper  conduct  of  my 
attorney  and  counsel,  Mr.  Alley,  in  not  bringing  my  witnesses  forward 
(of  whom  there  were  more  than  twenty)  :  in  consequence,  the  judge  took 
advantage  of  the  circumstance,  and  I  went  of  Ijonj  the  defence  without 
having  brought  forward  a  single  friend — otherwise  1  must  inevitably  have 
been  acquitted." 

On  the  Momlay  morning  at  about  six  o'clock  he  rose  and  dressed  himself 
with  great  composure,  and  read  for  half  an  hour  in  the  prayer-book.  Dr. 
Ford  being  then  announced,  the  prisoner  shook  him  most  cordially  by  the 


54S  TUE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALEND.VH. 

liand,  and  left  his  cell  for  the  room  allotted  for  the  condemned  criminals. 
He  repeated  the  declaration  which  he  had  frequently  hefore  made,  that  hid 
mind  was  perfectly  calm  and  composed,  and  that  he  was  fully  prepared  to 
meet  his  fate  with  resignation.  After  a  few  minutes  spent  in  prayer,  the 
sacrament  was  administered  to  him,  and  during  the  whole  of  the  ceremony 
he  seemed  to  be  deeply  impressed  with  the  truths  of  the  christian  religion, 
and  repeatedly  uttered  some  pious  ejaculations.  After  the  religious  cere- 
mony was  ended,  the  prisoner  was  informed  that  the  sheriff's  were  ready. 
He  answered  in  a  firm  tone  of  voice,  "  I  am  perfectly  ready  also." 

The  executioner  then  proceeded  to  fasten  his  wrists  together,  and  the 
prisoner  turned  up  the  sleeves  of  his  coat,  and  clasped  his  hands  together, 
presenting  them  to  the  man,  who  held  the  cord,  and  said,  "  So."  When 
they  were  fastened,  he  desired  his  attendants  to  pull  down  liis  sleeves  so  as 
to  cover  the  cord.  The  officer  then  proceeded  to  secure  his  arms  behind 
him  ;  and  when  the  man  had  finished,  he  moved  his  hands  upwards,  as  if 
to  ascertain  whether  he  could  reach  his  neck,  and  asked  whether  they 
thought  his  arms  were  sufficiently  fastened ;  saying,  that  he  might  struggle, 
and  that  he  wished  to  be  so  secured  as  to  prevent  any  inconvenience  arising 
from  it.  He  was  answered  that  the  cord  was  quite  secure,  but  he  requested 
that  it  might  be  tightened  a  little,  which  was  accordingly  done.  During 
the  whole  of  the  awful  scene  he  appeared  perfectly  composed  and  collected  ; 
his  voice  never  faltered,  but  just  before  he  left  tlie  room  to  proceed  to  the 
place  of  execution,  he  stooped  down  his  head,  and  appeared  to  wipe  away 
a  tear.  He  was  then  conducted  by  the  lord  mayor,  sheriff's,  under-sheriffs 
and  officers  (Dr.  Ford  walking  with  him)  from  the  room,  in  which  he  had 
remained  from  the  time  his  irons  were  taken  off',  througli  the  press-yard 
and  the  prison  to  the  fatal  spot,  before  the  debtors'  door  at  Newgate. 

He  ascended  the  scaft'old  with  rather  a  light  step,  a  cheerful  counte- 
nance, and  a  confident,  a  calm,  but  not  an  exulting  air.  He  looked  about 
him  a  little,  lightly  and  rapidly,  which  seems  to  have  been  his  usual 
manner  and  gesture,  but  made  no  remark. 

Before  the  cap  was  put  over  his  face.  Dr.  Ford  asked  if  he  had  any  last  com- 
munication to  make, or  anything  particular  to  say.  He  was  again  proceeding 
to  talk  about  Russia  and  his  family,  when  Dr.  Ford  stopped  him,  calling  his 
attention  to  the  eternity  into  which  he  was  entering  ;  and  praying,  Bel- 
lingham  prayed  also.  The  clergyman  then  asked  him  how  he  felt ;  and  he 
answered  calmly  and  collectedly,  that  "  he  thanked  God  for  having  enabled 
him  to  meet  his  fate  with  so  much  fortitude  and  resignation."  When  the 
executioner  proceeded  to  put  the  cap  over  his  face,  Bellingham  objected  to 
it,  and  expressed  a  strong  wish  that  the  business  could  be  done  without 
it ;  but  Dr.  Ford  said  that  was  not  to  be  dispensed  with.  While  the  cap 
was  being  fastened  on,  it  being  tied  round  the  lower  part  of  the 
face  by  the  prisoner's  neckerchief,  and  just  when  he  was  tied  up, 
about  a  score  of  persons  in  the  mob  set  up  a  loud  and  reiterated  cry  of 
"  God  bless  you  1"  "  God  save  you  !"  This  cry  lasted  while  the  cap  was 
fastening  on  ;  and,  though  those  who  raised  it  were  loud  and  daring,  it 
was  joined  in  by  but  very  few.  The  ordinary  asked  Bellingham  if  he 
heard  what  the  mob  were  saying.  He  said  he  heard  them  crying  out 
something,  but  he  did  not  understand  what  it  was,  and  inquired  what. 
The  cry  having  by  this  time  ceased,  the  clergyman  did  not  inform  him 
what  it  was.     The  fastening  on  of  the  cap  being  accomplished,  the  execu- 


THE    KEW    NEWGATE    CALENPAR.  549 

tioner  retired,  and  a  perfect  silence  ensued.  Dr.  Ford  continued  prayinf 
for  about  a  minute,  while  the  executioner  went  below  the  scaffold,  and  pre- 
paratit)ns  were  made  to  strike  away  its  supporters.  The  clock  struck  eight, 
and  while  it  was  striking  the  seventh  time,  the  clergyman  and  Bellino-Jiam 
both  fervently  praying,  the  supporters  of  the  internal  part  of  tlie  scaffold 
were  struck  away,  and  Bellingham  dropped  out  of  sight  down  as  far  as  the 
knees,  his  body  being  in  full  view,  and  the  clergyman  was  left  standing  on 
the  outer  frame  of  the  scaffold.  When  Bellingham  sunk,  the  most  perfect 
and  awful  silence  prevailed ;  not  even  the  slightest  attempt  at  a  huzza  or 
noise  of  any  kind  whatever  was  made. 

The  body  was  afterwards  carried  in  a  cart,  followed  by  a  crowd  of  the 
lower  class,  to  St.  Bartholomew's  Hospital,  and  privately  dissected. 

The  greatest  precautions  were  adopted  to  prevent  accidents  amonw  the 
crowd. — A  large  bill  was  placarded  at  all  the  avenues  to  the  Old  Bailey, 
and  carried  about  on  a  pole,  to  this  effect  : — "  Beware  of  enterino-  the 
crowd  ! — Remember  thirty  poor  creatures  were  pressed  to  death  by  tlie 
crowd  when  Haggerty  and  Holloway  were  executed,"  and  no  accident  of 
any  moment  occurred. 

To  prevent  any  disposition  to  tumult,  a  military  force  was  stationed 
near  Islington,  and  to  the  south  of  Blackfriars  Bridge  ;  and  all  the  volun- 
teer corps  of  the  metropolis  received  instructions  to  be  under  arms  durino' 
the  whole  of  the  day. 


THE    LUDDITES. 

The  name  of  this  deluded  faction  was  taken  from  tbe  person  by  whom 
they  represented  that  they  were  led  on  to  commit  the  irres^ularities  of  which 
tliey  were  guilty — Genei-al  Ludd.  It  appears  that  the  cotton  manufac- 
turers of  Nottinghamshire,  Derbyshire,  Leicestershire,  and  some  parts  of 
Yorkshire,  having  suffered  under  a  considerable  reduction  of  wages  and 
scarcity  of  work,  which  they  attributed  to  the  very  extensive  introduction 
of  machinery,  associated  in  such  numbers  for  tlie  destruction  of  frames  and 
looms,  and  the  annoyance  of  those  manufacturers  who  had  been  most  for- 
ward in  introducing  the  machines,  that  those  counties  became  the  seat  of 
the  most  serious  tumults. 

The  crimes  of  which  they  were  generally  guilty  were  those  of  adminis- 
tering unlawful  oaths,  riotously  assembling,  and  breaking  the  frames  and 
looms  of  the  manufacturers  of  cloth,  breaking  into  houses,  and  in  some 
instances  those  persons  who  had  had  sufficient  hardiliood  to  oppose  their 
proceedings  were  selected  by  them  as  victims  to  their  passions,  and  were 
barbarously  murdered.  The  riotous  proceedings  of  the  party  continued 
during  a  considerable  period,  but  at  length  tlie  active  measures,  which 
were  taken  by  the  government  against  them,  eflectually  put  a  stop  to  their 
depredations. 

Many  of  them  having  been  taken  into  custody  a  special  commission  was 
issued  for  their  trial,  and  was  opened  by  Baron  Thompson,  at  the  city  of 
York,  on  ]\Ionday  the  4th  of  January  1813,  in  a  most  impressive  charge 
to  the  grand  jury. 

On  Tuesday,  the  5th,  the  business  of  the  court  commenced  with  the 
trial   of  John  Swallow,  John  Batley,  Joseph  Fletcher,  and  John   Lamb, 


5j0  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

for  a  burglary  and  felony  in  the  house  of  Mr.  Samuel  Moxon,  at  Whitley 
Upper  :  the  jury  pronounced  them  all  guilty. 

It  would  be  useless  to  go  into  a  detail  of  all  the  cases  tried  before  the 
learned  judges,  all  of  which  partook  strongly  of  the  same  character,  and 
we  shall  tliei-efore  confine  ourselves  to  the  recital  of  those  instances  which 
were  marked  by  the  spilling  of  blood. 

On  the  "Wednesday,  George  Mellor,  of  Longroyd  Bridge,  and  "William 
Thorp  and  Tliomas  Smith,  of  Huddersfield,  were  indicted  for  the  wilful 
murder  of  William  Horsfall,  of  ]Marsden,  merchant  and  manufacturer,  at 
Lockwood,  in  the  "West  Riding  of  Yorkshire. 

From  the  evidence  of  Benjamin  Walker,  an  accomplice  of  the  prisoners 
and  others,  it  appeared  that  a  conspiracy  was  entered  into  to  attack  the 
mill  of  Mr.  Cartwright,  in  which  Mellor  was  one  of  the  principals. 
While  they  were  in  conversation  upon  this  subject  on  the  28th  April, 
however,  tlie  same  prisoner  produced  a  loaded  pistol,  and  said  that  he  was 
going  to  shoot  ]\Ir.  Horsfall,  and  tliat  the  other  prisoners  and  Walker  must 
accompany  him.  They  accordingly  proceeded  together  to  a  plantation 
near  an  inn  called  the  Warren- house,  at  Crossland  Moor,  near  Huddersfield, 
where  it  was  arranged  that  they  should  station  themselves  in  a  line  by  the 
road,  and  when  j\Ir.  Horsfall  came,  Mellor  was  to  fire  first ;  and  in  case  of 
his  missing  his  aim  Smith  and  AYalker  were  to  fire.  At  a  quarter  past  six 
o'clock  in  the  evening,  ]Mr.  Horsfall  called  at  the  Warren-house,  on  his  way 
home  from  Huddersfield  market,  and  had  some  rum  and  water,  and  after 
about  twenty  minutes  he  proceeded  on  his  way,  iinsconscious  of  the  fate 
which  awaited  him.  He  had  entered  tiie  road,  which  ran  through  the 
plantation,  and  which  was  only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  from  the  Warren-house, 
when  the  prisoner  ^lellor  fired  and  shot  him.  The  unfortunate  gentleman 
on  his  being  wounded  fell  on  his  horse's  chine,  and  a  3Ir.  Parr,  hearing  the 
report  and  seeing  him  fall,  rode  up  to  him,  in  order  to  assist  him.  Mr. 
Horsfall,  having  quitted  his  horse,  sat  down  by  the  road  side,  and  despatched 
Mr.  Parr  for  assistance,  but  he  died  very  soon  afterwards. 

The  prisoners  attempted  to  prove  an  aliln,  but  the  jury  withdrew  about 
twenty  minutes,  and  returned  a  verdict  of  guilty  against  them  all.  They 
were  immediately  sentenced  to  death. 

On  Friday  tliese  wretched  men  were  brought  to  the  place  of  execution, 
behind  the  Castle  at  York.  Every  precaution  had  been  taken  to  render  a 
rescue  impracticable.  Two  troops  of  cavalry  were  drawn  up  near  the  front 
of  the  platform,  and  the  avenues  to  the  Castle  were  guarded  by  infantry. 

A  few  minutes  before  nine  o'clock  the  prisoners  came  upon  the  platform. 
After  the  ordinary  had  read  the  accustomed  forms  of  prayer,  George 
jNIellor  prayed  for  about  ten  minutes,  William  Thorp  also  prayed  ;  but  his 
voice  was  not  so  well  heard.  Smith  said  but  little,  but  seemed  to  join  in 
the  devotions  with  great  seriousness. 

The  prisoners  were  then  moved  to  the  front  of  the  platform  ;  and,  after 
sayino-  a  few  words,  the  executioner  proceeded  to  perform  his  fatal  office, 
and  the  drop  fell. 

On  the  8th  John  Baines  the  elder,  John  Baines  the  younger,  Zachary 
Baines  of  the  same  family,  the  elder  near  seventy  years  of  age,  and  the 
latter  scarce  sixteen,  John  Eadon,  Charles  3Iihies,  William  Blakeborough, 
and  Georcre  Duckworth,  all  of  Halifax,  were  tried  for  administering  an  un- 
lawful oath  to  John  Macdonald  ;  and  all,  except  the  boy,  were  found  guilty 


-ii 


■i^^te^-^£u<su/c^^  j^/ttCH>\ 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  55 1 

On  the  9th  January,  James  Haigh  of  Dalton,  Jonathan  Dcane  of  Ilud- 
dersficld,  John  Ogden,  James  Brook,  Thomas  Brook,  John  Walker  of 
Longroyd  Bridge,  and  Jolin  Hirst  of  Liversedge,  were  tried  for  attacking 
the  mill  of  Mr.  WiUiam  Cartwright  at  Rawfolds.  Mr.  Cartwright  being 
apprehensive  of  an  attack  being  made  upon  his  mill,  procured  tlie  assist- 
ance of  five  soldiers,  and  retired  to  rest  about  twelve  o'clock,  but  soon 
afterwards  heard  the  barking  of  a  dog.  He  arose ;  and  while  opening  the 
door,  heard  a  breaking  of  windows,  and  also  a  firing  in  the  upper  and  lower 
windows,  and  a  violent  hammering  at  the  door.  He  and  his  men  flew  to 
their  arms  ;  and  a  bell  placed  at  the  top  of  the  mill,  for  the  purpose  of 
alarming  the  neighbours,  being  rung  by  one  of  his  men,  the  persons  inside 
the  mill  discharged  their  pieces  from  loop-holes.  The  fire  was  returned 
regularly  on  both  sides.  The  mob  called,  "  Bang  up,  lads  !  in  with  you  ! 
keep  close  !  damn  that  bell !  get  to  it !  damn  'em,  kill  'em  all  1"  The 
numbers  assembled  were  considerable.  The  attack  continued  about  twenty 
minutes  ;  but  at  length  the  fire  slackened  from  without,  and  the  cries  of  the 
wounded  were  heard.  The  men  that  were  wounded  were  taken  care  of, 
but  afterwards  died.  One  of  the  accomplices,  W.  Hall,  stated  that  he  was 
one  of  those  connected  with  Mellor  and  Thorp,  and  assembled  with  many 
other  persons  by  the  desire  of  ]\lellor,  in  a  field  belonging  to  sir  George 
Armitage,  Bart.,  on  the  night  of  the  11th  of  April.  They  called  their 
numbers,  remained  there  some  time,  and  then  marched  off"  to  the  mill. 
Mellor  commanded  the  musket  company,  another  the  pistol  company,  and 
another  the  hatchet  company  :  they  were  formed  in  lines  of  ten  each. 
Two  of  the  men  were  to  go  last  and  drive  up  the  rear. — Some  had  hatchets, 
some  hammers,  some  sticks,  and  others  had  no  arms. 

The  jury  found  .James  Haigh,  J.  Deane,  J.  Ogden,  T.  Brook,  and  J 
V/alker  guilty,  but  acquitted  the  rest. 

Several  prisoners  were  on  the  two  following  days  convicted  of  robberies, 
but  many  others  were,  tlirough  the  lenity  of  the  government,  admitted  to  bail. 
On  the  Thursday,  on  the  grand  jury  coming  into  court  and  declaring  that 
they  had  disposed  of  all  the  bills  of  indictment  preferred  before  them,  Mr. 
Parke,  who  appeared  as  counsel  for  the  crown,  said  that  it  was  not 
intended  to  present  any  more  indictments  :  he  and  those  learned  gentlemen 
who  had  assisted  him  had  examined  the  various  cases,  which  might  have 
fi)rmed  the  subjects  of  prosecution  ;  but  in  that  discretion,  with  which 
they  had  been  intrusted,  they  had  determined  to  exercise  a  lenity,  which 
he  hoped  would  produce  its  proper  effect  with  the  prisoners  and  their 
associates. 

The  grand  jury  then  retired,  and  sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon 
fifteen  prisoners  by  IMr.  Baron  Thompson. 

On  Saturday  at  eleven  o'clock,  John  Hill,  Joseph  Crowther,  Nathaniel 
Ilayle,  Jonathan  Deane,  John  Ogden,  Thomas  Brook,  and  John  Walker, 
were  brought  out  on  the  scaffold  to  underoo  the  last  sentence  of  the  law. 
They  appeared  to  be  fully  sensible  of  the  awful  situation  m  which  they 
were  placed  ;  and  having  hung  till  twelve  o'clock,  they  were  cut  down, 
in  order  to  make  way  for  those  prisoners  who  were  to  be  executed 
subsequently  on  the  same  day. 

In  about  an  hour  and  a  half  after  they  had  been  removed,  John  Swallow, 
John  Batley,  Joseph  Fisher,  William  Hartley,  James  Haigh,  James  Hey, 
and  Job  Hay,  were  also  executed.  The  crowd  of  persons  assembled  was 
immense. 


5-52  THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAli. 

HUFFEY  WHITE  AND  RICHARD  KENDALL. 

EXECUTED    FOR    ROBBING    THE    LEEDS    MAIL. 

HuFFEY  White  was  a  more  expert  and  notorious  housebreaker,  and 
perpetrated  more  adroit  burglaries  and  robberies,  tlian  any  other  malefac- 
tor of  Ills  time.  His  first  conviction  appears  to  have  taken  place  in  the 
year  1809,  when  he  was  found  guilty  of  a  burglary,  and  sentenced  to  be 
transported  for  life.  Preparatory  to  his  being  sent  abroad,  he  was  con- 
veyed on  board  the  hulks  at  Woolwich  ;  but  disliking  the  treatment  he 
experienced  there,  he  contrived  to  make  his  escape,  and  once  more  visited 
the  scenes  of  his  former  crimes  in  London.  At  this  time  he  became 
acquainted  with  the  notorious  Jem  MackcouU  ;  and  as  a  means  of  replen- 
ishing his  exchequer,  he  agreed  to  accompany  him  to  Chester,  for  the 
purpose  of  robbing  the  bank  there. 

White,  it  appears,  lodged  in  the  house  of  a  blacksmith,  named  Scottock, 
in  London,  who  supplied  him  with  the  necessary  implements ;  and  the 
two  villains  having  directed  the  smith  to  forward  them  the  keys,  &c.  to 
Chester,  set  off  for  that  place  early  in  1810;  and  having  made  their 
observations,  called  at  the  coach-office  for  the  box  of  implements.  Unfor- 
tunately for  their  project,  the  friction  of  the  coach  had  broken  one  corner 
of  the  box,  through  which  a  skeleton  key  suspiciously  obtruded;  and  an 
officer  having  been  made  acquainted  witli  the  fact,  he  was  concealed  when 
White  and  MackcouU  came  to  demand  the  box,  and  having  secured  them 
both,  they  were  committed  to  the  house  of  correction  as  rogues  and  vaga- 
bonds. 

MackcouU  went  by  the  name  of  JMartin,  and  White  assumed  that  ol 
Evans  ;  but  a  description  of  their  persons  being  transmitted  to  Bow-street, 
an  officer  was  sent,  who  quickly  recognised  them  both  ;  and  White  was 
brought  to  trial  at  the  next  assizes,  and  received  sentence  of  death  for 
being  at  large  before  the  expiration  of  his  period  of  transportation  ;  but 
this  sentence  was  afterwards  commuted  to  transportation  for  life,  and  he 
was  once  more  sent  to  his  former  station  in  the  hulks,  JMackcoull  remain- 
ing in  Chester  jail,  in  which  he  was  sentenced  to  be  confined  for  six 
months. 

At  the  expiration  of  the  term  of  his  imprisonment,  MackcouU  returned 
to  London,  and  agreeing  with  one  French  to  rob  the  Glasgow  bank,  they 
wished  for  the  assistance  of  Huffey  White,  and  actually  contrived  to 
liberate  him  from  the  hulks,  before  they  set  off  for  Scotland. 

On  their  reaching  the  scene  of  their  intended  depredation,  they  took 
lodgings  in  the  house  of  a  Mrs.  Stewart ;  and  altliough  they  appeared  to 
be  persons  engaged  in  no  particular  business,  they  were  nevertheless 
actively  employed  in  maturing  their  plans  for  the  burglary.  In  this  way 
nearly  six  weeks  passed  away,  the  most  anxious  care  being  taken  that  no 
circumstance  should  occur  which  could  excite  suspicion.  The  exact  posi- 
tion of  the  banking-house,  and  of  all  the  apartments  in  which  money  was 
kept,  was  ascertained  and  accurately  noted  down  ;  and  that  no  chance  of 
success  should  be  lost,  the  thieves  actually  made  themselves  acquainted 
with  the  persons  who  had  charge  of  the  banking-house,  througli  whose 
innocent  instrumentality  they  procured  much  of  the  information  which  they 
required.     Their  implements  having  reached  them,  however,  from  London, 


THE    NEW    NEAVGATE   CALENDAR.  55.T 

they  found  that  none  of  them  were  calculated  for  the  purpose  which  they 
had  in  view,  and  White,  who  had  assumed  the  name  of  Down,  was  de- 
spatched to  the  metropolis  with  the  necessary  instructions  to  procure  fit 
insiruments.  On  his  return  he  was  amply  provided ;  and  at  length,  on 
Sunday  evcninpf,  when  the  honest  bank-l<eepers  were  gone  to  church,  the 
burglary  was  effected,  and  20,000/.,  in  Scotch  bank-notes,  were  carried 
off.  The  party  judged  rightly,  that  Glasgow  was  no  place  for  tliem  to 
remain  in  any  longer,  and  they  inmiediately  set  off  in  a  post-chaise  for 
London,  changing  a  201.  note  at  every  stage.  From  the  able  manner  in 
which  the  robbery  had  been  effected,  and  from  all  the  doors  and  cupboards 
being  found  locked  as  they  had  been  left,  it  was  not  discovered,  nor  indeed 
suspected,  until  the  following  day,  when  pursuit,  witli  a  chance  of  catching 
the  thieves,  was  of  course  hopeless ;  but  information  being  conveyed  to 
London,  the  fugitives  were  traced  to  have  proceeded  thither,  and  White 
was  apprehended  in  the  house  of  his  old  ally,  Scottock,  with  a  number  of 
housebreaking  implements  in  his  possession.  All  search  for  money  proved 
of  no  avail  however,  the  notes  having  been  duly  lodged  in  the  hands  of 
an  experienced  "  banker ; "  and  the  exertions  of  the  officers  to  apprehend 
the  other  offender  were  equally  futile.  In  accordance  with  a  system 
then  existing  to  a  very  great  extent,  but  now,  happily,  put  an  end  to, 
negotiations  were  commenced  by  tlie  thieves  with  tlie  banking  company 
for  the  restoration  of  the  notes  upon  certain  terms,  one  of  which  was,  that 
no  prosecution  should  take  place  ;  and  Sayer,  the  officer,  being  employed, 
matters  were  at  length  satisfactorily  adjusted  ;  but  upon  tlie  notes  being 
restored,  it  was  found,  that  instead  of  the  sum  stolen,  ]  1,041/.  only  were 
given  up,  and  the  gulled  agent  returned  to  Scotland,  compelled  to  put  up 
with  what  he   could  get. 

In  the  mean  time,  however,  White  was  conveyed  back  to  the 
hulks  to  serve  out  the  remainder  of  his  sentence,  but  he  soon  contrived 
again  to  escape ;  but  he  now  confined  his  depredations  to  the  country, 
where  he  committed  various  burglaries.  While  at  large,  he  contrived, 
by  skeleton  keys,  &c.,  to  open  the  doors  of  the  Kettering  bank ;  and  such 
was  the  masterly  manner  in  which  he  effected  his  entrance,  and  con- 
ducted the  business,  that  the  bankers,  Messrs.  Keep  and  Gotch,  remained 
ignorant  of  the  attempted  robbery,  until  an  accomplice  subsequently 
detailed  the  transaction.  It  was  conceived  to  be  impossible  for  such  a 
thing  to  take  place  without,  at  least,  exciting  suspicion ;  and  the  informa- 
tion was  treated  as  untrue,  until  the  number  of  the  page  in  which  the 
London  banking  account  was  kept  was  told,  which  it  was  known  could 
only  have  been  learned  by  an  inspection  of  the  private  ledger.  It  appears, 
however,  that  in  this  instance  "  ignorance  was  bliss;"  for  although  the 
thieves  had  carried  off  nothing,  because  the  state  of  the  exchequer  did 
not  present  a  sufficient  temptation,  they  had  fully  made  up  tlieir  minds  to 
pay  the  house  a  second  visit,  in  the  hope  of  making  a  more  successful 
"haul."  But  from  this  they  were  prevented  by  the  apprehension  of  White, 
who  was  the  prime  mover  of  these  proceedings,  and  his  execution  on  a 
charge  of  robbing  the  Leeds  mail  at  Iligham  Ferrers,  in  Northampton- 
shire, on  the  29th  of  October,  1812. 

The  circumstances  of  this  case  are  as  follow : — The  guard  having 
gone  to  the  coach-box  on  the  night  in  question  from  his  accustomed 
seat  at  the  back  of  the  mail,  the  robbers  contrived  during  his  absence, 

Vol.  I.  4  B 


654  THE   XEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

and  without  exciting  his  suspicion,  to  open  the  lock,  and  carry  off 
the  mail-baas.  Information  of  the  robbery  having  been  conveyed  to 
London,  Richard  and  John  Limbrick,  two  Bow-street  officers,  were  de- 
spatched in  search  of  the  tliieves  ;  and  hearing  that  "White  was  at  Bristol, 
they  proceeded  tliither,  having  little  doubt  that  he  was  one  of  the  parties 
concerned.  On  their  arrival  they  found  that  he  was  living  with 
two  fellows  named  Ned  Burkitt  and  John  Goodman,  both  well-known 
thieves ;  and  it  was  determined  to  watch  them,  in  order  that  a  favourable 
opportunity  might  be  seized  to  secure  their  persons.  Several  days  passed 
before  they  were  able  to  attempt  the  capture  of  their  prey  ;  but  at  length. 
Goodman  and  his  wife  having  been  taken  into  custody  upon  a  charge  of 
robbing  the  Canterbury  bank,  of  which  they  were  suspected,  a  favourable 
opportunity  presented  itself.  The  officers  in  consequence  went  boldly  to 
the  house  occupied  by  the  tliieves,  and  having  given  a  loud  knock  at  the 
door,  they  were  answered  by  Burkitt.  They  immediately  rushed  in,  but 
were  met  with  a  most  violent  opposition,  in  the  course  of  which  White 
managed  to  make  his  escape  over  a  shed  at  the  back. 

His  career  was,  however,  drawing  to  a  close,  and  information  having 
reached  the  officers  that  Liverpool  was  to  be  favoured  by  his  presence,  they 
were  soon  on  the  look  out  for  him  in  that  city.  Early  in  the  month  of 
April  1813,  he  was  found  to  have  entered  Liverpool,  and  inquiries  being 
made,  he  was  traced  to  the  house  of  an  old  woman  named  Mary  Howes, 
alias  Taylor,  in  the  Scotland  Road  there.  The  Limbricks  in  consequence 
proceeded  thither,  when  their  entrance  was  opposed  by  the  old  woman ; 
but  some  force  being  applied,  the  door  was  opened,  and  they  proceeded 
directly  to  the  cellar.  They  there  found  AVhite  and  a  man  named  Hay- 
wood, evidently  prepared  to  make  a  desperate  resistance,  but  tlie  officers 
being  equally  resolute,  after  a  violent  conflict,  in  the  course  of  which  a 
pistol  was  fired  by  one  of  the  constables,  the  thieves  were  secured.  Upon 
the  house  being  searched  a  great  variety  of  house-breaking  implements  was 
foimd,  concealed  under  a  flag  in  the  cellar,  and  Mrs.  Howes  was  also  taken 
into  custody. 

At  tlie  ensuing  summer  assizes  at  Northampton,  White,  Kendall,  and  the 
woman  Mary  Howes,  were  indicted  for  the  robbery  of  the  Leeds  mail;  and 
it  was  proved  that  on  the  evening  on  which  the  robbery  was  effected,  the 
two  first-named  prisoners  were  seen  on  the  road  in  a  gig  near  Highixm 
Ferrers,  and  subsequently  on  the  same  night  at  the  house  of  ]\lrs.  Howes, 
who  then  lived  very  near.  It  was  also  shown  that  no  other  gig  but  that 
in  which  the  prisoners  rode  passed  througli  the  turnpike  on  that  evening, 
and  the  prisoners  were  afterwards  seen  together,  and  were  traced  to  London, 
where  White  offi'red  to  negotiate  some  of  the  bills  and  notes,  the 
produce  of  the  robbery,  with  one  Richardson,  who  had  been  before  this 
time  convicted  of  robbing  tlie  house  of  the  Marchioness  of  Downshire. 

Forty  witnesses  were  examined  on  this  trial,  which  lasted  fourteen 
hours  ;  and  such  was  the  interest  produced,  that  the  court  was  crowded  to 
excess.  The  judge  having  charged  the  jury,  they  retired,  and  soon  after- 
wards returned,  finding  White  and  Kendall  guilty,  but  they  acquitted  the 
woman,  in  accordance  with  the  direction  of  the  Court  ;  it  appearing  that 
her  offence  did  not  take  place  in  the  county  in  which  she  was  arraigned. 

The  night  preceding  the  execution  of  these  convicts,  Wliite  attempted  to 
make  his  escape,  and  had  succeeded  so  far  as  to  cut  off  his  ii'ons,  and  break 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  555 

through  several  doors  ;  but  he  was  stopped  at  the  outward  gate,  and  re- 
conducted to  his  cell.  At  nine  o'clock,  August  tlie  IStli,  IblS,  the  pro- 
cession approached  the  place  of  execution  at  Northampton.  Kendall 
appeared  deeply  impressed  with  a  sense  of  the  awful  fate  that  awaited 
him  ;  but  uniformly  persisted  in  declaring  his  innocence,  and  said  that  he 
fell  a  victim  in  consequence  of  his  having  had  the  misfortune  to  be  in  com- 
pany with  his  fellow-sufferer  on  the  night  of  the  robbery.  He  declared, 
on  the  gallows,  that  he  was  a  murdered  man,  and  appealed  to  the  populace, 
in  a  speech  of  some  length,  in  which  he  endeavoured  to  convince  them  of 
his  perfect  innocence. 

White's  deportment  was  such  as  to  exhibit  his  extreme  carelessness  of 
life.  Hardihood  never  foi'sook  him,  and  he  more  than  once  found  fault 
with  the  manner  in  Avhieh  the  chaplain  performed  his  duty.  From  the 
time  of  his  conviction  he  disregarded  the  gallows ;  and,  being  humanely 
asked  by  a  clergyman  if  he  could  administer  any  sort  of  comfort  to  him, 
answered,  "  Only  by  getting  some  other  man  to  be  hanged  for  me."  He 
declared  Kendall  innocent  a  few  minutes  before  they  were  launched  into 
eternity. 


PHILIP    NICHOLSON 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

The  case  of  this  unfortunate  wretch  is  one  of  a  peculiarly  distressing 
character,  presenting  a  crime  of  a  most  fearful  nature,  committed  without 
the  most  remote  cause  of  provocation,  and  apparently  also  without 
motive. 

It  appears  that  the  malefactor  was  a  footman  in  the  employment  of  Mr. 
and  ]Mrs.  Bonar,  an  aged  and  respectable  couple,  who  resided  at  a  mansion 
called  Camden  Place,  situated  in  the  village  of  Chiselhurst,  in  Kent.  The 
establishment  consisted  of  Mr.  and  Mrs.  Bonar,  two  female  domestics, 
who  slept  in  an  apartment  at  the  rear  of  the  house,  a  groom  and  coachman, 
who  slept  in  a  room  over  the  stable,  and  the  wretched  man  Nicholson,  who 
had  his  bed  in  the  hall,  and  who  was  the  only  man-servant  who  slept  in 
the  house. 

On  the  night  of  Sunday,  the  30th  of  May,  1813,  Mr.  Bonar  retired  to 
rest,  at  his  usual  hour,  twelve  o'clock,  and  his  lady  followed  at  about  two 
o'clock,  having  been  undressed  in  the  ante-room  to  the  bed-room  by  her 
maid. 

During  the  night  no  noise  or  disturbance  of  any  kind  was  heard  by  the 
servants,  and  at  half-past  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  one  of  the  garden 
labourers  called  up  Nicholson  and  remarked  to  him  that  the  hall  door  and 
window-shutters  were  open,  a  circumstance  of  which  he  declared  he  was 
unaware.  At  seven  o'clock  the  servant-women  got  up,  and  one  of  them 
on  going  into  the  ante-room  of  her  mistress's  bed-room  observed  foot-marks 
of  blood  plainly  visible  on  the  floor.  In  great  agitation  she  communicated 
what  she  had  seen  to  her  fellow-servants,  and  on  their  all  goino-  iip  to 
ascertain  the  truth  of  what  they  had  been  told,  they  became  alarmed  lest 
murder  had  been  committed,  and  determined  to  ascertain  the  trutli  of  their 
surmises.  Upon  their  entering  Mr.  Bonar's  apartment,  they  found  their 
master  and  mistress  lying  dead,  the  former  on  the  floor,  literally  swimming 
with  blood,  while  the  latter  lay  on  the  bed,  in  a  similar  condition.     A 


5r)6  THE    KEAV    NEWGATE    CALKXPAR. 

■kitchen  poker,  the  instrument  with  which  the  murders  had  evidently  been 
committed,  lay  on  the  floor,  and  the  state  of  the  room  exhibited  the  utmost 
confusion.  Nicholson  was  amongst  those  who  entered  the  room,  and  he 
was  observed  to  be  much  agitated,  and  to  be  very  active  in  moving  the 
bed-clothes,  by  which,  if  by  no  other  means,  liis  own  attire  became  stained 
with  blood.  One  of  the  servant-women  having  swooned,  he  roused  lier, 
and  told  her  to  attend  to  her  mistress,  who  still  breathed,  and  upon  exami- 
nation this  proved  to  be  the  case,  and  he  directly  insisted  that  he  should  go 
to  town  for  a  surgeon. 

On  the  road  he  was  seen  to  drink  copiously  of  brandy,  and  a  little  after 
eight  o'clock  he  arrived  at  the  house  of  jMr.  Astley  Cooper,  who  instantly 
set  oft' for  Camden  Place,  in  the  hope  of  affording  surgical  assistance  to  the 
murdered  lady,  Nicholson  went  next  to  the  Red  Lion,  near  Bedlam, 
where  he  saw  a  man  named  Dale,  who  had  been  only  a  few  weeks  dis- 
charged for  improper  conduct  from  JMr.  Bonar's  service ;  and  to  whom  he 
used  tliis  remarkable  expression  :  "  The  deed  is  done,  and  you  are  sus- 
pected ;  but  you  are  not  in  it."  He  then  proceeded  to  the  otfice  at  Bow- 
street,  in  a  state  of  intoxication,  to  give  information  of  the  murder,  and 
having  mentioned  his  interview  with  Dale,  that  person  was  brought  to  tlie 
oftice ;  but  he  established  a  most  satisfactory  alibi,  and  was  discharged. 
Three  ofiicers  immediately  set  oft"  for  Chiselhurst,  and  Mr,  Cooper  arrived 
with  all  possible  despatch  at  Camden  Place,  but  was  too  late  ;  the  wound 
was  mortal,  and  Mrs.  Bonar  expired  at  eleven  minutes  past  one  o'clock, 
having  been  through  the  whole  previous  time  insensible,  and  having  only 
once  uttered  the  exclamation  of  "•  Oh  dear  !" 

"  We  never  witnessed,"  says  one  who  saw  it,  "  such  a  scene  of  horror 
as  the  bed-room  presented.  Almost  the  first  object  which  met  the  eye  on 
entering  was  the  dead  body  of  Mr.  Bonar,  with  the  head  and  hands 
steeped  in  blood :  the  skull  was  literally  broken  into  fragments  in  two  or 
three  places ;  and  there  was  a  dreadful  laceration  across  the  nose,  as  if 
effected  by  the  edge  of  a  poker.  His  hands  were  mangled  in  several 
places,  apparently  by  the  same  instrument :  there  was  also  a  severe  wound 
on  the  right  knee.  From  the  numerous  wounds  on  the  body  of  Mr.  Bonar, 
the  swollen  state  of  his  mouth,  and  the  convulsive  contraction  of  his  hands 
and  knees,  it  is  clear  that  he  had  struggled  with  all  his  force  against  his 
horrid  murderer.  The  most  shocking  circumstance  connected  with  this 
spectacle  was  the  appearance  of  the  night-cap,  which  lay  a  few  paces  from 
the  head,  drenched  in  blood,  with  a  lock  of  grey  hair  sticking  to  it,  which 
seemed  to  have  been  struck  from  the  skull  by  the  violence  of  the  blow  of  the 
poker.  The  pillows  of  liis  bed  lay  at  his  feet,  completely  dyed  in  blood. 
The  manly  athletic  person  of  Mr.  Bonar — for,  though  advanced  in  life,  he 
seems  to  have  been  a  powerful  man — gave  an  increase  of  horror  to  this 
afflicting  sight.  The  view  of  Mrs.  Bonar,  though  equally  distressing, 
excited  more  pity  than  terror  :  though  her  head  had  been  fractured  in  a 
dreadful  manner,  yet  there  was  a  calm  softness  in  her  countenance,  more 
resembling  a  healthy  sleep  than  a  violent  death  ;  it  might  have  been 
supposed  that  her  life  had  parted  from  her  without  one  painful  effort. 
The  linen  and  pillow  of  the  bed  in  which  she  lay  were  covered  with  blood, 
as  was  also  the  bed  of  Mr.  Bonar.  They  slept  in  small  separate  beds,  but 
placed  so  close  together  that  there  was  scarce  room  for  a  person  to  pass 
between  them,  Tlie  interval  of  floor  between  the  beds  was  almost  a  stream 
of  blood.     No  slioht   additional   horror  arose  from  the  contrast    of  the 


THE   NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  55* 

spacious  handsome  apartment  in  which  this  scene  of  death  was  exhibited. 
The  most  heart-moving  spectacle  yet  remained.  About  seven  o'clock  in 
the  evening,  Mr.  Bonar,  jun.,  arrived  from  Faversham,  where  he  was  on 
duty  as  Colonel  of  the  Kent  local  militia.  In  spite  of  the  efforts  of  Mr. 
Angerstein,  jun.,  and  some  other  gentlemen,  he  rushed  up  stairs  exclaiming, 
'  Let  me  see  my  father  !  indeed  I  must  see  him.'  It  was  impossible  to 
detain  him  :  he  burst  into  the  bed-chamber,  and  immediately  locked  the 
door  after  him.  Apprehensions  were  entertained  for  his  safety,  and  the 
door  was  broken  open,  when  he  wao  seen  kneeling  with  clasped  hands  over 
the  body  of  his  father.  His  friends  bore  him  away,  and  hurried  him, 
tottering  and  fainting,  into  an  adjoining  chamber." 

The  officers  proceeded,  immediately  on  their  arrival,  to  investiofate  all 
the  circumstances  attending  this  horrid  deed,  and  an  examination  of  the 
house  clearly  exhibited  the  fact  that  no  stranger  had  been  guilty  of  the 
murder.  They  were  at  a  loss  to  know  on  whom  to  fix  their  suspicions ; 
when  the  discovery  of  a  pair  of  shoes  belonging  to  Nicholson,  marked  with 
blood,  and  which  corresponded  with  the  bloody  footprints  in  the  ante- 
room, tended  to  produce  a  belief  that  he  was  the  guilty  man.  He  had  not 
returned  to  his  master's  house  since  he  had  first  quitted  it  in  search  ot 
surgical  aid  ;  and  Forrester,  one  of  the  City  officers,  was  in  consequence 
despatched  in  quest  of  him.  After  a  lengthy  and  diligent  inquiry,  he  was 
traced  to  Whitechapel,  and  he  was  there  found  drinking  at  tlie  door  of  the 
Three  Nuns  Inn.  He  was  immediately  seized,  and  in  spite  of  great 
resistance  was  conveyed  in  custody  to  Giltspur-street  Compter ;  but  he 
persisted  in  denying  all  knowledge  of  the  murder.  On  the  Tuesday  he 
was  sent  down  to  Chiselhurst,  where  the  coroner's  inquest  sat  on  the  bodies 
of  the  unliappy  deceased  lady  and  gentleman,  and  the  evidence  being  gone 
through  before  the  coroner,  Mr.  Martyr,  he  was  reading  over  the  deposi- 
tions of  the  several  witnesses  for  their  assent  and  signature,  when  an  alarm 
was  given  that  Nicholson  had  attempted  his  own  life.  He  had  been  in 
custody  of  two  officers,  and  requested  leave  to  go  into  the  yard,  which  was 
refused ;  but  he  was  permitted  to  enter  a  water-closet  in  the  passage 
leading  to  the  servants'  hall ;  while  there  he  cut  his  throat  with  a  razor, 
whicli,  it  appeared,  he  had  concealed  in  the  front  of  his  breeches.  The 
gash  was  so  deep,  and  it  bled  so  profusely,  that  it  was  supposed  he  could 
not  live  many  minutes.  The  head  seemed  almost  severed  from  his  body. 
Two  surgeons  from  Bromley  being  fortunately  present,  they  took  th.e 
necessary  steps  to  prevent  his  death,  and  after  a  short  time  he  was  suffi- 
ciently recovered  to  speak  ;  but  he  persisted  in  declaring  his  innocence. 

In  the  course  of  the  evening,  the  coroner's  jury  returned  a  verdict  of 
"  Wilful  Murder  against  Philip  Nicholson,"  and  he  was  committed  to  the 
custody  of  proper  officers.  He  was  subsequently  visited  by  many  persons 
of  distinction,  whose  attention  was  attracted  by  the  horrible  and  atrocioiw 
nature  of  the  murder ;  and  on  Monday  the  7th  June,  in  consequence  of 
the  annoyance  and  pain  to  which  he  was  subjected,  his  wound  began 
bleeding  afresh.  In  a  few  minutes  the  hajmorrhage  increased  to  a  most 
alarming  extent,  and  fears  being  entertained  for  his  life,  Mr.  Astley 
Cooper  was  sent  for.  The  wretched  prisoner  became  alarmed,  believing 
that  he  was  at  the  point  of  death  ;  and  he,  in  consequence,  sent  for  Mr. 
Bonar,  junior,  to  whom  he  made  an  ample  confession  of  his  guilt,  but 
assigned   no  reason  for  the  commission  of  the  diabolical  act.     In  conse- 


558  THE    NEAV    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

qnence  of  the  statement  he  made  tlie  garden  was  searched,  and  concealed 
in  a  hxurel  bush  was  foiind  his  body  linen  deeply  stained  with  blood,  the 
neck  and  front  of  his  shirt  being  much  torn,  in  consequence,  evidently,  of 
the  resistance  made  by  the  victims  to  his  attack. 

The  wretched  prisoner  subsequently  conducted  himself  more  calmly  than 
he  had  hitherto  done  ;  he  declared  his  repentance  for  the  attempt  which  he 
bad  committed  upon  his  life,  and,  as  much  apprehension  was  entertained 
of  his  death,  everything  that  could  disturb  him  was  studiously  kept  out  of 
his  way. 

In  consequence  of  the  great  care  which  was  paid  to  him,  he  was  at 
length  pronounced  out  of  danger,  and  was  then  committed  to  the  house  of 
correction,  Coldbath-fields,  where  he  remained  until  the  IJth  of  August, 
on  which  day  he  was  conveyed  to  Maidstone  jail  for  trial. 

On  the  20th  of  the  same  month  he  was  arraigned  upon  the  indictment 
preferred  against  him,  to  which  he  pleaded  not  guilty.  Tlie  case  was  fully 
made  out  against  him ;  and  the  prisoner  declared  that  he  had  only 
traversed  the  allegations  in  the  indictment  because  he  had  been  advised  to 
do  so  by  his  friends.  The  jury  therefore  found  him  guilty,  and  he  was 
immediately  sentenced  to  death  by  Mr.  Justice  Heath  in  the  usual  form. 

Immediately  after  the  sentence,  the  prisoner  put  in  a  paper,  and  desired 
it  to  be  read.  The  judge  said  that  this  was  irregular,  but  looked  at  the 
paper,  and  told  the  jury  that  it  contained  a  confession  of  crime,  which 
was  imputed  to  excessive  drinking. 

The  paper  which  he  put  in  and  desired  to  be  read  was  as  follows  : — 

"  I  acknowledge  with  the  deepest  contrition  the  justice  of  the  sentence 
^,to  death  which  has  been  just  passed  upon  me.  My  crimes  are,  indeed, 
most  heavy  ;  I  "eel  their  weight,  but  I  do  not  despair ;  nay,  I  humbly 
liope  for  mercy,  through  the  infinite  mercy  of  my  Lord  and  Saviour  Jesus 
Christ,  who  bled  and  died  for  me.  In  order  to  have  a  well-grounded  hope 
in  him,  my  all-merciful  Redeemer,  I  know  that  it  is  my  bounden  duty  not. 
only  to  grieve  from  my  heart  for  my  dire  offences,  but  also  to  do  my 
utmost  to  make  satisfaction  for  them.  Yet,  alas  !  what  satisfaction  can  I 
make  to  the  afflicted  family  of  my  master  and  mistress,  whom  without  any 
provocation  I  so  barbarously  murdered  ?  I  can  make  none  beyond  the 
declaration  of  my  guilt  and  horror  of  soul  that  I  could  perpetrate  deeds 
so  shocking  to  human  nature,  and  so  agonising  to  the  feelings  of  that 
worthy  family.  I  implore  their  forgiveness,  for  God's  sake ;  and  fully 
sensible  of  their  great  goodness,  I  do  hope  that,  for  His  sake,  they  will 
forgive  me.  I  freely  give  up  my  life  as  a  just  forfeit  to  my  country,  whose 
laws  I  have  scandalously  outraged.  Departing  this  tribunal,  I  shall 
soon  appear  -before  another  tribunal,  where  an  eternal  sentence  will  be 
passed  upon  me.  AVith  this  dread  sentence  full  in  my  view,  I  do  most 
solemnly  declare,  and  I  desire  this  declaration  to  be  taken  as  my  dying 
words,  that  I  alone  was  the  base  and  cruel  murderer  of  my  master  and 
mistress ;  that  I  had  no  accomplice ;  that  no  one  knew  or  possibly  could 
suspect  that  I  intended  to  perpetrate  those  barbarities  ;  that  I  myself  had 
no  intention  of  committing  those  horrid  deeds,  save  for  a  short  time,  so 
short  as  scarcely  to  be  computed,  before  I  actually  committed  them  ;  that 
booty  was  not  the  motive  of  my  fatal  cruelties ;  I  am  sure  the  idea  of 
plunder  never  presented  itself  to  my  mind  :  I  can  attribute  those  un- 
uatural  murders  to  no  other  cause  than,  at  the  time  of  their  commission,  a 


THE    NEW    NEAVGATE    CALENDAR.  559 

temporary  fury  from  excessive  drinking;  and  before  that  time  to  tha 
habitual  forgetfulncss,  for  many  years,  of  the  great  God  and  his  judgments, 
and  the  too  natural  consequence  of  such  forgetfulness,  tlie  habitual  yielding 
to  the  worst  passions  of  corrupted  nature ;  so  that  the  evil  that  I  was 
tempted  to  do,  that  I  did  :  the  Lord  in  his  mercy  has,  nevertheless,  spared 
until  now  my  life — that  life  which  I,  in  an  agony  of  horror  and  despair, 
once  most  wickedly  attempted  to  destroy  :  He  has  most  graciously  allowed 
me  time  for  repentance ;  an  humble  and  contrite  heart  must  be  His  gift ; 
that  gift  I  hope  He  has  granted  to  my  most  ardent  supplications  :  in  that 
hope,  and  bearing  in  mind  His  promise  that  an  humble  and  contrite  heart 
He  will  not  despise,  I,  freely  ottering  up  to  Him  my  sufferings,  and  my 
life  itself,  look  forward,  through  his  most  precious  blood,  to  the  pardon  of 
all  my  crimes,  my  manifold  and  most  enormous  crimes,  and  most  humbly 
trust  that  the  same  mercy  which  He  showed  to  the  penitent  thief  who  was 
crucified  with  him  He  will  show  to  me  :  thus  meekly  confiding  in  thee,  O 
Jesus  !  into  thy  hands  I  commend  my  spirit.     Amen. 

"  Philip  Nicuolson. 

«  This  20th  August,  1813." 

The  signature  was  in  Nicholson's  own  hand-writing :  the  rest  appeared 
written  by  another  hand. 

After  sentence  of  death  was  passed,  the  wretched  culprit  was  placed  in 
th.e  condemned  cell,  which  in  the  Maidstone  jail  is  underground.  In  this 
cell  i\Ir.  Bonar  had  an  interview  with  him,  at  half-past  five  on  Monday 
morning,  22nd  August,  the  day  fixed  for  his  execution.  On  his  approach- 
ing the  cell,  he  found  Nicholson  on  his  knees  at  prayer. 

At  about  twelve  o'clock,  the  preparations  for  the  removal  of  the  prisoner 
being  nearly  completed,  Mr.  Bonar,  accompanied  by  his  brother,  and  Mr. 
Bramston,  the  Catholic  clergyman,  had  another  interview  with  the  unfor- 
tunate man,  soon  after  which,  the  hurdle  or  sledge,  which  was  in  the  shape 
of  a  shallow  box,  about  six  feet  by  three,  was  drawn  up  to  the  jail  door; 
at  each  end  was  a  seat  just  capable  of  holding  two  persons.  Nicholson, 
double  ironed,  was  first  placed  in  it,  with  his  back  to  tlie  horses;  he  was 
also  pinioned  with  ropes,  and  round  his  shoulders  was  coiled  the  fatal 
cord  ;  by  liis  side  sat  the  executioner ;  opposite  to  the  prisoner  the  Rev. 
Mr.  Bramston  took  his  seat,  and  by  his  side  sat  one  of  the  Maidstone 
jailors  with  a  loaded  blunderbuss.  Everything  being  in  readiness,  the 
procession  advanced  at  a  very  slow  pace  towards  Pennenden  Heath,  which 
is  distant  from  JMaidstone  nearly  a  mile  and  a  half,  on  which  was  erected  a 
temporary  drop,  wliich  had  a  platform  raised  seven  feet  from  the  ground, 
and  was  large  enough  to  contain  about  a  dozen  persons.  A  little  before 
two  o'clock  the  hurdle  arrived,  and  stopped  immediately  under  the  gallows, 
when  Mr.  Bramston  and  Nicholson  knelt  down  on  it,  and  remained  for 
a  while  in  prayer.  Some  time  previous  to  this,  Mr.  Bonar  arrived  on 
the  ground  in  a  post-chaise,  and  took  his  stand  within  twelve  yards  of  the 
fatal  spot,  with  the  front  windows  full  on  the  gallows,  which  he  kept  open 
during  the  whole  time ;  but  each  of  the  side  windows  was  closed  by  blinds. 
So  anxious  was  Mr.  Bonar  to  get  from  the  unfortunate  wretch  liis  very  dying 
words,  as  to  whether  he  had  either  motive  or  accomplice,  that  a  person 
was  deputed  to  ascend  the  platform  after  the  cord  wa/round  the  prisoner's 
neck,  and  to  ask  him  questions  upon  the  subject  of  the  murder.  The 
wretched   being  repeatedly  declared  that  he  had  no  accomplice  in  the  dia- 


560  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Dolical  deed ;  and  in  answer  to  the  last  question  put  to  him, — "  Had  you 
any  antipathy  to  either  your  master  or  mistress  before  you  committed  the 
horrid  murder?" — clasping  his  hands  together  as  well  as  his  close  bonds 
would  permit  him,  he  answered,  "As  God  is  in  heaven  it  was  a  momentary 
thought,  as  I  have  repeatedly  declared  before." 

The  above  were  the  last  words  of  this  unhappy  man ;  and  in  a  few 
minutes  after  they  were  uttered,  the  bottom  of  the  platform  was  let  fall, 
and  Nicholson  was  launched  into  eternity.  He  died  unusually  hard,  being 
greatly  convulsed.  It  appeared  from  the  account  he  gave  of  himself,  that 
he  was  a  native  of  Ireland,  and  had  been  discharged  from  the  thirteenth 
dragoons  in  consequence  of  a  broken  wrist.  He  subsequently  lived  three 
years  with  the  city  remembrancer,  and  had  been  only  three  weeks  in  the 
employ  of  his  late  master,  Mr.  Bonar.  Among  the  servants  at  Camden 
Place  he  was  looked  upon  as  a  man  of  harmless  disposition  and  good 
nature,  with  no  discernible  failing  but  one,  drunkenness,  to  whicli  he  was 
so  greatly  addicted,  that  he  was  seldom  sober  when  he  could  procure  any 
spirits. 

The  sensation  which  the  murder  produced  throughout  the  country  was 
amazintr. 


MICHAEL  M'lLVENA. 

EXECUTED    FOR    UNLAWFULLY    PERFORMING    THE    MARRIAGE    CEREMONY. 

This  villain  was  a  native  of  Ireland  ;  and  in  his  migrations  through  the 
northern  part  of  that  kingdom,  personated,  successively,  the  characters  of 
a  Catholic  priest,  a  Pi'otestant  minister,  and  a  lawyer.  The  last  place 
we  find  him  in  was  the  village  of  Ballinahinch,  where  he  went  under  the 
appellation  of  The  Counsellor.  While  here  he  became  acquainted  with  a 
man  of  the  name  of  Christopher  Jennings,  with  whom  he  conspired  to 
debauch  a  young  girl,  named  Mary  Hair. 

This  unsuspecting  creature  was  only  seventeen  years  of  age,  and  had 
been  a  servant  for  a  year  and  a  half  with  a  Mr.  Knox  of  Drumanockan, 
near  Dromore,  and  having  spent  the  Christmas  of  1812  with  her  parents, 
she  was  on  her  way  back  to  her  place,  when  she  met  her  acquaintance 
Jennings  on  the  road.  He  conducted  her  to  a  public-house  to  treat  her, 
and  there,  as  he  had  done  before,  made  proposals  of  marriage  to  her.  The 
poor  girl  had  before  looked  upon  him  with  a  favouring  eye,  and  she  took 
him  at  his  word,  saying,  that  if  he  could  find  a  priest,  she  would  marry 
him  at  once.  They  in  consequence  went  together  to  Ballinahinch,  and 
Jennings  took  his  bride  into  a  public-house  where  ]\I'Ilvena  was  sitting, 
and  introduced  him  to  her  as  the  minister,  who  was  to  marry  them.  A 
little  coyness  was  exhibited,  and  some  mistrust  was  shown  by  the  girl  at 
her  being  married  in  a  public-  house  ;  but  her  scruples  having  been  over- 
come, the  marriage  was  directed  to  be  begun. 

M'llvena,  with  assumed  sanctity,  pulled  out  his  book,  and  went  through 
"what  Mary  thought  were  the  proper  forms,  joining  their  hands,  and  in- 
terrogating the  parties  in  the  usual  manner.  After  the  ceremony,  the  poor 
girl  asked  for  a  certificate.  This  was  at  first  refused  ;  but  as  she  insisted 
on  it,  the  supposed  parson  took  pen  and  ink,  and  wrote  the  following  : — 

"  These  are  to  certify,  that  Mary  Hair  is  this  day  joined  in  marriage  to 


THE  NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  56  1 

Christopher  Jennings,  of  Drumara.  As  given  under  my  hand,  this  26th 
December,  1812.— W.  M'l." 

This  scrawl  contented  the  deluded  girl ;  and  the  parson  then  intimated 
that  he  was  always  paid  for  such  duties.  Mary  gave  liim  ten  tenpennies  ; 
but  he  tlirew  them  down  with  an  indignant  air,  exclaiming,  "  Am  I  to  be 
college-bred  and  learned,  and  not  receive  my  just  dues  ?"  But  no  more 
money  was  forthcoming,  and  the  parson  was  obliged  to  put  up  with  what 
he  had  got,  contenting  himself  with  wetting  the  bargain  with  a  jug  of 
punch.  The  unfortunate  girl  was  then  conducted  to  the  house  of  an  old 
woman  named  M'Kee,  where  her  husband  was  admitted  to  all  tlie  marital 
rights  ;  and  on  the  next  morning  she  was  bid  by  him  to  give  notice  of  the 
event  to  her  master  and  mistress,  and  he  undertook  to  break  the 
business  to  her  father  and  mother.  The  poor  girl  was  parting  from 
him  with  reluctance  for  this  purpose,  when  he  told  her  unblushingly  that 
she  was  not  his  wife,  and  that  she  was  deceived. 

The  unhappy  girl  was  immediately  awakened  to  all  the  misery  of  her 
situation  ;  and  she  ran,  in  a  state  of  distraction,  to  her  parents,  to  whom 
she  related  all  that  had  occurred.  The  necessary  proceedings  were  imme- 
diately taken,  and  the  counsellor  and  Jennings  were  committed  to  prison. 
At  the  summer  assizes  for  Downpatrick,  August  the  17th,  1813,  they  were 
brought  up  for  trial.  ]\I'Ilvena  was  first  indicted  ;  and  Mary  Hair  hav- 
ing deposed  to  the  foregoing  facts,  she  was  cross-examined,  with  a  view  to 
aiFect  her  testimony,  by  endeavouring  to  make  her  acknowledge  a  former 
connexion  with  Jennings  ;  a  fact,  however,  which  she  indignantly  denied. 

M'llvena,  in  his  defence,  produced  Jennings,  who  swore,  first,  that  he 
had  an  intimate  knowledge  of  the  prosecutrix  long  before  the  time  men- 
tioned in  the  indictment ;  next,  that  she  never  represented  herself  as  his 
wife  ;  and  that  JM'Ilvena  never  pretended  to  join  their  hands  together,  or 
otherwise  unite  them  in  marriage. 

Jennings,  having  given  his  evidence,  was  ordered  back  into  the  dock 
from  whence  he  had  come,  and  M'llvena  was  found  guilty ;  after  which  lie 
was  called  on,  in  the  usual  form,  to  say  why  sentence  of  death  should  not  be 
passed  on  him.  He  appeared  quite  unmoved,  and  said  he  was  not  guilty 
of  the  crime  imputed  to  him.  The  judge  then  proceeded  to  pass  sentence 
on  him  ;  which  he  did  in  a  very  impressive  manner,  though  frequently 
interrupted  by  exclamations  of  innocence  from  the  prisoner.  The  offence 
being  made  by  a  particular  act  of  parliament  a  capital  felony,  he  was  sen- 
tenced to  be  hanged.  He  asked  for  a  long  day,  which  was  humanely 
gi'anted,  and  his  execution  was  deferred  to  the  18th  of  September,  on  which 
day  it  took  place,  in  the  midst  of  a  vast  concourse  of  spectators. 

The  day  after  M'llvena's  trial,  Jennings  was  placed  at  the  bar,  on  an 
indictment  for  conspiring  to  debauch  !Mary  Hair.  He  was  almost  instantly 
found  guilty  ;  when  the  judge  told  him  his  crime  was  much  enhanced  by 
the  attempt  he  had  made  to  screen  his  accomplice  from  punishment,  in 
which  he  had  committed  wilful  and  corrupt  perjury.  The  sentence  of  the 
court  was,  that  he  should  stand  for  an  hour  on  the  pillory,  be  imprisoned 
for  one  year,  and  pay  a  fine  of  fifty  pounds. 


4  c 


5G2  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

JAMES   MITCHELL. 

EXECUTED    FOR    MURDER. 

Tee  subject  of  this  narrative  was  a  native  of  Salisbury,  and  his  first 
occupation  was  that  of  a  plonghboy  in  the  service  of  a  farmer  near  hia 
birthplace.  Having  afterwards  removed  to  London,  he  obtained  a  situa- 
tion as  groom  in  a  gentleman's  family ;  and  while  so  employed  he  became 
acquainted  with  Miss  Welchman,  whose  life  he  subsequently  took  away. 

Miss  Welchman  was  a  ladies'  dressmaker,  and  lived  as  forewoman  with 
Miss  Macey,  who  carried  on  that  business  in  Mount  Street.  She  was  an 
elegant  young  woman,  about  four-and-twenty  years  of  age,  and  of  a  most 
amiable  disposition.  To  her,  in  an  evil  hour,  Mitchell  paid  his  addresses, 
under  the  name  of  Smith,  and  represented  himself  as  purser  on  board  some 
ship.  The  credulous  girl  believed  him  worthy  and  honourable,  and  per- 
mitted him  to  visit  her,  at  the  house  of  her  employer,  where  he  was,  for  some 
time,  treated  with  politeness  and  friendship.  At  length  his  own  conduct 
betrayed  the  deception  he  had  practised.  He  obtruded  himself  at  improper 
hours,  and  more  than  once  offended  tlie  young  ladies  in  the  work-room  by 
the  coarseness  and  indelicacy  of  his  conversation.  This  coming  to  the 
knowledge  of  Miss  Welchman's  brother,  he  prevailed,  with  some  difficulty, 
on  his  sister  to  forego  the  acquaintance  of  her  lover. 

In  accordance  with  this  advice.  Miss  Welchman  had  several  interviews 
on  the  subject  with  Mitchell ;  but  notwithstanding  her  desire  that  he  would 
not  again  visit  her,  he  persisted  in  annoying  her.  On  Friday  the  5th 
of  August,  1814,  he  called  at  Mount  Street,  and  was  ushered  into  the 
work-room,  where  Miss  Welchman  was  sitting.  He  continued  there  during 
the  whole  evening,  notwithstanding  the  repeated  requests  made  to  him  that 
he  would  leave  ;  and,  as  it  grew  late,  he  desired  Miss  Welclimanto  provide 
supper  for  him,  and  subsequently  to  lend  him  money.  Both  requests  were 
refused,  and  eventually  at  eleven  o'clock  Miss  Macey  and  her  work-people 
went  away  to  supper,  Mitchell  being  now  left  alone.  Miss  Welchman,  how- 
ever, returned  to  him,  saying  that  she  desired  to  be  alone  with  him  for 
about  five  minutes  ;  but  she  had  scarcely  entered  the  room  M-hen  a  loud 
scream  was  heard,  immediately  followed  by  the  report  of  pistols.  Her 
companions  immediately  rushed  into  the  apartment,  and  found  Miss  Welch- 
man  a  lifeless  corpse  on  the  floor,  a  pair  of  pistols  lying  by  her  side,  which 
on  inspection  bore  evident  marks  of  being  the  instruments  with  which  the 
murder  had  been  perpetrated.  The  hat  of  Mitchell  Avas  also  discovered  ; 
but  the  window  was  open,  and  it  was  found  that  the  assassin  had  escaped 
by  descending  into  the  street,  by  that  means. 

On  examination,  it  was  found  that  Miss  Welchman  had  been  shot  in 
the  head ;  one  bullet  had  entered  her  temple,  and  the  other  had  been  resisted 
by  the  substance  of  the  forehead. 

The  murderer,  in  the  mean  time,  had  succeeded  in  making  his  escape, 
and  the  officers  of  justice  wei'e  despatched  in  pursuit  of  him,  but  without 
eliect ;  for,  as  he  had  been  for  a  length  of  time  out  of  place,  a  clue  to  his 
last  residence  was  not  easily  found.  At  length  word  was  brought  to  town 
that  he  was  in  custody  at  his  native  place,  Salisbury,  to  which  he  had 
bent  his  steps,  and  wliere  he  had  been  recognised  by  liis  old  master  the 
farmer,  who,  having  heard  of  the  murder,  immediately  had  him  secured. 


THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  56? 

On  tlie  1 3tli  of  August  he  was  brongnt  up  to  Bow  Street,  in  the  custody 
of  Taunton  the  officer,  where  he  underwent  an  examination,  after  which  lie 
was  fully  committed  to  Newgate.  He  appeared  very  little  affected  at  his 
situation,  and  preserved  a  sullen  silence. 

On  Friday,  September  tiie  16th,  he  was  arraigned  at  the  Old  Bailey 
for  tlie  murder  of  Miss  Welchnian.  The  evidence  was  circumstantial,  hut 
conclusive  ;  and,  when  called  on  for  his  defence,  he  dtnied  the  crime  with 
wliich  he  was  charged,  and  said  that  it  was  not  proved  the  pistols  and  liat 
were  liis.  He  called  no  witnesses,  and  the  jury  having  been  charged, 
retired  for  a  few  minutes,  and  returned  with  a  verdict  of  Guilty. 

The  Recorder,  after  silence  had  bien  proclaimed,  pronounced  tlie  dreadful 
sentence  of  the  law,  which  was  heard  by  the  prisoner  without  the  slightest 
emotion. 

He  was  executed  on  the  19th  September  with  a  man  named  Hollings, 
who  had  been  convicted  of  a  similar  offence  in  the  murder  of  his  step- 
daughter, to  whom  he  had  formed  an  attachment,  notwithstanding  his 
having  married  her  motlier ;  and  whom  he  murdered  in  the  street,  at  the 
door  of  her  master,  Mr.  Cartwright,  in  Lower  Grosvenor  Street,  because 
she  had  refused  to  accede  to  his  disgusting  and  lustful  propositions. 

So  great  was  the  public  curiosity  to  see  the  unfortunate  malefactors,  that 
at  seven  o'clock  on  the  morning  of  the  execution,  the  Old  Bailey  and  Giltspur 
Street  were  crowded  to  a  degree  almost  unprecedented.  JMuch  money  was 
given  for  indifferent  seats  at  the  top  of  the  houses  opposite  the  Debtors' 
Door  ;  and  carts,  waggons,  and  other  vehicles  were  put  in  requisition.  At 
a  quarter  before  eight  the  prisoners  were  introduced  to  the  Press-yard,  for 
tlie  purpose  of  having  their  irons  knocked  off",  accompanied  by  the 
Reverend  IMr.  Cotton  and  the  Reverend  Mr.  Frere,  the  latter  of  whom 
sat  up  in  constant  prayer  all  the  night  with  Hollings,  who  joined  most 
fervently  in  the  devotion.  Mitchell,  who  was  dressed  in  black,  was  first 
brought  out  from  the  cell ;  he  looked  pale,  and  maintained  a  dejiortment  of 
sullen  resignation ;  he  did  not  say  a  word,  nor  did  he  betray  the  slightest 
symptoms  of  feeling  at  his  awful  situation.  The  irons  being  knocked  off 
and  the  usual  ceremony  of  tying  the  hands  being  executed,  he  lifted  his 
hand  as  far  as  he  was  permited,  and  looking  up,  bowed,  and  appeared  to 
be  in  prayer.  Hollings  stepped  forward  to  the  block  with  great  activity. 
He  was,  however,  very  tranquil ;  and  upon  being  disencumbered  of  his 
irons,  he  addressed  the  persons  around  him  in  nearly  the  following  words  : 
"  Here,  you  see,  I  stand  a  victim  to  passion  and  barbarity  :  my  crime  is 
great,  and  I  acknowledge  the  justice  of  my  sentence.  But,  oh  !  the  unfor- 
tunate girl  I  loved,  I  adored  as  one  of  my  own.  I  have  made  contrition, 
and  jirayed  for  forgiveness  ;  I  resign  myself  under  an  impressiou  that 
Almiiflity  God  has  heard  my  prayers,  and  will  forgive  me :  may  you  and 
the  world  take  warning  by  my  example;  and  here  I  confess  the  justice  of 
my  fate — receive  my  soul,  O  God  !"  At  the  last  expression  his  feelings 
overcame  him,  and  he  wept. 

The  whole  of  the  awful  arrangements  being  complete,  the  prisoners  were 
ushered  to  the  fatal  scaffold.  jMitchell  was  until  this  time  firm  and  uncon- 
cerned ;  but  he  now  became  much  agitated,  and  the  horrors  of  death  were 
strongly  portrayed  in  his  countenance.  Hollings  shook  hands  with  the  officers 
of  justice,  declared  to  Mr.  Frere  that  he  was  quite  happy,  and  mounted  the 
scaffold  v/ith  great  firmness  and  resignation.     The  clergymen  continued  to 


564  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

pray  to  them  until  the  fatal  signal  was  given,  when  the  drop  fell.  Mitchell 
continued  in  the  strongest  convulsions  for  several  minutes,  and  appeared  to 
die  very  hard. 

After  they  had  hung  some  time,  three  females  were  introduced,  for  the 
application  of  the  "dead  man's  hand,"  supposed  to  remove  marks,  wens, 
&c.  The  first  was  a  young  woman  of  interesting  appearance,  who  was  so 
umch  aflFected  by  the  ceremony  that  she  was  obliged  to  be  supported. 

At  nine  the  bodies  were  cut  down,  and  sent  to  St.  Bartholomew's 
Hospital  for  dissection. 


MAJOR  J.  G.  SEMPLE,  alias  LISLE. 

CONVICTED    OF   SWINDLING. 

The  case  of  this  ofi"ender  has  obtained  considerable  notoriety,  from  the 
circumstance  of  his  conviction  having  been  disputed,  and  from  the  decision 
upon  it  having  therefore  became  a  precedent  often  quoted  in  our  courts  of 
law. 

Semple,  it  appears,  was  born  in  Scotland  in  1759,  of  a  respectable  family; 
and  in  the  year  1775,  at  the  age  of  sixteen  years,  he  entered  the  army,  and 
went  to  America.  In  the  following  year  he  Avas  taken  prisoner  of  war,  but 
was  soon  after  released,  and  retired  from  service  with  a  pension  for  wounds. 

He  subsequently  entered  the  army  of  Frederic  the  Great  of  Prussia  ;  but 
in  1779  he  again  returned  to  England,  and  then  married  an  English  lady 
of  great  respectability,  vdiom  he  met  at  Harwich.  During  a  visit  to 
France  a  short  time  aftervvards,  he  became  acquainted  with  the  Duchess  of 
Kingston,  alias  the  Countess  of  Bristol,  (whose  case  we  have  already  given,) 
whom  he  accompanied  on  her  visit  to  Russia,  and  having  there  consented 
to  join  the  Russian  service,  he  was  appointed  captain  in  the  Imperial  Army 
by  Prince  Potemkin.  During  his  employment  in  this  capacity,  his  conduct 
was  such  as  to  gain  for  him  many  honours  ;  but  in  the  year  1784,  being 
dissatisfied  with  his  position,  he  retired  to  Copenhagen,  from  whence  he 
eventually  returned  to  England,  and  there  misfortune  fell  upon  him  in  its 
worst  form. 

On  the  1st  of  September  1785,  very  soon  therefore  after  his  arrival  in 
this  country,  he  was  indicted  for  feloniously  stealing  a  post-chaise,  value 
50/.,  the  property  of  John  Lycett,  a  coachmaker  in  Whitechapel  ;  and  upon 
the  trial,  it  appeared  that  he  had  hired  the  post-chaise  for  a  limited  period, 
as  he  alleged  to  support  the  character  which  he  was  entitled  to  maintain, 
but  that  it  was  never  returned.  The  defence  set  up  was  that  the  transac- 
tion could  only  be  looked  upon  in  the  nature  of  a  civil  contract,  and  that 
the  chaise  having  been  regularly  ordered  and  sent  home,  no  charge  could  be 
brought  against  the  prisoner  except  that  arising  on  the  sale  of  the  carriage, 
and  that  he  could  only  be  held  to  be  indebted  for  its  value.  Upon  argu- 
ment, however,  the  court  held  that  there  had  been  a  felonious  dealing  with 
the  carriage,  and  the  prisoner  was  found  guilty  and  sentenced  to  be 
transported  for  seven  years.  He  was  conveyed  to  Woolwich  on  his  way 
to  a  penal  settlement,  but  he  was  eventually  pardoned  on  condition  of  his 
going  abroad. 

From  AV^oolwich  therefore   he  went  to  France ;  and  there  he  became 


THE    NEAV   NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  565 

ju^quainted  with  Beruyer,  Petliion,  Roland,  and  several  of  the  leaders  of 
tlie  day.  He  was  present  at  the  trial  of  Louis  XVI.  and  shortly  after 
resolved  on  returning  to  England,  in  consequence  of  the  rupture  with  this 
country,  \\  hich  he  then  saw  was  inevitahle.  He  therefore  obtained  a  pass- 
port; he  was  denounced  to  the  committee  of  public  safety  as  a  spy,  who 
was  going  to  join  the  enemy  ;  but  being  secretly  apprised  of  what  was  going 
forward,  he  was  able  to  effect  his  escape,  although  with  some  difficulty, 
before  the  order  for  his  arrest  was  issued. 

On  his  escape  he  joined  the  allied  army  against  France,  and  distinguished 
himself  on  various  occasions,  but  particularly  in  the  battle  of  St.  Fronde, 
which  lasted  three  days ;  and  at  the  time  of  the  retirement  of  the  Kinor  of 
Prussia  from  this  campaign,  he  found  himself  incapacitated  from  service, 
and  almost  destitute  of  the  means  of  existence.  After  a  short  retirement, 
however,  he  had  recovered  sufficiently  to  remove  to  Augsburgh  ;  and  on 
his  arrival  at  that  place  he  Avas  suddenly  arrested  by  order  of  the  Baron 
d'Ompteda,  in  the  name  of  his  Britannic  majesty  ;  but  his  imprisonment 
not  being  legal,  he  was  shortly  afterwards  set  at  liberty. 

Considering  he  had  been  ill  used  on  the  Continent,  Semple  again 
returned  to  England  ;  and  in  1795  we  again  find  him  at  the  bar  of  the  Old 
Bailey,  on  a  charge  of  stealing  in  the  shop  of  ]\Ir.  Wattleworth,  in 
Wigmore  Street,  one  yard  of  muslin,  two  yards  of  calico,  and  one  linen 
shirt. 

It  was  proved  that  the  prisoner  came  into  the  shop  of  Mr.  Wattleworth, 
about  noon,  on  the  10th  of  November  1794,  and,  showing  two  patterns, 
one  of  muslin,  and  the  other  of  calico,  said  he  Avanted  them  matched  for 
jNJrs.  Coningham,  of  Egham  Green.  They  could  not  find  an  exact  match 
in  the  shop  to  the  muslin  ;  but  he  chose  one  ;  and  a  yard  being  cut  off", 
together  with  two  yards  of  calico,  he  said  he  would  give  them  to  the  lady's 
servant,  then  at  the  door  ;  and,  calling  in  a  man,  he  gave  them  to  him.  He 
then  said  that  he  had  just  arrived  from  the  Continent,  and  should  want  a 
quantity  of  shirts,  and  wished  to  take  one  with  him  to  consult  his  sister, 
who,  he  thought,  would  be  a  better  judge  of  the  linen  than  he  was  ;  that 
he  would  bring  it  back  in  the  morning,  and  then  give  his  order.  He  called 
his  sister  JMrs.  Coningham ;  and  as  Mr.  Wattleworth  had  a  customer  of 
that  name,  he  made  no  hesitation,  but  gave  him  the  shirt  under  those  con- 
ditions. This  happened  in  November  ;  but  the  prosecutor  never  saw  the 
prisoner  again  until  January,  when  he  was  in  custody  in  Bow  Street. 

The  counsel  for  the  prisoner  contended  that  the  charge  of  the  felony 
was  not  made  out,  the  evidence,  if  true,  amounting  only  to  that  of 
obtaining  goods  under  false  pretences.  Mr.  Justice  BuUer,  who  tried  the 
cause,  admitted  the  counsel  was  perfectly  right  as  to  the  calico  and  muslin  ; 
but  he  did  not  agree  with  him  in  respect  to  the  shirt,  and  therefore  left 
that  question  to  the  jury. 

The  prisoner,  in  his  defence,  entered  into  a  history  of  his  past  life  with  a 
view  of  shovving,  that  although  he  had  been  before  convicted,  his  general 
course  of  conduct  was  not  that  of  living  by  fraud  ;  but  the  jury  found  him 
guilty  of  stealing  the  shirt,  and  he  was  once  more  sentenced  to  seven  years' 
transportation. 

Notwithstanding  his  notoriety,  (for  there  were  manyother  charges  against 
him,)  many  persons,  amongst  whom  were  Burke  and  Boswell,  interested 
thi^mselves  in  his  behalf ;  but  after  remaining  about  two  years  in  Newgate 


566  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

in  a  state  of  uncertainty  as  to  his  future  destiny,  he  was  at  length  removed 
to  Portsmouth,  and  from  thence  proceeded  to  New  South  Wales.  On  the 
passage  a  mutiny  broke  out  on  board  the  transport  in  which  lie  sailed ; 
and  Seniple  being  one  of  the  ringleaders,  he,  with  twenty-eight  others,  was 
sent  adrift  in  an  open  boat.  He  had  contrived  to  conceal  a  quantity  of 
gold  in  some  soap,  and  succeeded  in  carrying  it  off  with  him ;  and  after  a 
dangerous  passage,  he  and  his  companions  landed  in  safety  at  Fort  St. 
Pedro,  in  the  province  of  Rio  Grande.  They  were  received  with  great 
hospitality  by  the  governor  of  the  Fort ;  and  Semple  was  introduced  by 
his  fellows  as  a  Dutch  officer  and  passenger,  a  tale  of  shipwreck  being 
trumped  up  ;  but  a  quarrel  arising  among  them,  their  real  character  was 
subsequently  exposed.  After  remaining  during  a  considerable  time  at 
Brazils,  in  the  year  1798  he  went  to  Lisbon ;  but  there  he  was  arrested  by 
an  order  of  the  British  minister,  and  sent  to  Gibraltar,  and  while  there, 
being  suspected  of  being  a  party  to  a  conspiracy  wJiich  was  discovered,  he 
was  again  arrested  and  sent  to  Tangier. 

In  December  1798,  a  despatch  arrived  from  England,  ordering  him  home 
in  custody ;  and  he  was  accordingly  sent  on  board  a  ship,  and  arrived  at 
Portsmouth  the  following  April.  He  was  immediately  conveyed  to 
Tothill-fields  Bridewell,  where  lie  remained  till  he  was  again  sent  out 
of  the  country. 

From  this  period  nothing  particular  occurred  in  the  major's  life  until  his 
return  from  Botany  Bay  in  1810,  when  he  resorted  to  his  former  evil 
practices ;  but  as  he  became  more  notorious  he  became  less  successful, 
until  at  length  he  was  reduced  to  the  utmost  distress,  and  had  recourse  to 
the  basest  means  of  supporting  a  miserable  existence. 

In  1814  he  went  into  a  cheesemonger's  shop  in  Devonshire  Street, 
Queen  Square,  and  ordered  a  small  quantity  of  bacon  and  butter  to  be 
sent  to  No.  42,  Cross  Street.  He  met  the  messenger  at  the  door,  and 
taking  the  articles  from  him,  sent  him  back  for  six-pennyworth  of  eggs. 
When  the  boy  returned,  he  knocked  at  the  door,  and  was  informed  that  the 
person  he  inquired  for  did  not  live  there,  and  that  they  knew  notliing 
about  him.  This  was  true,  for  the  major  had  only  made  a  feint  of  going 
in  to  deceive  the  boy,  and  had  made  off  when  the  lad  was  out  of  sight. 

For  this  offence  he  was  apprehended,  and  brought  to  trial  at  the 
Middlesex  Sessions,  December  the  3rd,  1814,  and  found  guilty,  when,  for 
the  third  time,  sentence  of  transportation  for  seven  years  was  passed  on 
him. 


WILLIAM  SAWYER. 

EXECUTED    FOR    A    MURDER    IN    PORTUGAL. 

The  circumstances  of  tliis  very  singular  case  may  be  shortly  stated  as 
follows  : — The  prisoner  was  engaged  in  the  commissariat  department  of  the 
British  army;  and  in  the  month  of  February  1814,  he  went  out  to 
Portugal,  where  he  lived  in  the  same  house  in  the  Campo  3Iayor,  at 
Lisbon,  with  a  friend,  Mr.  Riccord,  who  had  a  female,  named  Harriet 
Gaskett,  under  his  protection.  An  attachment  grew  up  between  this 
unfortunate  woman  and  Sawyer,  who,  however,  had  a  wife  at  the  time 
in  England  ;   and  his  attentions  were  so  appaivnt,  that  they  excited  the 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  567 

Jr-alnusy  of  his  brother  officer,  and  he  appears  to  have  remonstrated  with 
his  friend  and  mistress,  which  occasioned  much  infeUcity. 

On  the  :27th  of  April  tliey  met  at  dinner,  with  two  or  three  other 
officers;  but  such  was  the  agitation  of  their  feelings,  that  Riccord,  Harriet, 
and  Sawyer  ate  nothing.  The  latter  appeared  greatly  dejected,  and,  as 
well  as  Harriet,  withdrew  as  soon  as  possible. 

In  tlie  evening  the  party  heard  the  report  of  three  pistol-shots ;  and,  on 
going  into  the  garden,  Harriet  and  Sawyer  were  found  both  lying  on  the 
ground.  Harriet  was  quite  dead,  but  Sawyer  had  not  been  mortally 
wounded.  On  his  being  removed  into  the  house,  he  was  left  in  the  care  of 
a  brother  officer,  while  the  others  went  in  search  of  a  pliysician  ;  and  during 
their  absence  he  contrived  to  get  a  razor,  with  which  he  cut  his  throat  in 
a  dreadful  manner,  but  not  mortally. 

Next  day  the  officers  met,  and  reduced  the  facts  to  writing ;  and  the 
prisoner  signed  the  document,  as  well  as  a  paper  in  the  following  terms : 

"  Having  laid  violent  hands  itpon  myself,  in  consequence  of  the  death  of 
Harriet,  I  think  it  but  justice  to  mankind  and  the  world,  being  of  sound 
mind,  solemnly  to  attest  that  her  death  was  occasioned  by  her  having 
taken  part  of  a  phial  of  laudanum,  and  '  my '  discharging  a  pistol  at  her 
head,  provided  for  the  occasion.  I  took  the  residue  of  the  laudanum 
myself,  and  discharged  two  pistols  at  my  head.  They  failing  in  their  effect, 
I  then  retired  to  the  house  and  endeavoured  to  put  an  end  to  my  life, 
leaving  myself  the  unfortunate  object  you  now  behold  me. 

(Signed)  "William  Sawyer." 

And  tliree  witnesses. 

The  word  "  my,"  in  the  above  paper,  was  interlined. 

Tiie  prisoner  also  signed  a  declaration,  that  Harriet  Gaskett  had  consented 
to  leave  Mr.  Riccord  and  live  with  him,  and  that  Mr.  Riccord  had  told 
her,  on  her  threatening  to  quit  him,  that  she  might  go  to  the  prisoner's 
hotel.  The  reason  assigned  by  him  for  the  attempted  suicide  and  murder 
was,  that  Harriet  declared  that  she  thought  that  Mr.  Riccord  would  shoot 
himself  if  she  quitted  him,  and  that  she  therefore  would  not  live  ;  and  he 
added,  that  he  had  shot  her  at  her  own  request,  and  not  in  consequence  of 
any  quarrel  with  her,  and  had  then  attempted  to  kill  himself. 

When  the  prisoner  was  sufficiently  recovered, he  was  removed  to  England, 
where,  shortly  after  his  arrival,  he  was  indicted  at  the  Old  Bailey,  April 
the  7th,  1815,  for  the  above  murder.  His  case  excited  great  interest,  and 
the  court  was  filled  long  before  the  arrival  of  the  judges. 

The  facts  already  stated  having  been  proved,  the  prisoner  was  called  on 
for  his  defence.  He  put  in  a  written  paper,  in  which  he  stated  that,  in 
consequence  of  his  being  unable  to  articulate,  from  the  wound  in  his  throat, 
he  had  committed  to  paper  all  he  had  to  say  in  his  defence.  The  paper 
then  went  on  to  state  that  the  prisoner  had  felt  the  sincerest  affection  for 
the  unfortunate  individual  in  question,  towards  whom  he  had  never 
meditated  the  slightest  injury.  He  perfectly  recollected  her  having 
entreated  him  to  slioot  her,  but  had  no  idea  of  what  passed  subsequently, 
till  some  time  afterwards,  when  he  was  told  he  had  signed  papers,  of  the 
contents  of  which  he  had  no  recollection.  He  then  expressed  acknowledg- 
ments for  the  efforts  made  by  his  prosecutors  to  bring  forward  Mr. 
Riccord,  who  would  have  been  a  material  witness  in  his  behalf ;  and  had 
only  to  lament  that  these  efforts  had  not  been  attended  with  success. 


56  S  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

Several  persons  were  called  to  speak  to  the  general  humane  character  nf 
the  prisoner,  among  whom  were  General  Sir  Edward  Howard  and  Colonel 
Sir  William  Robe. 

A  Mrs.  NiclioUs  proved  that  the  deceased  had  lodged  with  her  from 
June  1813,  to  February  1814.  She  was  of  a  most  violent  and  tyrannical 
disposition,  and  had  a  pistol,  which  she  kept  constantly  in  her  room. 

Lord  EUenborough  having  summed  up  the  case,  the  jury  found  the  pri- 
soner guilty,  but  recommended  him  to  mercy. 

Mr.  Alley  and  Mr.  Curwood  on  behalf  of  the  prisoner  then  moved  in 
arrest  of  judgment,  upon  two  technical  points  which  arose  upon  the  face 
of  the  indictment,  and  judgment  was  respited  until  the  12th  of  May.  The 
court  on  that  day,  however,  gave  their  opinion  that  tlie  grounds  of  motion 
were  unavailable,  and  sentence  of  deatn  was  immediately  passed. 

The  prisoner  appeared  deeply  affected  tliroughout  the  proceedings,  and 
upon  the  awful  decision  and  sentence,  remained  motionless  for  some  time, 
when  at  length  he  faintly  requested  one  of  the  officers  to  entreat  the  court 
to  recommend  him  to  the  royal  clemency. 

Monday,  May  the  22d,  1815,  being  the  day  appointed  for  the  execution 
of  this  infatuated  man,  at  an  early  hour  an  immense  number  of  spectators 
tiad  assembled  in  the  Old  Bailey  to  witness  the  awful  scene.  After  the 
sentence  of  death  was  passed  on  him,  he  assumed  a  degree  of  suUenness ; 
and  the  only  declaration  he  was  heard  to  make  was,  "  that  he  would  not 
be  executed  :  "  and  this  being  considered  to  import  that  he  was  resolved  on 
self-destruction,  his  intentions,  if  such  they  were,  were  defeated  by  the 
constant  attendance  of  two  officers  night  and  day.  On  Sunday  he  received 
the  sacrament,  after  which  he  appeared  more  composed.  About  three 
o'clock  his  wife  went  to  the  prison  for  the  purpose  of  taking  a  farewell : 
she  was  announced  by  an  officer ;  but  the  unhappy  man  gave  a  peremp- 
tory order  that  she  should  not  be  admitted,  and  all  that  could  be  urged 
could  not  induce  him  to  see  her.  When  he  went  to  his  cell,  he  was  much 
depressed,  and  refused  any  kind  of  sustenance  ;  and  at  about  two  o'clock 
he  lay  down,  and  soon  after  became  very  sick,  and  vomited  copiously. 
He  continued  restless  until  half-past  six  o'clock,  at  which  time  he  was 
visited  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Cotton,  who  prayed  to  him  fervently.  A  little 
before  eight  o'clock  Mr.  Sheriff'  Reay,  attended  by  the  usual  officers,  pro- 
ceeded from  Justice  Hall  towards  the  cell.  The  unfortunate  gentleman 
was  introduced  into  the  Press -yard  by  the  ordinary  :  he  was  very  dejected, 
and  did  not  utter  a  word  during  the  time  of  his  being  conveyed  to  the 
platform.  At  eight  o'clock  precisely,  every  necessary  arrangement  being 
complete,  the  fatal  signal  was  given,  and  tlie  unhappy  man  was  launched 
into  eternity.  During  the  ceremony  a  profound  silence  prevailed  through- 
out the  populace.  He  died  under  evident  symptoms  of  paroxysm,  and  a 
quantity  of  blood  gushed  from  his  mouth  from  the  cut  in  his  throat.  At 
nine  o'clock  the  body  was  taken  to  Bartholemew's  Hospital  in  a  cart, 
attended  by  the  under-sheriff  and  officers.  He  was  dressed  in  a  suit  of 
black,  and  was  not  ironed. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  bfi9 

ELIZABETH  PENNING. 

EXECUTED    FOR  ATTEMPTING   TO    POISON    A    FAMILY. 

The  extraordinary  interest  taken  by  the  public  in  this  case  at  the  time 
of  its  occurrence  induces  us  to  give  it  at  considerable  length,  in  order  tliat 
its  weiglit  and  bearings  may  be  justly  appreciated  and  considered.  The 
propriety  of  the  conviction  of  the  unfortunate  young  woman  was  much 
questioned  ;  and  upon  a  careful  perusal  of  its  circumstances  we  think  that 
at  the  least  it  must  be  concluded  that  the  case  was  attended  with  consider- 
able doubt. 

It  appears  that  Elizabeth  Penning  was  born  in  the  island  of  Dominica, 
in  the  West  Indies,  on  the  10th  of  June,  1793.  Her  father,  "William 
Penning,  was  a  native  of  Suffolk,  and  belonged  to  the  first  battalion  of  the 
15th  regiment  of  infantry.  Her  mother  was  a  native  of  Cork,  in  Ireland  : 
her  parents  were  respectable,  and  she  was  married  to  Fenning  in  1787,  in 
her  native  town,  where  the  regiment  had  been  quartered.  In  1790  they 
sailed  from  the  Cove  of  Cork  for  the  island  of  Barbadoes,  and  from  thence 
to  Dominica. 

In  1796  or  1797  the  regiment  came  home,  having  suffered  great  mor- 
tality, and  were  quartered  in  Dublin.  In  1802  Fenning  solicited  and 
obtained  his  discharge,  with  a  certificate  of  his  good  character,  wliich  it 
appears  he  merited,  as  he  rose  to  the  rank  of  a  non-commissioned  officer; 
and  he  then  came  to  London,  and  entered  the  service  of  his  brother,  a 
potato-dealer  in  Red  Lion-street,  Holborn,  with  whom  he  continued  for 
three  years,  and  afterwards  lived  as  servant  in  a  potato-warehouse  in  Red 
Lion  Passage,  where  his  correct  conduct  gave  satisfaction  to  thi'ee  succes- 
sive proprietors.  His  wife,  for  five  years,  worked  for  one  upholsterer — a 
sufficient  proof  of  her  good  conduct.  They  had  ten  children,  all  of  whom, 
except  the  subject  of  this  narrative,  died  young.  At  the  age  of  fourteen, 
slie  was  placed  out  in  service  to  obtain  her  own  living  ;  and  at  the  latter 
end  of  January,  1815,  she  was  hired  as  cook  in  the  family  of  a  Mr.  Orlibar 
Turner,  at  No.  68,  Chancery -lane,  where  she  had  not  been  above  seven 
weeks  when  circumstances  unhappily  arose  which  led  to  the  poor  creature's 
being  charged  with  an  atten.pt  to  poison  her  master's  family. 

The  facts  of  the  case  will  be  best  explained  by  the  following  report  of  the 
trial. 

Eliza  Fenning  was  indicted  at  the  Old  Bailey,  April  the  1 1th,  1815,  for 
that  she,  on  the  21st  of  March,  feloniously  and  unlawfully  did  administer 
to,  and  cause  to  be  administered  to,  Orlibar  Turner,  Robert  Gregsoi. 
Turner,  and  Charlotte  Turner,  his  wife,  certain  deadly  poison,  (to  wit, 
arsenic,)  with  intent  the  said  persons  to  kill  and  murder. 

The  case  was  stated  by  Mr.  Gurney  ;  after  which — 

Mrs.  Charlotte  Turner  deposed — I  am  the  wife  of  Mr,  Robert  Gregson 
Turner,  who  is  a  law-stationer  in  Chancery- lane,  in  partnership  with  his 
father,  Mr.  Orlibar  Turner,  who  lives  at  Lambeth.  About  seven  weeks 
before  the  accident,  the  prisoner  came  into  my  service  as  cook  ;  and  about 
three  weeks  after,  I  had  occasion  to  reprove  her.  for  I  observed  her,  one 
night,  go  into  the  young  men's  room  partly  undressed.  Tiiere  were  two 
young    men,  about    seventeen   or    eigliteen    years    old.      I    reproved  her 

VOL    I.  4  D 


570  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

severely  next  morning  for  lier  conduct ;  and  the  excuse  was,  that  she  vent 
in  to  fetch  the  candle.  I  threatened  to  discliarge  lier,  but  on  her  express- 
ing sorrow  for  the  offence,  I  forgave  her,  and  slie  remained  in  my  employ- 
ment. During  the  subsequent  montli,  I  observed  that  she  failed  to  pay 
me  that  respect  which  I  considered  due  to  me,  and  she  appeared  extremely 
sullen.  About  a  fortnight  before  the  transaction  now  charged  against  her, 
she  requested  me  to  permit  her  to  make  some  yeast  dumplings,  saying  that 
she  was  a  capital  hand  at  it ;  and  she  frequently  subsequently  repeated  the 
same  request.  On  Monday  the  :20th  of  March,  she  came  to  me  in  the 
dining-room,  and  again  asked  me  to  allow  her  to  make  some  dumplings, 
and  said  that  tlie  brewer  had  brought  some  yeast ;  and  I  said  tliat  as  that 
was  the  case  she  might  make  tlie  dumplings  the  next  day,  although  that 
was  not  the  way  in  which  I  usually  had  them  made,  as  I  generally  had 
the  dough  from  the  baker's.  On  Tuesday  morning  I  went  into  the  kitchen 
according  to  my  custom,  and  I  bade  the  prisoner  make  a  beef-steak  pie 
for  the  young  men  before  she  made  the  dumplings,  and  she  carried  tlie  pie 
to  the  baker's  before  kneading  the  dough.  I  gave  her  some  directions  as 
to  the  manner  in  which  I  liked  the  dumplings,  and  then  went  away.  In 
about  half-an-hour,  however,  I  returned  into  the  kitchen,  and  I  then 
found  the  dough  placed  before  the  fire  to  rise.  I  have  another  servant  in 
my  employment  named  Sarah  Peer,  but  I  am  certain  that  she  could  not 
have  entered  the  kitchen  during  the  time  occupied  in  the  preparation  of  the 
dumplings,  as  she  was  engaged  by  my  direction  in  a  bedroom  mending  a 
counterpane.  I  was  subsequently  in  and  out  of  the  kitchen  two  or  three 
times,  and  I  observed  that  the  dough  did  not  rise.  It  was  in  a  singular 
shape  ;  and  it  remained  heavy  all  the  time.  At  about  three  o'clock  we  sat 
down  to  dinner,  and  there  were  six  dumplings  brought  to  table.  I  observed 
to  Sarah  Peer  that  they  were  black  and  lieavy  instead  of  their  being  white 
and  light.  jNIy  husband,  Robert  Gregson  Turner,  and  his  father,  Orlibar 
Turner,  sat  down  to  dinner  with  me:  I  helped  them  to  some  dumplings, 
and  took  a  small  piece  mj'self.  I  found  myself  affected  in  a  few  minutes 
after  I  had  eaten  it.  I  did  not  eat  a  quarter  of  a  dumpling.  I  felt  myself 
very  faint — an  excruciating  pain,  which  increased  every  minute :  it  came 
so  bad  that  I  Avas  obliged  to  leave  the  table — I  went  up  stairs.  I  ate, 
beside  the  dumpling,  a  piece  of  rump-steak  cooked  by  Eliza.  When  I  was 
up  stairs  I  perceived  my  sickness  increased,  and  I  observed  my  head  was 
swollen  extremely.  I  retched  very  violently  :  I  was  half  an  hour  alone, 
and  wondered  they  did  not  come  to  my  assistance.  I  found  my  husband 
and  father  very  ill — both  of  them.  I  was  very  ill  from  haif-past-three 
until  about  nine ;  the  violence  then  abated,  but  did  not  cease.  3Iy  head 
and  my  tongue  and  chest  were  swollen.  We  called  in  a  gentleman  who 
was  near,  and  afterwards  Mr.  Marshall,  the  surgeon.  We  applied  for  the 
nearest  assistance  we  could  get. 

Cross-examined  hy  Mr.  Alley. — This  happened  about  six  weeks  after 
the  girl  came  to  live  with  me.  I  have  heard  the  prisoner  herself  was  taken 
very  ill. 

Orlibar  Turner  deposed — I  am  the  father  of  Robert  Gregson  Turner.  On 
Tuesday,  the  21st  day  of  March,  I  was  at  my  son's  house  in  Chancery- 
lane  :  I  dined  there.  The  dinner  consisted  of  yeast  dumplings,  beef-steaks, 
and  potatoes.  After  some  time  Mrs.  Turner  left  the  room  indisposed.  At 
the  time  she  left  the  room  I  did  not  know  she  was  ill.  Sometime  after  my 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  571 

son  left  the  room,  and  went  down  stairs.  I  followed  liim  vorj'-  shortly.  I 
met  my  son  in  tlie  passage  at  the  foot  of  the  stairs  :  he  told  me  that  he 
had  been  very  sick,  and  had  brought  up  his  dinner.  I  found  his  eyes 
exceedingly  swollen.  I  said  I  thought  it  very  extraordinary,  and  I  was 
taken  ill  myself  in  less  than  three  minutes  afterwards.  The  effect'  was  so 
violent,  I  had  hardly  time  to  go  into  the  back  yard  before  my  dinner  came 
up.  I  felt  considerable  heat  across  my  stomach  and  chest,  and  pain  :  I 
never  experienced  any  vomiting  before  like  it,  for  violence  ;  it  was  tei'rible 
indeed.  It  was  not  more  than  a  quarter  of  an  hour  when  my  apprentice, 
Roger  Gadsden,  was  very  ill,  in  a  similar  way  to  myself.  "While  we  were 
sick  I  was  repeatedly  in  the  parlour  and  the  back  yard.  My  son  was  up 
and  down  stairs  at  intervals  ;  Gadsden,  I  believe,  was  in  the  kitchen  below. 
The  prisoner  gave  no  assistance.  We  were  all  alarmed  :  but  it  vv'as  dis- 
covei'ed  that  she  did  not  appear  concerned  at  our  situation.  I  did  not 
observe  the  prisoner  eat  any  of  the  dumplings.  I  had  a  suspicion  of  arsenic, 
and  made  a  search  tlie  next  morning.  I  then  observed  in  the  pan,  in 
which  the  dumplings  had  been  mixed,  that  there  was  a  wliite  powder,  un- 
like flour,  and  I  retained  it  in  my  possession  until  I  gave  it  into  the  hands 
of  Mr.  Marsliall.  Arsenic  had  been  kept  in  the  drawer  in  the  office,  tied  up 
in  a  paper  very  tightly,  and  labelled  "  Arsenic,  poison,"  in  large  characters. 
I  saw  the  parcel  there  on  the  7th  of  March,  but  not  since  that  time.  It 
was  missed  about  a  fortnight  before  the  21st  of  March.  The  prisoner  mav 
have  seen  the  parcel,  as  she  usually  resorted  to  the  drawer  for  paper  to 
light  her  fires.  After  dinner  I  remarked  that  tlie  knives  with  which  the 
dumplings  had  been  cut  had  changed  colour.  They  turned  black  and  they 
still  remain  so.  I  spoke  to  the  prisoner  about  the  dumplings  on  the  Wed- 
nesday, and  I  asked  her  how  she  came  to  put  anything  into  them  so  hurt- 
ful, but  she  answered  that  it  was  not  in  anything  which  she  had  prepared, 
but  in  the  milk  which  Sarah  Peer  had  brought  in,  and  with  which  her 
mistress  had  ordered  her  to  make  the  sauce.  That  milk  had  been  used  in 
the  sauce  only.  The  dumplings  had  been  mixed  with  tlie  milk  which  had 
been  left  at  breakfast. 

Roger  Gadsden  said,  I  am  an  apprentice  to  Mr.  Turner.  I  remember 
seeing  the  packet  of  arsenic  in  the  drawer,  and  I  missed  it  a  day  or  two 
after  the  7th  of  March.  On  Tuesday,  the  21st  of  March,  I  went  into  the 
kitchen  between  three  and  four  o'clock,  and  I  observed  a  plate  on  the  table, 
on  which  were  a  dumpling  and  a  half.  I  had  dined  at  two  o'clock,  but  I 
took  up  a  knife  and  fork,  and  was  going  to  eat  the  dumpling,  when  the 
prisoner  exclaimed,  "  Gadsden,  do  not  eat  that ;  it  is  cold  and  heavy  ;  it 
will  do  you  no  good."  I  ate  a  piece  about  the  size  of  a  walnut,  and  there 
being  some  sauce  in  the  boat,  I  sopped  it  up  with  a  piece  of  bread  and  ate 
it.  I  then  went  into  the  office,  and  Mr.  Turner  came  there  in  about  ten 
minutes  after,  and  said  he  was  very  ill.  About  ten  minutes  after  that 
I  was  taken  ill,  but  not  so  ill  as  to  vomit.  I  was  sent  off  for  Mr. 
Turner's  mother.  I  was  very  sick  going  and  coming — I  thought  I  should 
die.  The  prisoner  had  made  yeast  dumjilings  for  supper  the  niffht  before  : 
I  and  Peer  and  the  prisoner  partook  of  them  :  they  were  quite  different 
from  these  dumplings  in  point  of  colour  and  weight,  and  very  good. 

Margaret  Turner  sworn. — I  was  sent  for.  When  I  arrived  I  found  my 
husband,  son,  and  daughter,  extremely  ill.  The  prisoner,  very  soon  after 
I  was  tliere,  was    ill,   and   vomiting.     I   exclaimed   to  her,  "  Oh,  these 


■^72  THK    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

devilish  dumplings  !"  supposing  they  had  done  the  mischief  She  said,  "  Not 
the  dumplings,  but  the  milk,  madam."  I  asked  her  "  What  milk  ?"  She 
said,  "  The  halfpenny-worth  of  milk  that  Sally  fetched,  to  make  the 
sauce."  She  said  my  daughter  made  the  sauce.  I  said,  "  That  cannot 
be  ;  it  could  not  be  the  sauce."  She  said,  "  Yes ;  Gadsden  ate  a  very 
little  bit  of  dumpling,  not  bigger  than  a  nut ;  but  licked  up  three  parts  of 
a  boat  of  sauce  with  a  bit  of  bread." 

Mrs.  Turner,  jun.,  being  called,  said — "  The  sauce  was  made  with  the 
milk  brouglit  by  Sarah  Peer.     I  mixed  it,  and  left  it  for  her  to  make." 

Robert  Gr(>gson  Turner  sworn. — I  partook  of  the  dumplings  at  dinner  ; 
I  ate  none  of  the  sauce  whatever.  Soon  after  dinner  I  was  taken  ill :  I 
first  felt  an  inclination  to  be  sick ;  I  then  felt  a  strong  heat  across  my 
chest.  I  was  extremely  sick ;  I  was  exactly  as  my  fiither  and  wife  were. 
I  had  eaten  a  dumpling  and  a  half,  and  I  suffered  more  than  any  other 
person.  I  should  presume  that  the  symptoms  were  such  as  would  be  pro- 
duced by  poison. 

Sarah  Peer  sworn. — I  have  been  servant  to  Mrs.  Turner  near  eleven 
months.  I  recollect  the  warning  given  to  the  prisoner  some  time  after  she 
came.  After  that  I  heard  her  say  she  should  not  like  Mr.  or  Mrs.  Robert 
Turner  any  more.  On  the  21st  of  March  I  went  for  some  milk  after  two 
o'clock,  after  I  had  dined  with  the  prisoner  on  beef-steak  pie.  I  had  no 
concern  whatever  in  making  the  dough  for  the  dumplings,  or  in  making  the 
sauce.  I  was  not  in  the  kitchen  when  the  dough  was  made:  I  never 
meddled  with  it,  or  put  anything  to  it ;  I  never  was  in  the  kitchen  after  I 
w^ent  up  to  make  the  beds,  a  quarter  after  eleven,  imtil  dinner  time.  I 
had  permission  to  go  out  that  afternoon,  directly  after  I  took  up  the 
dumplings,  I  went  out  directly.  I  came  home  at  nine  o'clock  exactly.  I 
ate  none  of  the  dumplings  myself.  In  eating  the  beef-steak  pie,  I  ate  some 
of  the  crust.  I  was  not  at  all  ill.  I  had  eaten  some  dumplings  she  had 
made  the  night  before :  I  never  tasted  any  better.  They  were  all  made 
out  of  the  same  flour.     I  had  no  difference  with  my  mistress  at  any  time. 

Cross-examined  hy  Mr.  Alley. — I  had  occasionally  quarrelled  with  the 
prisoner.  I  went  sometimes  to  visit  my  friends,  but  it  was  generally  on 
Sundays.  I  never  went  on  a  week-day  except  on  this  occasion.  I  know 
nothing  of  the  drawer  in  which  the  arsenic  was.  The  paper  which  I  used 
for  lighting  fires  was  kept  in  the  dining-room.  I  never  went  to  the  drawer 
in  the  office,  nor  did  I  ever  see  or  hear  of  any  poison  being  kept  there. 

An  officer  of  Ilatton  Garden  and  the  brewer's  man  were  then  successively 
exam.ined.  The  first  proved  that  on  his  apprehending  the  prisoner,  she 
declared  that  she  thought  the  poison  must  have  been  in  the  yeast,  as  she 
saw  a  red  settlement  in  it  after  she  had  used  it,  and  the  second  stated  that 
the  yeast  was  good,  and  that  he  delivered  it  to  the  girl  Peer. 

Mr.  John  Marshall,  a  surgeon,  was  then  sworn,  and  he  stated  that  on 
his  being  called  in  to  Mr.  Orlibar  Turner's  family  ho  found  them  all  labour- 
ing under  symptoms  of  having  taken  arsenic,  and  that  the  prisoner  was 
also  ill,  and  exhibited  similar  symptoms.  On  the  following  day  he  saw  a 
pan,  and  on  his  examining  its  contents  he  found  them  to  contain  arsenic. 
He  had  also  examined  the  yeast  which  was  left  and  the  flour  tub,  and  they 
were  both  devoid  of  arsenic.     The  poison  being  cut  would  blacken  the  knife. 

The  case  for  the  prosecution  being  closed,  the  prisoner  made  the  follow- 
ing defence ; — 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  573 

"  I  am  truly  innocent  of  the  whole  charge  ;  I  am  innocent ;  indeed  I  am. 
I  liked  my  place,  and  was  very  comfortable.  Gadsden  behaved  improperly 
to  me  :  my  mistress  came  and  saw  me  undressed ;  she  said  she  did  not  like 
it;  I  said  '  Ma'am,  it  is  Gadsden  that  has  taken  a  liberty  with  me.'  Trie 
next  morning  I  said,  '  I  hope  you  do  not  think  anything  of  what  passed 
last  night.'  She  was  in  a  great  passion,  and  said  she  would  not  put  up 
with  it ;  1  was  to  go  away  directly.  I  did  not  look  upon  Mrs.  Turner  as 
my  mistress,  but  upon  the  old  lady.  In  the  evening  the  old  lady  came  to 
town  ;  I  said,  '  I  am  going  away  to-night ;'  Mrs.  Turner  said,  '  Do  not 
think  any  more  about  it ;  I  don't.'  She  asked  Mrs.  Robert  Turner  if  she 
was  willing  for  me  to  go.  She  said  '  No,  she  thought  no  more  about  it.' 
As  to  my  master  saying  I  did  not  assist  him,  I  was  ton  ill.  I  had  no  con- 
cern with  that  drawer  at  all ;  when  1  wanted  a  piece  of  paper  I  always 
asked  for  it." 

The  prisoner  called  five  witnesses,  who  gave  her  an  excellent  character 
for  integrity,  sobriety,  cheerfulness,  and  humanity.  One  of  them  was  pro- 
ceeding to  state  an  accidental  conversation  wliicli  he  had  with  the  prisoner 
two  days  after  slie  had  ordered  the  yeast,  wherein  she  declared  herself 
happy  and  contented  with  her  situation,  and  pleased  with  her  master  and 
mistress ;  but  the  recorder  stopped  him,  saying  it  was  not  evidence. 

A\''hilst  tlie  trial  was  proceeding,  William  Penning,  the  father  of  the 
prisoner,  went  to  a  public-house,  and  got  a  person  (for  he  was  too  agitated 
himself)  to  write  on  a  slip  of  paper,  that  on  the  iJlst  of  March  he  went  to 
Mr.  Turner's,  his  daughter  having  sent  for  him  in  tlie  morning,  and  that 
Sarah  Peer  told  him  Eliza  had  gone  with  a  message  for  her  mistress,  whilst, 
at  the  same  time,  she  was  in  agonies  below-stairs  from  the  eflect  of  having 
eaten  of  the  dumplings.  He  then  went  home,  and  thought  no  more 
about  it. 

When  this  note  was  written,  it  was  handed  to  IMr.  Alley,  who,  standing 
upon  tiptoe,  showed  it  to  the  recorder,  who  leaned  over  and  looked  at  it, 
but  no  further  notice  was  taken  of  it. 

Other  efforts  were  made  by  the  prisoner  to  produce  witnesses,  but  as 
they  were  not  in  attendance,  the  court  said  that  it  was  too  late,  and  that 
the  trial  could  not  be  suspended  for  their  coming. 

The  recorder  then  proceeded  to  sum  up  the  case,  and  the  jury  in  a  few 
minutes  brought  in  a  verdict  of  guilty.  The  recorder  having  then  passed 
sentence  of  death  upon  her,  the  miserable  girl  was  carried  from  the  bar 
convulsed  with  agony,  and  uttering  frightful  screams. 

Few  cases  ever  excited  greater  interest  than  that  of  Eliza  Fenning  ;  and 
we  are  happy  in  being  able  to  state  that  her  religious  principles  were 
correct,  and  her  professions  sincere.  Through  life  she  was  distinguished  by 
a  superiority  of  intellect,  and  a  propriety  of  deportment,  which  could 
hardly  be  reconciled  with  the  depravity  of  which  she  was  accused.  In 
person  she  was  short  of  stature,  but  of  the  most  perfect  symmetry;  while 
her  countenance  evinced  a  heart  at  ease,  and  a  mind  at  once  intellectual  and 
lively.  She  had  been  before  the  fatal  transaction  betrothed  to  a  young 
man,  to  whom  she  appears  to  have  been  sincerely  attached. 

After  the  unfortunate  girl's  conviction  she  was  induced  to  apply  to  the 
Crown  for  a  remission  of  the  sentence  of  death,  and  sent  a  petition  to  the 
prince  regent.  She  next  addressed  the  lord  cliancellor,  to  whom  she  sent  a 
statement  of  all  the  exculpatory  circumstanctes  of  her  case.     She  also  sent  a 


574  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENPAR. 

letter  to  Lord  Sidmouth,  and  another  to  her  late  master,  requesting  him  to 
sign  a  petition  in  her  favour,  witli  which  however  he  refused  to  comply. 

Several  gentlemen  interested  themselves  in  the  fate  of  the  poor  girl  ;  and 
Mr.  Montagu,  of  Lincoln's  Inn,  waited  on  the  recorder,  offering  to  produce 
evidence  of  a  member  of  Mr.  Turner's  family,  who  was  insane,  having 
declared  that  he  would  poison  the  family ;  but  the  recorder  assured  him 
that  the  production  of  such  evidence  would  be  wholly  useless. 

Tlie  niglit  before  her  execution  a  meeting  of  gentlemen  took  place  in  Mr. 
Newman's  apartments  in  Newgate,  at  which  Mr.  Gibson,  of  the  house  of 
Corbyn  and  Co.,  chemists,  No.  300,  Holborn,  stated  that  Robert  Gregson 
Turner,  in  the  month  of  September  or  October,  called  at  their  house  in  a 
wild  and  deranged  state,  requesting  to  be  put  under  restraint,  otherwise  he 
declared  he  should  destroy  himself  and  wife.  Mr.  Gibson  also  stated  that 
it  was  well  known  in  the  family  that  Robert  Turner  was  occasionally 
subject  to  such  violent  and  strange  conduct. 

With  this  information  Mr.  Gibson,  accompanied  by  a  clerk  from  the 
secretary  of  state's  office,  waited  on  the  recorder,  requesting  that  the 
unfortunate  girl  might  be  respited  to  admit  of  investigation  ;  but  all  was  of 
no  avail,  and  in  twelve  hours  after,  Eliza  Fenning  was  executed  ! 

From  the  moment  the  poor  girl  was  first  charged  with  the  poisoning, 
however  or  by  whomsoever  questioned,  she  never  faltered  in  her  denial  of 
the  crime,  and  rather  courted  than  shunned  an  investigation  of  her  case. 
So  many  circumstances,  which  had  developed  themselves  subsequently  to 
the  trial,  had  been  communicated  to  the  secretary  of  state  by  the  gentle- 
men who  interested  themselves  in  her  favour  (among  whom  were  some 
of  great  respectability),  that  a  reprieve  was  confidently  expected  to  the 
last :  and  the  order  for  her  execution,  four  months  after  her  conviction,  was 
received  with  very  great  surprise. 

On  Tuesday  morning,  the  25th  July,  she  took  her  last  farewell  of  her 
father,  who,  by  the  firmness  of  his  manner,  exemplified  the  courage  he 
wished  his  child  to  sustain  upon  the  scaffold  :  but  with  her  mother  the 
parting  scene  was  heart-rending. 

On  the  fatal  morning,  the  26th  July,  1815,  she  slept  till  four  o'clock, 
when  she  arose,  and,  after  carefully  washing  herself,  and  spending  some 
time  in  prayer,  she  dressed  herself  neatly  in  a  white  muslin  gown  and  cap. 
About  eight  o'clock  she  walked  steadily  to  the  spot  where  criminals  are 
bound  ;  and,  whilst  the  executioner  tied  her  hands — even  whilst  he  wound 
the  halter  round  her  waist — she  stood  erect  and  unmoved,  with  astonishing 
fortitude.  At  this  moment  a  gentleman  who  had  greatly  interested  himself 
in  her  behalf  adjured  her,  in  the  name  of  that  God  in  whose  presence  she 
was  about  to  appear,  if  she  knew  anything  of  the  crime  for  which  she  was 
about  to  suffer,  to  make  it  known  ;  when  she  replied  distinctly  and  clearly, 
"  Before  God  then,  I  die  innocent !"  The  question  was  again  put  by  the 
reverend  Mr.  Vazie,  as  well  as  by  the  ordinary,  and  finally  by  Oldfield, 
a  prisoner  who  suffered  with  her,  and  to  each  she  repeated  "  I  am  inno- 
cent." These  were  her  last  words ;  and  she  died  without  a  struggle,  at 
the  age  of  twenty-one. 

Her  miserable  parents,  on  application  for  her  body,  were  not  prepared  to 
pay  the  executioner's  fees  of  fourteen  shillings  and  sixpence :  but  having 
borrowed  the  money  witli  some  difficulty,  the  remains  of  their  daughter 
wire  handed  over  to  them. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  575 

We  h.ave  endeavoured  to  give  the  circumstances  of  tills  case  as  clearly 
and  with  as  little  prejudice  as  possihle,  but  we  should  not  do  our  duty,  if 
we  were  not  to  state  that  the  public  mind  was  much  inflamed  at  the 
execution  of  the  unhappy  prisoner.  Thousands  of  persons,  after  examining 
the  evidence  adduced  at  the  trial,  did  not  hesitate  to  express  their  opinions 
very  strongly  upon  the  subject  of  the  case  ;  and  many  of  the  lower  orders, 
apparently  convinced  of  the  innocence  of  the  sufferer,  assembled  in  front  of 
Mr.  Turner's  house,  in  Chancery-lane,  hooting  and  hissing,  and  otherwise 
expressing  their  indignation,  at  what  they  conceived  to  be  their  unjust 
prosecution  of  their  servant.  The  police  were  active  in  their  exertions  to 
suppress  the  tumult ;  and  an  affidavit  made  by  Davis,  a  turnkey  in 
Newgate,  was  industriously  circulated,  in  which  the  deponent  swore  that 
old  Penning  had  conjured  his  daughter,  when  she  went  upon  the  scaff'old, 
to  declare  her  innocence  :  a  counter  affidavit  of  the  father  of  the  wretched 
girl,  however,  was  produced  and  published,  and  the  assertion  of  the  jailer 
was  at  length  admitted  to  have  been  founded  upon  a  mistaken  interpreta- 
tion of  what  had  really  passed.  The  mob  continued  to  assemble  for  many 
days,  and  it  was  not  until  the  police  had  taken  very  vigorous  measures 
against  them,  that  they  were  finally  dispersed.  The  public  still  sympathised 
with  the  unliappy  parents  of  Eliza  Fenning,  and  a  subscription  was  entered 
into  for  their  benefit. 


JOSEPH    BLACKBURN. 

EXECUTED    FOR    FORGERY. 

The  particulars  of  tlie  melancholy  case  of  this  unfortunate  gentleman, 
will  be  best  described  by  the  report  of  his  trial  which  has  reached  us, 
which  took  place  at  York  on  the  18th  March  1815,  before  Sir  Simon 
Le  Blanc.  He  was  then  placed  at  the  bar  and  arraigned  on  two  indict- 
ments, charging  him  with  forging  and  counterfeiting  the  impression  of  a 
certain  stamp  or  die,  used  under  the  direction  of  the  Commissioners  of 
Stamps,  to  denote  the  payment  of  certain  duties  imposed  on  various  deeds 
and  other  securities,  on  vellum,  parchment,  or  paper,  and  also  with 
littering  the  same,  knowing  it  to  be  forced,  with  an  intent  to  defraud  the 
revenue  of  the  duties  imposed  on  such  stamped  vellum,  parchment,  or 
paper.  To  these  indictments  he  pleaded — Not  guilty.  Mr.  Blackburn 
was  then  arraigned  on  two  other  indictments,  charging  him  with  feloni- 
ously removing  stamps  from  executed  deeds,  and  affixing  them  upon 
others,  with  an  intent  to  defraud  the  revenue  ;  to  these  indictments  he  also 
pleaded — Not  guilty.  Pie  was  then  charged  in  another  indictment  with 
the  same  offi^nce,  jointly  with  Mr.  Thomas  Wainewright,  who  was  charged 
with  feloniously  aiding  and  assisting  in  this  illegal  removal  of  stamps.  To 
this  indictment  both  tlie  prisoners  severally  pleaded — Not  guilty. 

As  soon  as  the  jury  were  sworn,  Mr.  Wainewright,  at  the  suggestion  of 
the  counsel  for  the  prosecution,  retired  from  the  bar,  and  the  court  pro- 
ceeded to  the  trial  of  ]\Ir.  Blackburn,  on  one  of  the  capital  indictments  for 
forgery.  The  clerk  of  the  arraigns  read  the  indictment.  It  charged  the 
prisoner  v/ith  feloniously  forging,  and  counterfeiting  the  resemblance  of  a 
certain  stamp  or  die,  used  by  the  Commissioners  of  Stamps,  to  denote  the 
payment  of  duties  imposed  on  vellum,  parchment,  and  paper,  viz.  for  the 


576  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

payment  of  two  pounds,  imposed  by  the  48th  of  George  III.  on  mortwacre 
deeds,  with  intent  to  defraud  his  Majesty,  his  heirs,  or  successors.  Another 
count  in  the  indictment  charged  him  with  uttering  the  said  forged  stamps, 
knowing  the  same  to  be  false,  forged,  and  counterfeited,  with  the  like 
intent  to  defraud  his  Majesty,  his  heirs,  or  successors. 

The  counsel  for  the  crown  were,  Mr.  Park,  Mr.  Topping,  Mr.  Wailes, 
and  Mr.  Richardson. 

Tiie  counsel  for  the  prisoner — Mr.  Scarlett,  Mr.  Littledale,  and  Mr. 
Williams. 

Mr.  Park  opened  the  case  to  the  jury,  and  said, — I  am  counsel  against 
the  unfortunate  gentleman  now  at  the  bar.  This  is  a  prosecution  by  the 
Commissioners  of  Stamps,  who  in  the  discharge  of  their  professional  duty 
have  thought  it  incumbent  upon  them  to  institute  this  inquiry,  and  which 
indeed  they  could  not  have  omitted  to  do  without  a  gross  dereliction  of  the 
duty  they  owed  to  the  public.  They  have  no  interest  in  this  prosecution, 
and  whatever  be  the  result  of  this  day's  inquiry,  they  will  be  satisfied 
with  your  decision.  The  crime  imputed  to  the  prisoner  by  this  indict- 
ment, is  not  merely  calculated  to  defraud  the  public  revenue,  but  tends  to 
affect  the  security  of  the  property  of  individuals,  and  that  in  the  most 
serious  manner,  for  if  deeds,  or  other  written  instruments  for  the  transfer 
of  property,  have  afl&xed  to  them  forged  or  improper  stamps,  they  have  no 
validity,  and  convey  no  rights  to  the  parties  in  whose  favour  they  are 
executed.  This  consideration  must  at  once  impress  you  with  a  conviction 
of  the  great  importance  of  the  present  case  ;  as  the  conveyance  of  property 
by  instruments  the  most  solemn  known  to  the  law,  is  thereby  defeated, 
the  contract  becomes  invalid,  and  the  deed  by  which  it  was  intended  to  be 
effected,  of  no  possible  use.  Nor  is  it  too  much  to  say,  that  the  rights  of 
future  generations  may  be  affected  by  the  consequences  of  the  crime  imputed 
to  the  prisoner. 

It  is,  gentlemen,  with  the  most  unfeigned  concern,  that  I  have  risen  to 
address  you  on  the  present  occasion.  This  is  the  first  time,  during  a 
practice  of  thirty  years  at  the  bar,  that  it  has  fallen  to  my  lot  to  be 
concerned  in  a  prosecution  for  felony  against  any  person  with  whom  I 
have  had  any  personal  acquaintance.  Mr.  Blackburn  (the  prisoner)  I 
have  long  known ;  he  has  conducted  actions  in  which  I  have  been  engaged 
for  him,  and  others  in  which  I  have  been  retained  by  the  adverse  party  : 
and  though  when  I  first  heard  the  name  I  did  not  know  how  to  affix  it  to 
the  person,  yet  now,  when  (for  the  first  time  since  this  prosecution  has 
been  deyjending)  I  see  him,  I  find  that  I  know  the  gentleman  perfectly 
well.  We  at  the  bar  are,  however,  bound  to  aid  the  administration  of  the 
public  justice  of  the  country,  and  must  do  justice  to  the  country,  and  to 
the  crown,  on  whose  behalf  we  are  engaged,  and  cannot  shrink  from  the 
performance  of  our  professional  duty,  however  painful  to  our  feelings  the 
exercise  of  it  may  occasionally  be.  But  the  Government,  the  Commis- 
sioners of  Stamps,  and  those  who  on  their  account  conduct  this  prosecu- 
tion, are  very  far  from  having  any  wish  to  oppress  these  individuals ;  their 
only  desire  is,  that  justice  should  be  done  between  them  and  the  coimtry, 
and  this  justice  I  have  no  doiibt  will  be  done  by  you. 

If  the  prisoner  is  guilty  of  the  offence  imputed  to  him  by  this  indictment, 
his  crime  is  greater  than  that  of  any  otiier  individual,  because  there  is  no 
one  who  is  so  much  obliged  by  his  profession  to  undei-stand  the  principles 


THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  577 

of  morality.  The  very  first  rudiments  of  his  profession  must  have  rendered 
familiar  to  him  those  principles  of  justice  on  which  the  law  is  founded ; 
and  in  his  long  attendance  at  these  courts,  he  must  (in  addition  to  sound 
lessons  of  law)  have  heard  the  principles  of  moral  obligation  enfurced  by 
the  learned  judges  who  have  from  time  to  time  presided  here,  and  which 
ouorht  to  have  had  the  effect  of  rooting  them  in  his  mind. 

Having  made  these  few  prelimmary  observations,  I  shall  proceed  to  state 
the  nature  of  the  charge  against  the  prisoner,  and  the  evidence  by  which 
that  charge  is  meant  to  be  substantiated.  The  charge  against  tlie  prisoner 
is  that  of  having  forged,  or  caused  to  be  forged,  or  counterfeited,  the 
impression  of  a  certain  stamp  or  die,  used  by  the  commissioners  (appointed 
by  his  Majesty,  to  manage  the  duties  on  stamped  vellum,  parchment,  or 
paper)  to  denote  the  payment  of  a  certain  duty,  imposed  by  the  48th  of 
the  King,  on  mortgage  deeds,  which  are  laid  ad  valorem^  that  is,  in  a  ratio 
proportioned  to  the  money  secured  by  sucli  deeds.  Tlie  amount  of  tlie 
money  secured  by  the  deed  which  is  the  subject  of  this  inquiry,  is  180/., 
and  the  stamp  required  for  this  sum,  must  be  of  the  value  of  21.  ;  for  in  the 
schedule  atlixed  to  the  act,  it  states,  that  from  150^.  to  a  sum  not  exceeding 
200/.  the  duty  shall  be  '21,  Tlie  subject-matter  of  this  prosecution  is,  that 
in  order  to  evade  the  duty  imposed  by  this  act,  tlie  prisoner  affixed  a  forged 
and  counterfeit  stamp  to  an  instrument,  purporting  to  be  a  mortgage  deed; 
and  also  that  he  uttered  or  publislied  the  same,  well  knowing  it  to  be  false, 
forged,  or  counterfeited.  The  penal  act  on  which  this  prosecution  is 
founded,  is  an  act  of  tlie  5:2nd  year  of  tlie  king,  intituled,  "  An  act  foi 
amending  and  reducing  into  one  act,  the  provisions  contained  in  any  laws 
now  in  force,  imposing  the  penalty  of  death,  for  any  act  done  in  breach  of 
or  in  resistance  to  any  part  of  the  laws,  for  collecting  His  Majesty's  revenue 
in  Great  Britain."  In  this  statute,  cap.  140,  section  7,  it  is  enacted,  "that 
if  any  person  shall,  after  the  passing  of  this  act,  forge  or  counterfeit,  or 
cause  to  be  forged  or  counterfeited,  any  mark,  stamp,  die,  or  plate,  which 
in  pursuance  of  any  act  or  acts  of  parliament,  shall  have  been  provided, 
made  or  used,  by  or  under  tlie  direction  of  the  commissioners,  appointed 
to  manage  the  duties  on  stamped  vellum,  parchments,  or  paper,  or  by  or 
under  the  direction  of  any  other  person  or  persons,  legally  authorised  in 
that  behalf,  for  expressing  or  denoting  any  duty  or  duties,  or  any  part 
thereof,  which  shall  be  under  the  care  and  management  of  the  said  com- 
missioners, or  if  ?,ny  person  shall utter,  or  sell,  or  expose  to  sale,  any  vellum, 
parchment,  or  paper,  &c.  having  thereupon  the  impression  of  any  such 
forged  or  counterfeited  mark,  every  person  so  offending,  and  being  thereof 
convicted,  shall  be  adjudged  guilty  of  felony,  and  shall  suffer  as  a  felon, 
without  benefit  of  clergy."  I  will  now  lay  before  you  the  evidence  by 
whicli  we  propose  to  establish  this  charge  against  the  prisoner. 

A  person  of  the  name  of  Taylor,  being  desirous  of  borrowing  upon  the 
security  of  an  estate  the  sum  of  180/.,  of  a  Friendly  Benefit  Society,  called 
the  Clothiers'  Society,  sent  tlie  title  deeds  of  his  estate  to  the  office  of  the 
prisoner,  who  as  you  will  have  already  collected  is  an  attorney  ;  to  enable 
him  to  make  out  the  necessary  security,  and  who  accordingly  prepared 
a  mortgage  deed.  This  deed  bears  date  the  13th  of  September  1812; 
but  whether  it  was  executed  at  that  time  we  do  not  know,  but  it  was 
executed  some  time  before  February  in  the  ensuing  year,  because  we  find 
that  on  the  12th  February  it  was  registered  at  the  proper  office  at  Wake^ 

VOL,   I.  4  E 


578  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

field.  At  what  period  the  stamp  upon  tliis  deed,  which  we  allege  to  be  a 
forged  one,  was  affixed  to  this  deed  we  have  no  means  of  proving,  but  it 
must  have  been  previous  to  its  passing  into  the  hands  of  Thompson  the 
steward,  who  deposited  it  in  the  box  of  the  society,  where  it  remained 
until  it  was  taken  out  for  the  purpose  of  this  inquiry.  That  this  is  the 
deed  delivered  by  the  prisoner  to  Thompson,  I  shall  prove  beyond  all 
doubt.  Gentlemen,  I  shall  prove  to  your  entire  satisfaction,  that  the 
stamp  affixed  to  tnis  deed  is  a  forged  one,  and  we  sliall  also  offer  the 
strongest  evidence  to  convince  you  it  was  forged  by  the  prisoner,  and 
uttered  by  him,  knowing  it  to  be  forged.  But  before  I  enter  directly  upon 
tliis  proof,  it  may  be  proper  to  state  to  you  something  of  the  manner  in 
which  the  business  of  the  Stamp-office  is  managed,  particularly  with 
respect  to  the  state  and  manner  in  which  stamps  are  issued  from  it,  but 
wliich  statement  I  shall  prove  by  evidence.  It  will  be  clearly  proved  to 
you,  that  stamps  are  not  issued  from  the  office  in  detached  labels,  to  be 
afterwards  affixed  to  the  diffi^rent  instruments,  but  are  stamped  upon  the 
paper  or  parchment  on  which  the  instrument  or  deed  is  to  be  prepared, 
and  the  imjiression  is  made  with  an  engine  of  such  power,  that  the  impres- 
sion made  by  it  is  visible  on  the  back  of  the  parchment.  This  is  a  circum- 
stance of  some  importance  to  be  attended  to  in  this  inquiry.  I  would  also 
observe  to  you  that  on  all  the  stamped  parchments,  issued  by  the  Stamp- 
office  in  London,  the  words  "  This  Indenture,"  are  pi'inted  from  an  engraved 
plate  in  large  characters.  These  circumstances  will  be  fully  proved  by  the 
evidence  of  the  gentlemen  from  the  Stamp-office,  whom  I  shall  call  before 
you.  The  prisoner  did  not  choose  to  have  his  skins  from  the  Stamp-office, 
but  provided  them  himself,  and  employed  an  engraver  in  Leeds,  to  engrave 
him  a  plate,  or  rather  two  plates  with  the  words  "  This  Indenture,"  in 
characters  resembling  those  issued  by  the  Stamp-office,  and  from  these 
plates  he  had  impressions  taken  upon  skins  at  various  times.  I  do  not 
mention  this  with  a  view  to  prejudice  the  prisoner,  or  to  insinuate  anything 
to  his  disadvantage,  because  he  had  a  right  to  prepare  his  own  skins,  and 
send  them  to  be  stamped,  if  he  chose  it ;  but  I  mention  it  because  it  will 
be  necessary  to  explain  part  of  the  evidence  which  I  shall  lay  before  you, 
and  to  show  the  manner  in  which  (as  we  allege)  the  offi^nce  imputed  to 
the  prisoner  has  been  committed. 

Gentlemen,  the  whole  of  the  stamp  affixed  to  this  deed  is  not  false  and 
counterfeited ;  the  impression  of  the  king's  arms  and  the  "  device,"  are 
part  of  the  genuine  stamp,  but  the  words,  "  Two  Pounds,"  which  denote 
the  value  of  it,  are  forged,  and  tlie  way  in  which  we  account  for  it  is  this  ; 
we  say  that  the  stamp  affixed  to  this  deed  has  been  taken  from  some  other 
deed,  and  affixed  by  some  cement  to  this,  and  that  the  former  denominating 
words  have  been  obliterated,  and  the  words  "  Two  Pounds,"  impressed 
by  some  die  or  stamp,  resembling  that  used  for  denoting  the  duty  of  two 
pounds  by  the  commissioners  of  stamps.  Gentlemen,  I  state  it  without 
hesitation,  as  the  law,  and  I  am  sure  his  lordship  concurs  with  me,  that 
the  forgery  of  any  material  part  of  any  stamp  or  die,  or  other  instrument, 
is  as  much  a  forgery,  as  if  the  Avhole  of  it  was  actually  forged:  and  the 
words  which  denote  the  value  of  the  stamp,  must  imquestionably  be  con- 
sidered as  a  most  material  part  of  it,  and  the  person  wlio  has  done  this,  ov 
aided  the  doing  of  it,  or  caused  it  to  be  done,  is  guilty  of  forgery.  That 
this  stamp  was  not  affixed  to  the  deed  at  the  Stamp-office,  and  in  the  usual 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  579 

manner  may  be  made  evident  to  an  inexperienced  eye  ;  for  it  will  be  proved 
to  you,  that  those  parchments  which  have  passed  throuoh  tlie  stampinor 
engine  have  a  visible  impression  of  the  stamp  on  the  back  of  the  skin, 
which  is  not  the  case  in  this  deed  ;  the  stamp  of  which  has  been  transferred 
from  some  other  instrument.  These  circumstances  would  alone  form  a 
strong  presumption  against  tlie  prisoner  :  but  the  next  branch  of  evidence 
I  shall  adduce,  will  convert  this  presumption  into  certainty  ;  for  I  shall 
prove  to  you,  that  he  employed  an  engraver  at  Leeds  to  make  him  thirteen 
or  fourteen  dies,  suitable  for  the  purpose  of  making  any  impression,  resem- 
bling the  words  which  denote  the  value  that  are  upon  the  stamps  used  by 
the  commissioners.  I  have  the  impression  from  those  dies  now  in  my 
hand,  and  it  will  be  proved  to  you  that  the  numerals  and  words  "  II 
Pounds,"  impressed  upon  the  stamp  of  the  deed,  which  I  will  lay  before 
the  court,  is  an  impression  from  one  of  those  dies.  These  dies,  gentlemen, 
were  found  in  the  possession  of  the  prisoner,  under  the  circumstances  I 
shall  shortly  state  to  you.  When  the  rumour  of  these  transactions  first 
came  out,  the  house  of  the  prisoner  was  searched  by  the  officers  of  justice  ; 
the  prisoner  was  not  at  home,  but  in  a  room  which  was  locked  and  broken 
open  by  the  officers,  was  found  upon  a  table  a  box  containing  these  dies ; 
and  on  a  further  search,  a  number  of  old  deeds  were  found,  from  which 
the  stamps  bad  been  cut  off,  and  also  a  number  of  articles  material 
for  throwing  light  on  this  subject,  which  will  be  produced  to  you. 
Perhaps  it  may  not  be  necessary  to  point  out  to  j-ou  the  manner  in  which 
the  prisoner  would  be  benefited  by  this  transfer,  and  forgery  of  stamps. 
But  as  it  will  complete  the  statement,  I  will  just  add  that  by  taking  the 
stamps  from  old  instruments,  and  affixing  them  upon  new  ones,  he  was 
enabled  to  put  into  his  pocket  the  whole  amount  of  the  duty,  as  he  would 
of  course  charge  the  nominal  value  of  the  stamps  to  his  clients,  and  where 
the  denominating  value  was  not  for  the  sum  he  wished,  we  presume  that 
it  might  be  changed  by  the  use  of  these  dies.  I  think  I  have  before  stated, 
that  we  shall  prove  the  uttering  of  this  deed  to  Mr.  Thompson.  This, 
gentlemen,  is  a  short  detail  of  the  circumstances,  from  which  we  contend, 
that  you  must  come  to  the  conclusion,  that  the  prisoner  forged,  or  procured 
to  be  forged,  this  stamp,  and  that  it  was  uttered  by  him,  or  with  his 
privity,  he  knowing  it  to  be  forged.  It  is  for  you,  gentlemen,  after  hearing 
the  evidence  which  shall  be  laid  before  you,  on  the  part  of  the  prosecution, 
and  for  the  prisoner,  with  the  observations  and  recapitulation  of  the  learned 
judge,  to  decide  iipon  his  guilt  or  innocence,  and  with  your  decision  the 
prosecutors  will  be  satisfied.  If,  having  heard  the  whole  of  the  case,  any 
reasonable  doubt  remains  upon  your  minds,  the  prisoner  ought  to  have  the 
benefit  of  that  doubt,  and  in  that  case  you  ought  to  acquit  him  ;  but  if 
you  find  the  circumstances  which  go  to  prove  the  guilt  of  tlie  prisoner  so 
strong  and  well  connected,  as  fully  to  satisfy  you  upon  the  subject,  it  will 
then  be  a  duty  you  owe  to  your  oaths,  to  God,  and  your  country,  to  find 
the  prisoner  guilty.  The  prisoner,  to  use  the  impressive  language  of  the 
law,  has  put  himself  upon  God  and  his  country — which  country  you  are  ; 
and  I  fttl  convinced  tliat  your  verdict  will  be  such  as  will  be  just  to  the 
prisoner,  and  to  the  public  justice  of  the  country. 

AVitnesses  were  then  called,  who  proved  the  material  circimistances 
related  by  the  learned  counsel  in  his  opening  speech,  as  to  the  drawing 
the  deed,  and  depositing  it  with  the  steward  of  the  society.     The  evidence 


580  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

as  to  the  practice   of  the  Stamp-office,  and  the  forgery  of  the  stamp  in 
question,  was  as  follows  : — 

]VIr.  Abraham  Smith  stated,  that  he  was  one  of  the  stampers  at  the 
Stamp-office,  in  London,  and  had  been  in  that  situation  sixteen  or  seven- 
teen years.  Being  requested  to  state  the  manner  in  which  the  operation  of 
stampinoi-  was  performed,  he  said,  that  when  the  stamping  fur  the  day  was 
concluded,  the  dies  were  put  into  strong-boxes,  placed  in  the  strong-room 
and  locked  up.  Tiiey  were  taken  into  the  room  and  delivered  out  to  the 
stampers  by  one  of  the  clerks  of  the  office,  who  kept  the  key  of  the  room- 
No  labels  were  ever  on  any  occasion  stamped  without  being  attached  to 
the  parchment,  and  of  course  no  stamps  could  ever  be  issued  detached 
from  the  parchment  or  paper  on  which  the  instrument  was  intended  to 
be  executed.  Tlie  die  for  the  two-pound  stamps  had  not  been  varied ;  the 
die  was  fixed  in  an  engine,  which  struck  the  impression  with  great  force. 
On  lookino-  at  the  deed,  witness  stated  that  he  had  no  hesitation  in  saying, 
that  the  numeral  "  II  "  and  the  word  "  Pounds"  were  false  and  counterfeit, 
and  wexe  not  a  genuine  impression  from  the  die  used  by  the  commissioners; 
but  that  the  device  of  the  King's  arms  and  the  rest  of  the  stamps  were 
genuine.  Witness  then  proceeded  to  point  out  the  difference  between  the 
impression  of  the  genuine  stamp,  and  that  affixed  to  the  die  in  question, 
which  partly  consisted  in  a  variation  of  the  semicircle,  and  in  a  further 
difference  of  the  depth  and  entire  appearance  of  the  denominating  part  of 
the  stamp  in  question.  This  difference,  he  said,  arose  from  the  circum- 
stance that  in  the  genuine  stamp  the  whole  impression  was  struck  at 
once,  both  the  King's  arms  and  the  letters,  but  that  in  that  on  the  deed 
now  in  his  hands,  it  was  evident  that  the  numeral  letters  "  II "  had  been 
impressed  by  one  instrument,  and  the  word  "  Pounds"  by  another;  and 
from  which  the  original  words  denoting  the  value  had  been  by  some  means 
erased.  Witness  then  examined  the  back  of  the  deed,  and  said,  it  was  clear 
that  the  stamp  had  not  been  impressed  upon  it  at  the  office,  because  if  it 
had,  the  impression  would  have  penetrated  the  parchment,  and  made  an 
indention  on  the  back.  Upon  the  whole,  witness  stated  it  as  his  decided 
opinion  that  the  stamp  shown  him  was  f^ilse  and  counterfeit.  The  witness 
was  cross-examined  by  Mr.  Scarlett,  and  admitted  that  the  impression  of  the 
King's  arms,  and  all  parts  of  it,  with  the  exception  of  the  words  denoting 
the  value,  were  genuine  ;  and  that  the  stamp  had  undoubtedly  at  some 
time  or  other  been  issued  from  the  office. 

William  Kappen,  Esq.  stated  that  he  was  secretary  to  the  Stamp-office, 
and  had  in  October  last  been  employed  twenty-four  or  twenty-five  years 
in  that  office,  though  not  the  whole  of  the  time  in  the  situation  he  then 
occupied.  He  was  perfectly  acquainted  with  the  various  dies  used  by  the 
office,  and  the  manner  in  which  tlie  general  business  of  the  office  was  con- 
ducted. The  deed  being  handed  to  him  he  examined  it  with  great  attention, 
and  then  stated  that  the  "  II  "  and  the  word  "  Pounds  "  were  not  impressed 
bv  the  stamp  used  by  the  commissioners,  but  that  the  rest  of  the  stamp 
was  genuine.  Witness  then  produced  a  paper  wiiich  contained  an  impres- 
sion from  the  II  Pound  stamp  used  by  the  commissioners,  which  he  stated 
to  liave  been  sstruck  in  his  presence,  and  pointed  out  to  the  court  and  jury 
the  respects  in  which  the  impression  of  the  forged  stamp  differed  from  that 
produced  by  him.  Witness  having  completed  his  description,  said  he  had 
not  the  least  hesitation  in  stating  that  that  part  of  the  stamp  shown  to  him 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE  CALENDAR.  581 

which  denoted  the  value,  was  false  and  counterfeit :  he  also  stated,  that  the 
back  of  the  deed  bore  no  resemblance  to  the  impression  of  the  stampa 
struck  at  the  office,  which  made  an  impression  through  tlie  parcliment 
perfectly  \isible  on  the  other  side  of  the  skin,  being  impressed  with  great 
force  by  the  engine,  which  completed  the  wliole  of  the  stamp  at  once. 
Witness  was  cross-examined  by  Mr.  Littledale.  He  stated  that  the  com- 
missioners continued  the  use  of  the  dies  in  these  cases  where  they  were 
applicable  after  any  augmentation  of  the  duties,  and  this  they  were  em- 
powered to  do  by  act  of  parliament.  After  any  augmentation  of  the 
duties,  the  commissioners  had  impressions  taken  of  all  the  dies  in  use,  from 
which  they  selected  such  as  were  applicable  to  the  new  duties,  and 
impressions  of  these  were  struck  in  tlie  presence  of  the  commissioners,  or 
tlie  major  part  of  them.  These  impressions  were  put  into  a  book,  and 
signed  by  the  officers  employed  in  that  department,  and  the  dies  from 
which  these  impressions  were  taken,  continued  to  be  used  until  some 
further  alteration  took  place  in  the  duties.  The  office  never  sold  stamps 
to  private  individuals,  but  they  were  furnished  to  the  public  through  the 
medium  of  the  stamp  distributors.  Ho  also  stated,  that  no  stamp  was 
ever  printed  on  any  separate  label,  detached  from  the  papers  or  parchment 
on  which  the  instrument  was  to  be  executed.  But  he  added,  that  if  any 
])erson  should  send  an  unexecuted  parchment  or  instrument  to  stamp,  to 
the  head  office,  it  would  be  stamped  upon  the  payment  of  the  proper 
duty. 

Evidence  as  to  the  discovery  of  the  forged  dies,  in  the  office  of  the  pri- 
soner, was  next  adduced  ;  and  on  the  cross-examination  of  the  witnesses,  an 
effort  was  made  to  show  that  a  person  named  Jacques,  who  had  been  the 
informant  against  the  prisoner,  might  have  been  implicated  in  placing  the 
dies  in  the  position  in  which  they  were  found,  and  that  lie  might  have 
been  induced  to  take  that  course,  in  consequence  of  a  threatened  prosecu- 
tion by  the  prisoner,  in  whose  service  he  had  been  as  clerk,  for  embez- 
zlement. Two  witnesses  were  called,  who  were  engravers,  and  wlio  had 
prepared  the  copper  plates  of  "  This  Indenture,"  printed  on  tlie  deeds,  and 
also  the  dies  for  counterfeiting  the  words  "  II  Pounds. '  Mr.  Topham, 
the  engraver,  who  was  last  called,  however,  failed  in  proving  very 
distinctly,  that  the  impressions  on  the  stamp  alleged  to  be  forged  were 
taken  from  the  dies  which  he  had  prepared.  The  officers  of  stamps 
expressed  their  belief  that  they  were  so  taken  from  the  dies.  Upon  the 
jiroduction  of  the  detached  stamps  found  at  the  prisoner's  house,  it  was 
stated  that  in  their  present  state  they  were  useless,  because  although  the 
Stamp-office  returned  the  value  of  stamps  which  were  spoiled,  yet  they 
would  not  do  so  unless  when  attached  to  the  parchment.  Those  stamps 
were  also  proved  to  have  been  detached  from  the  original  deeds  with  some 
object,  as  they  were  found  enclosed  in  parcels  in  papers,  with  indorsements 
in  the  prisoner's  hand-writing,  denoting  their  amount  and  value. 
The  evidence  for  the  prosecution  having  been  concluded, 
Mr.  Scarlett  rose  and  said,  "  My  Lord,  I  have  tv^'O  objections,  which  I 
will  submit  to  the  consideration  of  your  lordship,  which  will,  as  I  conceive, 
be  fatal  to  this  prosecution.  There  are  two  facts  which  the  prosecutor  is 
bound  to  make  out  before  he  can  substantiate  the  allegations  in  this  indict- 
ment. The  first  is,  that  the  die  or  stamp,  respecting  which  the  forgery  is 
alleged  to  have  been  committed,  was  a  die  used  by  the  dii-eetion  and  under 
the  authority  of  the  commissioners  of  the  stamps.   Now,  my  lord,  I  contend 


582  THE   NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

that  there  is  no  evidence  of  this  fact  to  go  to  tlie  jury,  because  I  confidently 
submit  to  your  lordsliip,  tliat  parole  evidence,  which  is  all  they  have 
oft'ered,  is  not  admissible  under  the  circumstances  which  have  been  given  in 
evidence,  because  it  is  an  axiom  in  law,  that  the  best  evidence  must  always 
be  given  which  the  case  will  admit  of;  your  lordsliip  has  heard  from  Mr, 
Kappen  that  the  stamps  authorised  to  be  used  by  the  commissioners,  were 
in  their  presence  impressed  in  a  book.  This  book  has  not  been  produced, 
and  as  no  evidence  has  been  given  to  show  that  it  was  lost  or  destroyed,  parole 
evidence  was  not  admissible  to  show  the  nature  of  its  contents.  That  it  is 
an  essential  part  of  the  case,  that  the  die  should  have  been  directed  or 
authorised  to  be  used  by  the  commissioners  of  the  stamps,  is  evident  from  a 
reference  to  the  52  of  the  King,  section  7,  which  states,  that  if  any  person 
after  the  passing  of  that  act,  shall  forge  or  counterfeit,  or  cause  to  be 
forged  or  counterfeited,  any  mark,  stamp,  die,  or  plate,  which  in  pursuance 
of  any  act  of  parliament  shall  have  been  provided,  made,  or  used,  by 
or  under  the  direction  of  the  commissioners  appointed  to  manage  the 
duties  on  stamped  paper,  and  so  on.  Now,  my  lord,  what  I  contend 
for  is  tliis,  that  the  entry  in  that  book  is  the  only  proof  that  this 
die  of  £,'2  was  used  by  or  under  the  direction  and  authority  of  the  com- 
missioners, and  that  this  entry  can  only  be  proved  by  the  production  of 
the  book  itself.  Supposing,  my  lord,  that  the  book  had  been  produced, 
and  that  upon  inspection  it  should  turn  out  that  there  was  no  stamp  of  21. 
inserted  there,  in  this  case  your  lordship  must  allow  that  the  prosecution 
would  fail ;  but  as  the  best  evidence  that  it  does  contain  this  entry  has  not 
been  given,  it  must  be  presumed  in  favour  of  the  prisoner,  that  the  book 
does  not  contain  this  entry.  Had  there  been  a  written  order  in  the  usual 
acceptation  of  the  term  by  the  commissioners  for  the  use  of  such  and  such 
stamps,  your  lordship  would  not  have  admitted  parole  evidence  to  be  given 
of  the  contents  of  this  order,  unless  satisfactory  proof  was  given  that  it  was 
destroyed,  or  could  not  be  produced  ;  and  I  humbly  submit  to  your  lord  • 
ship,  that  the  entry  of  the  impressions  of  the  dies  in  this  book  renders  .t 
completely  of  the  nature  of  a  written  document,  and  places  it  Avithin  the 
same  rules  of  law.  I  therefore  humbly  submit  to  your  lordship,  that  there 
is  no  legal  evidence  to  go  before  the  jury,  on  this  material  allegation  in  the 
indictment,  and  that  the  prisoner  is  entitled  to  be  acquitted. 

Mr.  Justice  Le  Blanc. — I  think  there  is  evidence  to  go  to  the  jury.  The 
commissioners  gave  their  order  by  parole,  they  did  not  give  a  written  order. 

Mr.  Scarlett. — The  directions  to  tlie  officers  to  impress  the  stamps  in  the 
book  was  certainly  by  parole,  but  I  humbly  submit  to  your  lordship,  that 
when  the  impressions  were  made  in  a  book,  that  book  must  be  considered 
in  the  light  of  a  written  order. 

Mr.  Justice  Le  Blanc. — I  cannot  take  it  to  be  an  appointment  inwriting  ; 
and  I  consider  the  evidence  which  has  been  given  as  to  the  use  of  stamps 
as  perfectly  admissible,  and  as  proof  to  goto  the  jury. 

His  lordship  having  overruled  this  objection, 

Mr.  Scarlett  said,  1  will  now  trouble  your  lordship  witb  respect  to  my 
second  objection,  which  I  consider  as  the  most  materiai  and  as  decisive  of 
the  fate  of  the  prosecution.  The  prisoner  is  substantially  charged  with 
forging  a  die  or  stamp  used  by  the  commissioners,  with  an  intent  to  defraud 
the  revenue.  Now  in  the  first  place  it  is  clearly  proved  by  the  gentlemen 
from  the  Stamp-office,  tliat  the  whole  of  the  stamp,  except  the  words  "  two 
pounds,"  is  genuine,  and  also  that  the  stamp   has   been   issued  from  tlie 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  583 

office.  I  need  not  insist  before  your  lordship  that  to  constitute  a  forgery 
tiiere  must  be  an  alteration  or  imitation  of  some  material  part  of  a  die, 
stamp,  or  instrument.  In  the  present  case  it  is  alleged,  that  the  "  II 
Pounds  "  in  the  stamp  which  has  been  produced  in  coui't  is  not  an  impres- 
sion from  the  genuine  stamp.  But  in  order  to  substantiate  this  charge, 
tiie  prosecutors  ought  to  have  gone  much  further,  and  havo  proved  that 
there  had  been  an  alteration  in  the  value  of  the  stamp.  When  the  stamp 
was  issued  from  the  office  it  must  have  borne  some  vakie,  and  for  aught 
tliat  appears  in  evidence,  it  miglit  have  been  of  the  value  of  2/.,  and  there- 
fore I  liave  aright  to  presume  that  it  was  of  that  value,  and  that  whatever 
alteration  may  have  taken  place  in  it,  has  only  been  a  re-impression  of  the 
original  words  denoting  the  value  of  it.  Now,  my  lord,  I  contend,  that 
if  this  was  the  only  alteration  made  in  this  stamp,  the  charge  against 
the  prisoner  cannot  be  sustained.  I  will  put  a  case.  Suppose  a  man  erase 
from  a  Bank-of-England  note,  a  five-pound  note  for  instance  ;  he  obliterates, 
suppose,  by  some  chemical  process,  Fhie  Pounds,  and  then  impresses  upon 
it  the  same  value.  This  clearly  would  not  be  a  forgery,  nor  could  he  be 
convicted,  unless  it  could  be  proved  that  this  note  had  previously  been  of 
a  lower  value,  and  this  would  be  a  case  exactly  resembling  the  present 
prosecution.  There  are  two  circumstances  necessary  to  constitute  a  for- 
gery, the  counterfeiting  or  altering  the  material  part  of  an  instrument,  that 
whicli  afi^ects  its  value,  and  the  doing  it  with  an  intent  to  defraud.  I 
contend  therefore,  with  great  confidence,  that  neither  of  these  has  been 
proved  in  the  present  case,  because  no  alteration  affecting  the  value  of  the 
stamp  has  been  even  attempted  to  be  proved  ;  and  that  unless  it  can  be 
proved  that  the  alteration  was  of  such  a  nature  as  to  alter  its  value,  and 
make  it  pass  for  a  different  sum  to  what  it  originally  bore,  the  case  on  the 
part  of  the  prosecution  cannot  be  sustained,  and  the  prisoner  must  be 
discharged  from  this  prosecution.  Mr.  Scarlett  dvvelt  on  this  point  a 
considerable  time,  placing  it  in  various  points  of  view,  and  illustrating  it 
by  reference  to  similar  eases. 

]\Ir.  Littledale  and  Mr.  Williams  followed  on  the  same  side. 

Mr.  Park  on  the  other  side,  urged  that  the  objections  could  not  prevail ; 
and  that  the  stamp  having  been  altered  in  its  essential  part — that  which 
gave  it  operation,  the  forgery  was  clearly  made  out. 

Sir  Simon  Le  Blanc  gave  his  decision  in  the  following  terms :  "  I  have 
been  anxious  to  hear  and  to  attend  to  all  that  has  been  offered  in  support  of 
the  objections  taken  by  the  counsel  for  the  prisoner.  The  charge  against 
the  prisoner  is  substantially  this,  that  by  a  false  die  or  mark  he  impressed 
or  caused  to  be  impressed  the  resemblance  of  a  die  used  by  the  commis- 
sioners on  a  parchment-deed,  with  an  intent  to  defraud  the  revenue.  To 
this,  two  objections  have  been  urged  ;  the  first  objection  is,  that  evidence 
has  not  been  given,  that  the  die  of  which  this  impression  is  alleged  to  be 
the  resemblance,  was  a  die  used  by  the  direction  and  authority  of  the  com- 
missioners of  the  stamps ;  and  the  second  objection  denies  that  any  forgery 
has  been  committed.  AVith  respect  to  the  first  objection  the  court  has 
already  expressed  its  opinion,  that  there  is  evidence  to  go  to  the  jury  of 
the  use  of  the  die  by  the  commissioners,  and  this  is  all  that  is  necessary  to 
be  given  in  evidence.  The  Act  of  the  48  George  III.,  which  imposes  this 
duty,  and  the  52  George  III.,  which  unites  in  one  act  all  the  laws  inflict- 
ing the  punishment  of  death  for  ofi"ences  against  the  revenue  laws,  both 


584  THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

agree  in  this.  Tlie  48  of  George  III.  in  reference  to  tliis  point  enacts, 
"  Tliat  if  any  person  shall  forge  or  counterfeit,  or  cause  to  be  forged  or 
counterfeited,  any  stamp  or  die,  which  shall  be  provided,  made,  or  used,  in 
pursuance  of  this  Act,  or  of  any  former  Act,"  shall  be  adjudged  guilty  of 
felony,  &c.  The 52  George  III.  after  stating  "that  if  any  person  shall 
after  the  passing  of  this  Act,  forge,  &c.  any  mark,  stamp  or  die,  used  by 
or  under  the  direction  of  the  commissioners,"  &c.  goes  on  to  add,  "  or  by 
or  under  the  direction  of  any  person  or  persons  legally  authorised  on  that 
behalf."  The  court  therefore  holds,  that  the  use  by  the  commissioners  is 
all  that  is  requisite,  and  that  of  this  use  there  is  evidence  to  submit  to  the 
consideration  of  the  jury.  The  court  therefore  does  not  consider  this 
objection  as  valid.  The  other  objection  proceeds  on  the  ground,  that  no 
forgery  has  been  committed,  inasmuch  as  it  has  not  been  proved,  that  any 
alteration  has  been  made  in  the  value  of  the  stamp.  It  is  contended,  that 
as  a  considerable  part  of  the  stamp  has  been  proved  to  be  genuine,  and 
must  have  been  issued  from  the  Stamp-office,  with  words  denoting  its 
value,  this  value,  for  aught  that  appears  to  the  contrary,  may  have  been 
the  same  that  is  now  impressed  upon  it,  and  that  in  fact  there  has  only 
been  a  re-impression  of  the  same  words  which  were  upon  the  stamp  when 
it  was  first  issued.  And  upon  this  assumption  it  is  contended,  that  as  no 
material  part  of  the  instrument  has  been  altered,  there  has  been  no  legal 
forgery.  But  it  is  unnecessary  to  give  any  opinion  on  the  validity  of  this 
inference,  because  the  foundation  has  not  been  laid,  on  which  alone  there 
could  be  a  reason  for  examining  it,  there  having  been  no  evidence  given 
to  prove  that  this  stamp  was  originally  of  the  value  of  two  pounds,  and  it 
undoubtedly  lay  upon  the  prisoner  to  prove  this.  For  the  case  stands 
thus :  There  is  a  forged  impression  of  a  die  upon  an  instrument,  proved  to 
have  been  in  the  possession  of  the  prisoner,  under  circumstances  which 
certainly  call  for  explanation,  and  also  in  whose  possession  a  number  of 
dies  are  found,  made  too  by  his  own  order,  and  two  of  which  appear  to 
have  been  used  to  make  an  impression,  an  impression  proved  to  be  false 
and  counterfeit  upon  this  instrument.  If  these  facts  are  not  accounted  for 
by  evidence,  or  explained  somehow  or  other,  the  presumption  in  law  is, 
that  this  false  impression  was  forged  for  the  purpose  of  increasing  or 
altering  its  value,  and  for  the  purpose  of  defrauding  the  revenue.  This 
presumption  thus  raised  it  is  for  the  prisoner  to  repel  by  evidence,  but 
there  is  certam\y  prima  facie  evidence  to  goto  a  jury.  That  the  alteration 
of  a  material  part  of  an  instrument  is  a  forgery  has  been  solemnly  deter- 
mined, by  all  the  Judges,  in  a  modern  case,  so  that  it  cannot  now  be  called 
in  question.  I  cannot  therefore,  on  these  grounds,  stop  the  cause  from 
going  on."  The  learned  Judge  concluded  by  calling  on  the  prisoner  for 
his  defence. 

Mr.  Blackburn,  who  laboured  under  great  and  evident  emotion, 
addressed  the  Court  and  Jury  in  the  following  terms  : — 

"  In  the  painful  and  anxious  situation  in  which  I  am  unhappily  placed, 
I  am  ill-fitted  for  the  task  of  addressing  you  on  this  occasion.  Agitated 
as  I  am  between  hope  and  fear,  I  can  only  solemnly  assure  you  that  I 
never  forged  a  stamp  in  my  life ;  but  the  public  mind  has  been  prejudiced 
against  me  by  unfounded  reports  and  advertisements,  containing  vile 
insinuations  against  me.  But,  gentlemen,  I  entreat  and  charge  you  upon 
your  oaths,  that  you  banish  all  that  you  have  heard  out  of  this  court  from 


TIIH    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  585 

your  minds,  and  all  that  I  have  to  wish  from  you  is,  that  you  be  influ- 
enced only  by  the  evidence,  and  that  you  will  do  unto  me  as  you  would 
wish  to  be  done  unto,  were  you  placed  in  my  unfortunate  situation.  I  have 
)»ractised  as  an  attorney  among  my  townsmen  and  neighbours  with  credit 
and  respectability  for  twenty-seven  years ;  you  will  hear  from  them  upon 
their  oaths,  tlie  character  I  have  maintained  during  that  period.  In 
making  my  defence,  I  liave  many  great  and,  indeed,  insuperable  difficulties 
to  contend  witn :  I  am  called  to  furnish  an  answer,  and  that  by  evidence, 
against  a  charge  which  I  never  heard  of  until  I  entered  tliis  court,  for 
until  I  heard  the  indictment  read  I  had  no  knowledge  of  that  which  they 
have  imputed  to  me  by  this  indictment,  and  of  course  it  was  absolutely  im- 
possible for  me- to  be  prepared  witli  evidence  to  rebut  tlie  charge.  With 
respect  to  the  deed  in  question,  I  know  nothing  of  it,  it  has  been  long  out 
of  my  possession,  and  it  is  clear  by  the  evidence  of  tlie  witnesses  for  the 
prosecution,  that  it  has  been  very  much  exposed.  I  would  only  observe 
that  if  it  had  not  had  a  regular  stamp  affixed  to  it,  the  engrossing  clerk 
must  have  seen  it,  and  it  must  likewise  have  been  observed  at  the  office 
when  tlie  deed  was  registered.  When  my  house  was  searched,  my  account- 
books  were  taken  away,  which  has  deprived  me  of  all  means  of  tracing  the 
deed  in  question,  or  of  proving  where  the  stamp  was  bought ;  I  had 
therefore  no  clue  to  direct  my  search.  With  respect  to  the  spoiled  stamps, 
I  would  observe,  that  they  have  lain  by  me  a  long  time,  and  that  the 
jieriod  of  claiming  the  allowance  for  them  has  long  elapsed.  Tt  often 
happens,  that  after  a  deed  is  engrossed,  the  execution  may  be  delayed  a 
very  considerable  time  beyond  the  period  allowed  for  claiming  the  allow- 
duce,  and  if  ultimately  it  should  not  be  executed  the  stamp  would  be 
entirely  lost ;  this  will  account  for  the  spoiled  stamps  which  in  along  series 
of  time  have  been  accumulated.  I  declare  to  you,  gentlemen,  that  the 
deed  in  question  had  upon  it  a  regular  stamp  when  it  was  executed  in  my 
office,  and  I  trust  you  will  not  presume  anything  against  me  ;  that  you 
will  attend  only  to  the  evidence,  and  that  you  will  decide  upon  my  fate 
with  the  same  candour  as  you  would  wish  in  similar  circumstances  to  have 
shown  to  you.  My  life  is  in  your  hands.  I  shall  bow  with  resignation  to 
your  decision,  and  I  trust  that  your  decision  will  be  right." 

As  many  as  twenty- four  gentlemen  of  the  highest  respectability  were 
called  to  sptak  to  the  prisoner's  character,  and  they  all  joined  in  declaring 
that  they  believed  him  incapable  of  committing  such  an  offijnce  as  that 
■which  was  imputed  to  him. 

The  learned  Judge  then  proceeded  to  sum  up  the  case,  and  the  Jury 
having  retired  from  the  Court,  for  about  a  quarter  of  an  hour,  returned 
with  a  verdict  of  Guilty. 

Mr.  Blackburn  and  Mr.  Wainewright  were  subsequently  put  to  the 
bar  together  and  arraigned  upon  an  indictment,  in  which  they  were 
charged  jointly  with  removing  a  stamp  from  one  deed  and  affixing  it  to 
another,  but  the  evidence  being  inconclusive,  they  were  declared  to  be 
Not  guilty. 

The  court  during  the  whole  day  was  crowded  to  excess,  and  the 
greatest  interest  appeared  to  be  excited  amongst  the  inhabitants  of  Leeds, 
where  the  prisoners  had  lived,  many  of  whom  were  present.  Mr.  Black- 
burn was  dressed  in  a  suit  of  mourning,  with  his  hair  powdered.  He 
cnnducced  himself  with  great  propriety  during  the  trial,  but  upon  the 

VOL.  J.  4    F 


58)  THE    NEW    XEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

verdict  of  Guilty  being  returned  he  appeared  to  be  completely  unmnnned. 
He  paid  no  attention  whatever  to  the  proceedings  in  the  second  trial,  noi 
was  he  observed  to  take  any  notice  of  his  fellow-prisoner,  Mr.  Wainewright, 
upon  his  being  placed  by  his  side. 

Upon  the  Wednesday  after  the  trial,  sentence  of  death  was  passed  upon 
the  unhappy  man,  and  on  Friday'  the  24th  March  Mr.  Justice  Le  Blanc 
quitted  Yox-k,  leaving  him  for  execution  on  Saturday  the  8th  April.  The 
interval  was  brief,  and  his  friends  determined  to  lose  no  time  in  applying 
to  the  Prince  Regent  for  a  mitigation  of  his  sentence.  A  petition  was 
accordingly  prepared,  praying  for  the  exercise  of  the  royal  clemency 
towards  him,  and  in  the  course  of  two  or  three  days,  this  application  for 
mercy  Avas  signed  by  upwards  of  three  thousand  persons,  chiefly  the  fellow- 
townsmen  of  the  unfortunate  prisoner.  On  Sunday,  the  26th  March,  Mr. 
Elliot  Garrett,  of  Dewsbury,  one  of  the  attorneys  employed  in  conducting 
the  defence  of  the  prisoner,  went  to  London,  for  the  purpose  of  presenting 
the  petition  to  the  Prince  Regent,  and  of  taking  such  other  steps  as  should 
appear  likely  to  contribute  to  the  attainment  of  this  object  of  the  petition. 
Mrs.  Blackburn,  the  wife  of  this  unfortunate  gentleman,  also  repaired  to 
London,  with  the  view  if  possible  of  throwing  herself  at  the  feet  of  his 
Royal  Highness  to  supplicate  for  the  life  of  her  unhappy  husband.  Every 
means  which  zeal  and  friendship  could  suggest  was  used  to  give  eflfect  to 
this  petition  :  applications  were  made  to  persons  of  influence  and  consider- 
ation in  the  state,  to  secure  their  co-operation,  but,  unhappily,  without 
success  ;  and  every  hope  of  procuring  eitlier  a  mitigation  or  suspension  of 
the  dreadful  sentence  of  the  law  was  extinguished  by  the  following  letter 
from  Viscount  Sidmouth,  his  Majesty's  principal  Secretary  of  State  for  the 
Home  Department. 

Whitehall,  1st  April,  1816. 

"  Sir, — I  have  laid  before  his  Royal  Highness  the  petition  which  I 
received  on  behalf  of  Joseph  Blackburn,  a  prisoner  under  sentence  of  death 
in  the  Castle  of  York,  for  forgery  ;  and  I  am  under  the  painful  necessity 
of  acquainting  you,  that  it  did  not  appear  to  me  consistent  with  my  public 
duty,  to  advise  his  Royal  Highness  to  remit  or  suspend  the  execution  of 
the  sentence  passed  upon  this  unfortunate  person. 

"  I  have  the  honour  to  be, 

"  Sir,  your  most  obedient  servant, 

(Signed)  "  Sidmouth." 

Before  the  result  of  this  application  to  the  Prince  Regent  was  known  to 
either  the  prisoner  or  to  his  friends  at  Leeds,  it  was  deemed  advisable  to 
submit  to  Mr.  Justice  Le  Blanc,  who  was  then  at  Lancaster,  certain 
aflidavits. 

The  object  of  these  aflidavits  was  to  show  that  the  deed  was  executed 
on  the  day  it  purported  to  bear  date,  which  was  on  the  30th  September 
1812,  and  that  as  the  dies  spoken  to  by  Mr.  Topham  were  not  delivered 
at  the  office  of  Mr.  Blackburn  until  the  following  month,  it  was  quite 
impossible  that  any  forgery  of  the  stamp  on  the  deed  in  question,  could 
have  been  made  by  him  at  the  time  it  was  executed. 

This  application  like  that  to  the  Crown  was  unsuccessful,  and  the 
unhappy  prisoner  having  received  an  intimation  that  no  hope  remained 
tliat  his  life  would  be  spared,  he  proceeded  anxiously  and  ardently  to  apply 
himself  to  his  religious  oftioes.     He  was  attended  up  to  the  time  of  his 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  587 

execution  by  the  Rev.  John  Hamilton,  the  minister  of  a  dissenting  con- 
gregation at  Leeds,  to  whose  religious  exhortations  he  paid  tl^  utmost 
attention.  He  continued  for  some  days  to  labour  under  a  despondency 
approaching  to  despair,  arising  as  he  himself  stated,  not  from  the  dread  of 
temporal  death,  but  from  a  deep  consciousness  of  the  aggravated  guilt  of 
his  past  life,  his  total  neglect  of  religious  observances,  and  his  gross  indul- 
gence in  forbiddt-n  sensual  pleasures.  He  stated  "  tliat  the  irregularities 
of  his  past  life  had  been  so  great  as  to  have  deserved  that  death  which  had 
been  awarded  against  him  for  an  offence  of  a  different  nature."  He  added, 
'"  that  these  crimes  had  been  committed  against  light  and  knowledge,  and 
tliat  he  had  only  repented  of  them,  and  thought  upon  religion,  when  every 
jjleasure  had  been  cut  off',  and  every  earthly  hope  had  become  extinct."  We 
rejoice  however  in  being  able  to  add,  that  in  a  few  days  some  faint  rays  of 
hope  penetrated  the  gloom  which  oppressed  his  mind  ;  and  as  the  merciful 
provisions  of  the  gospel  were  unfolded  to  him,  and  its  encouraging 
promises  pressed  upon  his  consideration,  these  hopes  became  brighter,  and 
cast,  if  not  a  brilliant,  yet  a  cheering  my  of  light  on  the  gloomy  path  he 
had  yet  to  tread. 

On  Thursday,  the  6th  of  April,  he  attended  the  chapel,  and  heard  with 
profound  attention,  a  sermon  preached  by  the  Rev.  Mr.  Richardson,  who 
had  some  religious  conversation  with  him  after  the  other  prisoners  had 
retired.  On  Friday  afternoon  the  prisoner  had  a  last  interview  with  his 
brothers  ;  his  unhappy  wife  had  come  to  York  on  tlie  same  painful  errand, 
but  on  Mr.  Hamilton  representing  to  her  that  an  interview  might  disturb 
the  tranquillity  of  her  husband's  last  hours,  she  abstained  from  pressing 
the  request  which  she  had  made.  She  had  seen  him  only  once  since  his 
conviction,  and  the  meeting  was  of  tlie  most  distressing  nature. 

On  the  night  before  the  ext!Cution,  Mr.  Hamilton  continued  in  prayer 
with  the  wretched  prisoner  up  to  a  late  hour,  and  he  repeatedly  expressed 
himself  perfectly  resigned  and  ready  at  any  moment  to  meet  his  fate. 

On  Saturday,  at  about  half-past  eleven  o'clock,  ]Mr.  Blackburn  was  called 
from  his  cell,  and,  tlie  necessary  arrangements  having  been  made,  he  was 
conducted  to  the  scaffold  supported  by  jMr.  Hamilton.  He  walked  with  a 
firm,  unhesitating  step,  and  perfectly  erect.  It  was  a  quarter  before  twelve 
o'clock  when  the  procession  arrived  upon  the  platform.  The  prisoner 
immediately  kneeled  down  upon  a  stool  provided  for  the  occasion,  with  his 
face  averted  from  the  numerous  spectators,  who  were  assembled  to  witness 
this  sad  and  melancholy  spectacle. 

The  reverend  gentleman  who  had  with  so  much  zeal  and  unwearied 
assiduity  attended  him  in  prison,  to  speak  to  him  the  words  of  peace,  did 
not  shrink  from  the  painful  task  of  accompanying  him  through  this  last 
painful  stage  of  his  earthly  pilgrimage ;  placing  himself  near  the  prisoner, 
he  in  a  low  tone  of  voice  asked  him  some  questions  relative  to  the  state  of 
his  mind  with  respect  to  his  approaching  change,  and  particularly  with 
respect  to  his  entire  dependence  on  the  mercy  of  God  through  the  merits 
and  mediation  of  the  Messiah. — To  these  inquiries  he  replied,  "  I  have 
no  other,  I  wish  no  other  trust."  Mr.  Hamilton  now  inquired  if  it  was 
his  wish  that  he  should  pray  with  him,  and  he  eagerly  replied,  "  If  your 
feelings  on  this  occasion  are  not  too  much  agitated,  I  shall  be  greatly 
obliged."  Kneeling  down  close  to  the  prisoner,  who  kept  his  eyes  closed 
during  the  whole  of  this  sad  solemnity,  he  then  offered  up  a  prayer  at  once 


583  TIIF.    NEW    NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

sclcmn  and  tender,  and  adapted  equally  to  the  former  character  and  present 
sitiiatiuq  of  the  humble  penitent  before  him.  Mr.  Blackburn  appeared 
deej)ly  to  feel  and  fervently  to  join  in  this  last  act  of  devotion,  and  when 
tlie  minister  came  to  that  comprehensive  model  of  devotion,  the  Lord's 
Praver,  the  prisoner  accompanied  him  in  an  audible  voice. 

When  Mr,  Hamilton  rose  up  from  prayer,  he  took  ]\Ir.  Blackburn  by 
tlie  hand,  and  having  commended  him  to  the  mercy  and  protection  of  the 
Almighty,  took  a  sad  adieu  of  him,  conjuring  him  that  when  he  suffered 
death,  and  was  entering  eternity,  he  should  aim  at  no  higher  strain  than 
this,  "  God  be  merciful  to  me  a  sinner."  The  poor  sufferer  grasped  his 
hand,  and  appeared  reluctant  to  part;  and  in  a  voice  rendered  tremulous 
by  emotion,  said,  "  May  God  Almighty  bless  and  protect  you."  It  now 
only  remained  for  the  executioner  to  perform  his  part  in  the  heart-rending 
ceremony.  Mr.  Blackburn  was  assisted  to  rise,  but  it  was  evident  that 
the  powerful  emotion  of  his  mind  had  impaired  his  strength,  and  the  \mder 
jailor  supported  him  in  his  arms  until  the  fatal  cord  was  placed  round  his 
neck,  and  properly  adjusted.  At  this  awful  moment  he  ejaculated,  "  O 
Lord  God  Almighty,  have  mercy  upon  me,  and  preserve  my  soul  alive." 
These  were  the  last  words  he  was  heard  to  utter,  as  the  drop  instantly  fell. 

It  is  painful  to  add  that  the  noose  of  the  cord  had,  by  some  means  or 
other,  slipped  from  its  proper  situation,  and  he  appeared  much  convulsed. 
After  he  had  been  suspended  about  two  minutes,  the  executioner  endea- 
voured to  replace  the  cord  in  its  original  situation  ;  and  tliough  he  suc- 
ceeded in  tliis  attempt,  it  seemed  to  harrow  up  the  feelings  of  every  person 
present,  and  produced  a  stronger  sensation  of  distress  than  any  part  of  this 
mournful  ceremony.  In  about  six  or  seven  minutes  from  the  fiiUing  of  the 
drop,  the  unfortunate  man  appeared  insensible  of  further  suffering.  The 
body,  after  remaining  suspended  the  usual  time,  was  put  into  a  coffin,  and 
delivered  to  his  friends.  His  remains  were  interred  at  an  early  hour  on 
Monday,  at  Rothwell,  a  village  near  Leeds. 


JEREMIAH  GRANT 

EXECUTED    FOR    BURGLARY. 

The  exploits  of  this  celebrated  Irish  freebooter  gained  for  him  a  notoriety 
dlmost  equal  to  that  of  his  successor  Captain  Rody.  Grant  was  the  son 
of  a  poor  peasant  in  the  Queen's  County,  and  early  evinced  a  predilection 
for  a  life  of  idleness.  His  progress  in  literature  amoimted  to  what  his 
countryman  shot  at,  "  nothing  at  all ;"  but  his  fertile  genius  obviated  his 
misfortune  in  being  supremely  ignorant  of  reading  and  writing,  and  his 
daring  spirit  triumphed  over  all  minor  obstacles.  Having  reached  the  age 
of  nineteen  his  "public  life"  began,  for  at  that  time  he  commenced  his 
depredations  upon  his  fellow-countrymen  in  the  capacity  of  a  higliwayman, 
and  his  daring,  and  the  fame  of  his  exploits,  in  the  course  of  the  ensuing 
two  years  gained  him  so  much  celebrity  among  others  of  the  same  character, 
tliat  at  twenty-one  he  was  chosen  "  captain"  of  a  select  band  of  "  gentle- 
men "  who  "  followed  the  road." 

His  depredations  for  several  years  were  confined  to  his  native  county, 
and  there  his  improvident  liberality  secured  him  the  esteem  and  blessings 
of  the  lower  orders,  while  the   terror  of  his  name  and  the  dread  of  liis 


:'My^>cov€^iy.  €>f^ Ots^^i^acny  <Syt<z/K^  a/fz^Aca/O^a/n^. 


THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR.  589 

vengeance  kept  those   of  a  higher  rank  in   complete  suhjectlon     to    his 
authority. 

Like  Rob  Roy,  he  levied  an  annual  tax  on  the  farmers,  which  they  cheer- 
fully paid,  as  it  secured  them  from  the  nocturnal  visits  of  his  followers  ; 
and  the  Captain  was  so  rigid  a  disciplinarian,  tliat  any  dereliction  of  duty 
in  this  respect  was  punished  with  a  heavy  hand.  His  exploits  soon 
became  too  notorious,  however,  to  pass  unnoticed  by  the  authorities,  and 
large  rewards  were  offered  for  his  apprehension ;  but,  although  he  was  as 
well  known  as  the  "  Hill  of  Howth,"  he  was  to  be  seen  at  every  fair  and 
pattern  in  the  country,  and  had  a  more  numerous  acquaintance  than  the 
village  doctor.  At  every  farmer's  table  he  was  welcome,  and  the  cottaoffs 
that  gave  him  shelter  were  sure  of  reward ;  for  he  freely  shared  tlie 
contributions  he  obtained  with  danger. 

"With  the  ladies  he  was  a  second  Macheath,  and  more  wives  than  one 
claimed  him  for  their  husband  ;  and  it  is  reported  that  he  was  frequently 
complimented  on  his  person  and  manner,  by  the  mistresses  of  those  houses 
which  he  visited  without  the  formality  of  an  invitation.  But  it  must  be 
observed  that  he  never  forgot  his  accustomed  humanity  and  politeness ; 
and,  unless  when  attacked  by  the  police,  he  never  did  an  individual  a 
personal  injury.  His  behaviour  always  evinced  a  degree  of  refinement 
above  his  education  and  birth;  and  even  those  who  suffered  from  his 
depredations  never  spoke  of  him  but  as  an  "accomplished  villain." 

His  character  at  length  grew  so  notorious  in  the  Queen's  County,  that  a 
consultation  of  magistrates  was  held  for  the  purpose  of  devising  means  for 
his  apprehension,  and  in  consequence  of  the  measures  they  adopted  several 
of  Grant's  followers  were  brought  to  justice,  and  died,  as  tlieir  Captain 
expressed  it,  of  the  "  gallows  fever."  For  some  time  his  knowledge  of  the 
country,  and  the  partiality  of  the  peasantry  towards  him,  aided  him  in 
evading  the  pursuit  which  was  made  after  him  ;  but  a  traitor  was  found, 
and  Grant  was  delivered  into  the  hands  of  the  Philistines. 

The  gentry  of  the  countrj',  and  ladies  of  the  first  rank,  crowded  to  the 
jail  of  Maryborough  to  see  the  "  bold  outlaw  ;"  and  it  was  supposed  that 
their  impertinent  curiosity  so  much  affected  his  sensibility,  that  he  took 
his  departure  one  night  from  prison,  through  a  window,  having  first 
contrived  to  cut  the  bars  that  guarded  it. 

Dreading  another  specimen  of  the  rudeness  of  the  Irish  aristocracy,  he 
prudently  resolved  to  leave  the  Slieve-bloom  mountains,  and  with  the 
remnant  of  his  banditti,  he  removed  to  the  wood  of  Killoughram,  in  the 
county  of  Wexford,  within  four  miles  of  the  town  of  Enniscorthy.  Here 
he  continued  for  some  time,  and  made  frequent  visits  to  the  neighbouring 
towns,  where  he  was  known  by  the  name  of  Cooney. 

In  the  March  of  1816  he  made  a  journey  to  his  native  county,  where  he 
robbed  the  house  of  Thomas  Cambie,  Esq.,  of  money  and  plate  to  a  large 
amount.  Mrs.  Cambie  was  at  home,  and  he  behaved  with  so  much  polite- 
ness, that  she  ordered  him  supper  and  wine.  The  captain  being  impatient 
of  delay,  applied  his  teeth  to  extract  a  cork  from  a  bottle ;  upon  which  the 
mistress  observed  "  it  was  a  pity  to  spoil  his  fine  white  teeth,"  and  imme- 
diately stood  up  and  procured  him  a  corkscrew.  Grant,  on  his  departure, 
took  the  liberty  of  borrowing  Mr.  Cambie's  horse  and  gig,  in  which  he 
rode  to  his  retreat  in  the  wood  of  Killougliram. 

The  Captain's  occasional  depredations  in  the  county  of  Wexford  excitt  d 


500  THE    NEW   NEWGATE    CALENDAR. 

great  alarm,  for  a  robbery  there  then  was  a  thing  of  very  rare  occurrence. 
Notice  was  at  lengtli  given  of  the  banditti  retreat,  and  Archibald  Jacoli 
marclied  the  military  out  of  Enniscorthy  and  surrounded  the  wood.  Some 
of  the  soldiers'  and  yeomaniy  penetrated  the  fastness,  and  in  the  thickest 
part  of  the  shade  they  discovered  the  "  Robber  Chief,"  and  five  of  his 
followers,  on  a  bed  of  straw,  in  a  romantic  cave.  The  freebooters  defended 
themselves  with  desperate  valour,  and  before  they  surrendered,  wounded 
five  of  the  military.  After  they  were  secured,  their  retreat  was  found 
to  contain  all  the  necessary  implements  for  housebreaking,  and  abun- 
dance of  arms.  The  captain  was  committed  to  Wexford  jail  in  the  name 
of  Cooney  ;  but  the  evidence  against  him  being  doubtful,  it  was  appre- 
hended that  he  would  be  acquitted,  when,  unfortunately  for  him,  it  was 
discovered  that  he  was  the  celebrated  Captain  Grant.  The  jailor  of  Mary- 
borough now  claimed  his  body,  and  he  was  forthwith  transmitted  to  his 
former  abode,  only  just  in  time,  as  it  was  eventually  found  out,  to  prevent 
his  aoain  escaping  from  the  jail  in  which  he  was  confined,  in  obedience  to 
and  in  conformity  with  a  plan  which  had  been  matured,  and  which  was 
to  be  put  into  operation  on  the  very  night  on  which  he  was  removed. 

His  trial  came  on  at  ]\Iaryborough,  August  the  16th  1816,  when  he 
was  foimd  guilty  of  the  burglary  in  oMr.  Cambie's  house.  To  the  question 
"  What  reason  he  had  why  judgment  and  sentence  of  death  should  not  be 
passed  on  him  ?  "  he  replied  in  the  most  firm,  collected,  and,  indeed,  feeling 
manner,  "  My  lord,  I  only  beg  of  the  Court  some  short  time  to  arrange 
things  before  my  departure  for  another  place  ;  not  in  the  idle  hope  of  escape 
or  pardon,  but  to  make  restitution  to  the  persons  who  have  suffered  by  my 
bad  line  of  life.  I  have  been  visited  in  my  cell  by  some  blessed  people, 
who  have,  thank  God,  given  this  turn  to  my  mind,  and  to  which  I  implore 
your  lordship's  attention." 

Sentence  was  then  immediately  passed  upon  him  ;  but  in  obedience  to 
his  request,  his  execution  was  deferred  until  the  29th  of  August,  when  he 
met  his  fate  with  decent  fortitude  and  pious  resignation. 


THOMAS    CARSON. 

COXVICTED  OF    MURDER. 

The  Irish  arc  capital  actors,  but  generally  give  to  tragic  parts  a  comic 
effect.  The  following  case  of  successful  adroitness  is  only  one  out  of  many 
such  tricks  played  off  in  the  prisons  of  the  sister  kingdom. 

Thomas  Carson  and  his  brother  John  were  tried  at  the  jMeath  assizes,  in 
the  spring  of  1816,  for  the  wilful  murder  of  a  man  named  Cassidy.  The 
Carsons  beloncred  to  a  corps  of  yeomen  ;  and  being  Protestants,  they  were 
privileged  to  carry  arms.  Of  these,  however,  they  made  a  bad  use,  and 
turned  them  against  one  of  his  jMajesty's  subjects,  named  Cassidy,  whose 
life  they  took  away,  through  wanton  cruelty,  in  Kilmainham  Wood,  in  the 
county  of  Meath.  John  was  acquitted;  but  Thomas  Carson  was  found 
guilty,  and  ordered  for  execution  on  the  following  Friday  morning-,  at  one 
o'clock. 

At  five  o'clock  on  Friday  morning  a  brother  of  the  prisoner  wont  to  see 
the  unhappy  culprit,  and  informed  the  jailor  that  Mr.  Wainwright,  the 


THE    NEAV    NEWGATE    CALENDAR.  591 

clergyman,  would  attend  in  a  short  time  to  pray  with  and  administer  the 
sacrament  to  his  brother.  The  judge  had,  from  humanity,  directed  tliat 
his  relations  should  have  free  access  to  the  prisoner,  so  that  his  brother 
was  permitted  to  go  into  the  condemned  cell  to  him.  Some  time  after  tlie 
jailor  entered  the  cell,  and  said  that  the  time  was  very  short,  and  if  tlie 
clergyman  was  expected,  they  had  better  send  for  him.  The  brotlier  offered 
to  go  for  him,  and  apparently  retired.  Shortly  after  Mr.  Wainwright  came  ; 
and  being  shown  into  the  cell,  continued  a  long  time  in  prayer  with  the 
prisoner.  The  time  of  execution  approaeliiug,  the  jailor  came  in,  accom- 
panied by  the  prisoner's  uncle.  The  clergyman  told  the  prisoner  he  had 
no  time  to  lose — that  his  uncle  had  come,  and  would  communicate  witii 
him  in  the  administration  of  the  sacrament.  The  prisoner  entreated  to  be 
allowed  to  pray  a  little  longer,  and  appeared  absorbed  in  devotion.  At 
length  the  jailor  becoming  quite  impatient,  he  rose  from  the  straw  on 
which  he  was  kneeling,  and  welcomed  his  uncle.  The  latter  instantly 
exclaimed,  "  Good  God  !  how  grief  has  altered  him  !  this  cannot  be 
Tommy  !"  and  looking  nearer — "  No,"  said  lie,  "  this  is  Anthony  Carson  !  " 
The  clergyman  was  amazed — the  jailer  ran  down  stairs,  and  discovered 
that  the  person  whom  he  had  sent  for  the  clergyman  was  no  other  than  the 
convict  himself,  who  had  not  thought  proper  to  return. 

Coming  back  into  his  cell,  tlie  jailor  cried  out,  "  Your  brother  is  gone 
off !  what  shall  I  do  ?  I  am  ruined !  " — "  Gone  off !  "  cried  Anthony  with 
great  surprise ;  "  Oli,  he  has  taken  away  my  big  coat." 

The  two  brothers  served  in  the  same  corps,  and  were  so  alike  in  appear- 
ance that  Anthony  came  to  the  prison  in  a  frize  great-coat,  which  he  gave 
to  the  convict,  who,  thus  disguised,  passed  all  the  doors  of  the  prison,  and 
walked  deliberately  into  the  street,  from  whence,  in  great  apparent  afflic- 
tion, he  looked  up  at  the  preparation  for  execution,  and  passed  on  as  if  to 
Mr.  Wainwriglit's  house. 

Diligent  search  was  made  for  the  fugitive,  but  without  effect.  The 
brother  was  detained,  but  the  extent  of  his  crime  was  a  misdemeanour. 

The  case  of  this  lucky  prisoner  clearly  exemplified,  in  the  language  of 
the  prisoner  about  to  receive  judgment  of  death,  that  he  did  not  believe  he 
was  "  safe  in  the  hands"  of  his  jailors. 

The  story  runs  thus : — An  Irishman  had  been  convicted  of  a  robbery  at 
the  Old  Bailey  sessions,  for  which  he  was  brought  up,  with  others  at  the 
conclusion  of  the  session,  to  receive  judgment  of  death.  The  ready  wit 
and  the  natural  disinclination  of  the  Irisli  to  give  a  straightforward  answer 
to  a  question,  are  universally  known  and  admitted.  The  prisoner  in 
question  on  being  called  on  by  Mr.  Slielton,  the  officer  of  the  court,  in  the 
usual  way,  to  declare  wliat  he  had  to  say  why  sentence  of  death  sliould  not 
be  passed  upon  him,  advanced  to  the  front  of  the  dock  with  a  vacant  stare, 
and  inquired  "  What  was  the  question  ?" 

Mr.  Slielton. — You  have  been  convicted  of  robbery  ;  what  have  you  to 
say  why  sentence  of  death  shall  not  be  passed  upon  you,  according  to 
law  :" 

Prisoner. — Faith,  I  have  nothing  much  to  say,  except  that  I  do  not 
think  I  am  safe  in  your  hands. 

The  answer  was  received  with  a  loud  burst  of  laughter,  which  even 
the  melanclioly  nature  of  the  scene  c  )uld  n.t  prevent  the  learned  recorder 
from  ji  iiiing  in.     The  gravity  of  the  court  was,  however,  soiin  again  put  to 


592  THE    NEW    NEWGATE   CALENDAR. 

the  test.  Sentence  had  been  passed,  and  the  prisoner  was  about  to  retire 
from  the  bar,  when  he  was  unexpectedly  called  back  by  Mr.  Shelton,  who 
demanded  to  know  his  age. 

Prisoner. — Is  it  my  age  you  mean  ? 

Mr.  Shelton. — What  is  your  ageV 

Prisoner. — I  believe  I  am  pretty  well  as  ould  as  ever  I'll  be. 

Again  the  whole  court  was  convulsed  with  laughter;  but  the  wretched  maB, 
whose  laughter  -moving  qualities  were  purely  involuntary,  was  doomed  even 
at  "  the  last  scene  of  all,"  to  raise  the  mirth  of  the  spectators  of  his  fate.  He 
was  in  due  form  taken  from  his  cell,  and  the  ordinary  of  the  jail  attending 
him,  he  was  conducted  to  the  press-room  to  be  bound,  preparatory  to  his  going 
out  to  the  scaflFold.  His  irons  were  removed,  and  his  arms  confined  with 
cords  in  the  customary  manner,  but  the  willing  compliance  exhibited  by 
the  wretched  convict  in  the  proceedings  which  had  hitherto  taken  place,  to 
assist  the  executioner  in  performing  his  office,  suddenly  ceased.  He  sat 
down  on  a  bench,  and  in  spite  of  the  calls  of  Jack  Ketch,  and  of 
the  sheriffs  to  accompany  them  in  procession  to  the  scaflFold,  he  remained 
sullenly  on  the  bench,  where  he  had  first  taken  up  his  position.  "  Come," 
at  last  urged  Jack  Ketch,  "  the  time  is  arrived  ;"  but  his  coaxing  words 
and  tone  were  unavailing.  "  The  officers  are  waiting  for  you,"  said  the 
sheriflfs ;  "can  anything  be  done  for  you  before  you  quit  this  world?" 
No  answer  was  returned.  At  length,  said  Jack  Ketch,  grown  surly  at 
the  long  delay  and  the  silence  of  the  prisoner,  "  If  you  won't  go,  you 
know  I  must  carry  you."  "  Then  you  may,"  said  the  prisoner,  "  for  I'll  not 
walk."  "Why  not?"  inquired  the  sheriff.  "  I'll  not  be  instrumental  to 
my  own  death, '  hesitated  the  prisoner.  "  What  do  you  mean  ?  "  asked 
the  ordinary.  "  What  do  I  mane  ?  "  answered  the  unfortunate  man.  "  I'll 
not  walk  to  my  own  destruction  ;"  and  in  this  determination  he  remained, 
and  Jack  Ketch  and  his  assistants  were  eventually  absolutely  compelled  to 
carry  him  to  the  scaffold,  where  he  was  turned  off,  continuing  in  his 
refusal  to  do  anything  which  might  be  construed  into  "  his  being  a  party 
to  his  own  death." 


END    OP   VOL.  I. 


PBl^XJED  BV  J.  S.  VIETUK  AND  CO.,  LIMITED,  CITV  BOAD,  LONDON.. 


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